Comments on: The Rosary

By: RosaryStudent

RosaryStudent — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 05:21:06 +0000

Are you Catholic and over the age of 18? Have you said the Rosary Prayer at least once in the past year? If so, please take part in an anonymous research study online that examines the place of the Rosary Prayer in Catholic individuals’ lives. To participate in this doctoral research study, click the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/rosaryprayer Participation is anonymous and free of charge.

By: Delameilleure Fred

Delameilleure Fred — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:37:44 +0000

Dear friends,
Because of my background (Jehovah’s Witnesses =) Evangelicalism =) Pentecostalism =) Charismatic movement =) Catholicism, I have been struggling a great deal with the big issue of kataphatic/devotional prayer versus apophatic/meditative prayer. I have friends who are fine devotional rosary praying Christians, but I always felt many of them tended to ‘spiritual bypass’their own shadow and other psychological/emotional issues.
So there was always this judging from my side and kind of spiritual pride, resulting from emotional wounds within myself.
Years ago, I was rather fundamentalistic in my approach, but gradually I opened myself through reading about other traditions (Orthodoxy, Zen, Sufism, Advaita) and disciplines (psychology, philosophy, arts, archetypical symbolism, energetic work). But it remained very difficult for me to know which path I had to go. Of course I am a Christian, but I think there is so much going on in this world that it becomes very difficult to be open and still ‘discern the spirits’.
Since 1996, I am struggling with this severe chronic pain in my chest and breathing problems. I have tried several regular and alternative therapies without finding any relief until now. This is really a deep dark night of the soul. I guess this emotional blockage is the result of perfectionism, fear, high sensitivity from birth, a divorce in 1994 and a curse by my father in 1996, shortly before the pain started. As a result, I have also read very widely on alternative therapies and meditation, which was for me however hard to practise with all this pain.
Last week-end then, I was (for the third year) on a pilgrimage to Liège (Legion of Little Souls =) http://www.geocities.com/Athens/3431/google!) and for the first time I was so impressed and touched by everything there. Many people tend to be cynical about popular devotion and simple things (as I did before) but God touched me. I loved the sacral Latin Mass and beautiful liturgy celebrated by the bishop there, the simple down to earth and Marian devotion of these people, the figure of John the Baptist (his feast day), the excellent homily on humility and poverty of spirit, and the messages of Marguerite…

So I find the role of Mother Mary crucial! Rosary prayer is not only a means towards contemplation but it is much more.
people adviced me to go into psychoanalysis, but I think I better stay with rosary prayer!

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20021016_rosarium-virginis-mariae_en.html

http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html

PAX,
Fred

By: Bill Gildenstern

Bill Gildenstern — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:28:25 +0000

I speak as somewhat of an expert on the rosary, having been repeatedly quoted in various feature articles in newspapers around the world.

The rosary is extremely misunderstood. It is not a Catholic prayer. It is a prayer for all Christians. It is not a prayer to Mary. In the rosary, we ask Mary to come with us as we pray to her Son, and to pray for us in the same way that St. Paul asked the recipients of his letters to pray for him.

The rosary is not a prayer to praise Mary, as all praise is to be directed only to our God. Worship of Mary within the Catholic Church is considered a sin which cannot be forgiven until such worship has been stopped.

Early reformers Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, John Wesley and others have defended the language “Holy Mary, mother of God” repeatedly in both their sermons and their writings.

The rosary is not just a string of memorized prayers, but also a method of remaining in the state of prayer while we meditate on important and specific scriptural passages about Jesus.

John Wesley’s rosary is on display in Cambridge, England.

While the rosary is not a Catholic prayer, its perception as such led to disuse by many followers of these reformers. The sixteenth century was unfortunately a time of great anger and great persecution.

Jesus gave Mary as mother to all of us from the cross through John. It’s time for all of us to once again claim that gift.

By: Sue

Sue — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:06:59 +0000

I have a number of Catholic and Anglican rosaries. I am Episcopalian, and we have no problems with praying the Marian/Dominican rosary, although we normally use only four prayers–the apostle’s creed, lord’s prayer, hail mary and gloria… We don’t use the Hail Holy Queen at the end like most Catholics use, or the Fatima prayer some incorporate.

I really enjoy the Anglican rosary, though, because of the variety of prayers that can be said and its adaptability.

As a fan of mystic Julian of Norwich, I particularly enjoy the rosary that uses the following format:

Cross–In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Invitatory bead–O God make speed to save us, O Lord make haste to help us–glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen.

Cruciform beads–God of your goodness, give me yourself, For you are enough to me. And I can ask for nothing less that is to your glory. And if I ask for anything less, I shall still be in want, for only in you have I all.

Weeks beads–All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.

For a good book on making and using Anglican rosaries and the history of prayer beads, try “Bead One, Pray Too” by Kimberly Winston

Anglican rosary prayers can be adapted to the Catholic rosary by using the invitatory bead prayer on the first of the three beads after the cross (and using two prayers of your choice on the other two), using the cruciform bead prayers on the “our father” beads” and the weeks beads prayers on the Hail Mary beads.

I also recommend “Praying with Beads-Daily Prayers for the Christian Year” by Nan Lewis Doerr and Virginia Stem Owens because they use scriptures from the readings in the Book of Common Prayer for the various weeks–and offer a morning, noon and evening variant of each prayer. I find these a nice variation for praying the Daily Office, although I rely on several memorized rosary prayers including the Julian one, for my more meditative/contemplative rosary prayer practice.

Thank you.

By: Christian Rosary

Christian Rosary — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:50:26 +0000

I followed the PDF instructions and finished my first rosary! thank you! I always wanted to do that

By: Daedelus

Daedelus — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:32:31 +0000

Marion devotion seems like a hard thing to grasp for many Protestants, perhaps because they gloss over biblical support for it (particular in Luke). I was raised Protestant and taught that devotion to Mary was “not cool”. But, I can see the usefulness of that, to seeing the Divine as not only a bearded man up in the sky. Take it too far though and you end up with mysandrist attitudes, though, or ignore the deep humanity of a figure like Jesus, who simply went beyond modern definitions of masculinity.

In Buddhism, the bodhisattva Quan Shih Yin (“the one who listens”) or Kanon is very popular as a figure of devotion. In some areas where there is religious syncreticism, she is even identified with the Virgin Mary. In more modern art, sometimes she is even portrayed holding a baby, although usually she just holds a willow branch and a jar filled with compassion, sitting on a lotus or on top of a dragon.

By: Daedelus

Daedelus — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:16:55 +0000

I have used a Buddhism mala alot in the past (Om Shanti Shanti Shanti, repeated silently over and over, focusing on the words), so, I am curious about the Rosary, and how it differs. It seems to me many of the Rosary prayers are longer than just mantras. I am buying an Anglican rosary and will try it out, and see how it differs for myself.

By: Karen Thomas

Karen Thomas — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:56:31 +0000

Carl, funny I should find myself on this site… Nice artical on the rosary

My new spiritual name is Dear Miryam- using the Hebrew spelling for Mary.

Hope you are well

By: Janet Burke

Janet Burke — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:30:07 +0000

… in case anyone reads the last post I wrote regarding the Rosary, I’m sorry if that last part comes off as anti-Catholic. What I meant was that reading a book about the Rosary that seems to exclude non-Catholics from saying the Rosary or puts forth the idea that it is a first step toward converting, which I have encountered, is discouraging to me as a non-Catholic. However, I did not find that to be the case at all with Liz Kelly’s book. It was very inclusive.

By: Janet Burke

Janet Burke — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 01:40:05 +0000

Having been raised Methodist and later to attend the United Church of Christ I had no tradition of praying the Rosary. In fact, I had no relationship at all with the Virgin Mary, whom I feel more comfortable referring to as simply, Mary. However, about two years ago I was considering giving the Rosary a go as a tool for meditation. Suddenly references to praying the Rosary starting popping up in books I happened to be reading, books that were not of religious subject matter. And in a couple of the references, the person speaking of their practice of praying the Rosary, or a feeling of affinity or attraction to the Virgiin Mary… were Protestant like myself. I took these coincidences as a sign and began praying the Rosary about a year ago. I can say this about it. Of all the meditation practices I’ve attempted this is the only one I actually look forward to doing! It gives me a sense of peace and focus which I have noticed has seeped into other parts of my life. One of the first examples of this was about 2 months into saying the Rosary daily I suddenly had the courage and commitment to sign up for and go on a weekend bus trip to DC for the first really big Peace Rally.
For me, there is something about the physical handling of the beads during prayer that keeps me focused and gives me a sense of connection to the spirit that I had difficulty with when practicing such things as Transcendental Meditation (TM). And, totally new to any prayer or meditation experiences I’ve had in the past, I always have a feeling of positive anticipation immediately before beginning and my mind doesn’t wander, nor do I fall asleep during it the way I would in the past… OK, I HAVE dozed a couple times, but it doesn’t happen very often. The book I chose to read which taught me how to say the prayers, etc. is on your list here. It was “The Rosary; a path into prayer” by Liz Kelly. I highly recommend it, especially to non-Catholics. It’s easy to read and understand and even mentions and encourages the use of the Rosary for non-Catholics. Other books I’ve picked up on the subject have ultimately at some point pushed a hope or philosophy that it was either for Catholics or a step toward becoming Catholic… a big turn off for me.