Province of Mary, Mother of the Americas

I have recently been the recipient of all kinds of testimonies concerning the rosary. People have reported that their discovery – or rediscovery – of this prayer-form has aided them immensely in their prayer life. It is as if they had discovered something totally new about the Church, about Mary, about Jesus, or about prayer. Young and old alike seem to be equally blessed in this regard. 

 

What strikes me in regard to the rosary is the way in which a traditional prayer-form can also be so contemporary. It reminds me of Jesus' saying, “Every scribe who is learned in the reign of God is like the head of a household who can bring from his storeroom both the new and the old” (Matthew 13:52). We come to see that there are treasures in our traditions, treasures waiting to be brought into the light of our own day. Let us pray that we are equal to the task.

 

When we hear someone mention the word "rosary", all sorts of images can spring to mind – images vivid because they are so often connected with our childhood, our introduction to the Church, our memories of loved ones. . .

 

In one way or another, however, we probably all picture a string of beads with a crucifix attached to one end. This is a rosary. But it is not what the word rosary first named. “Rosary” first referred to the collection of prayers, the repetition of “Our Fathers” and “Hail Marys” and the mysteries that were presented for meditation.

 

In other words, what we need to remember is that the rosary is prayer, the relationship we have with God made explicit. There is no magic in owning a set of rosary beads; there is, however, always life offered to the one who approaches the Lord in prayer.

 

St. Dominic in Prayer by El Greco (1541-1614)

How It Began

 

No one knows how the rosary as we know it came to be. Pious tradition has linked its beginnings to St. Dominic; however, such a connection is only made by a late biographer. We do know, however, that the practice of meditating on points in the life of Jesus and Mary goes back to St. Dominic's time – the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries.

 

It took a few more centuries before the rosary came to be recited in the form we recognize; an “Our Father”, ten “Hail Marys”, and a “Glory Be,” while meditating on one of the fifteen (now twenty) mysteries of the life of Mary and Jesus. There is still a flexibility to the recitation of the rosary, which makes it so adaptable for public or private prayer, with all kinds of people in all kinds of situations, depending on the needs of the moment.

 

 

Pope John XXIII

As children we may have been introduced to the recitation of the prayers of the rosary. It is only as we have grown and come to understand more about prayer, more about our faith and the beliefs of our Church, that the mysteries of the rosary take on more meaning. It is our meditating upon these that allows this prayer to touch our lives here and now, and allows us to touch the lives of Jesus and Mary, gaining new life from that contact.

 

On September 26, 1959, Pope John XXIII issued an encyclical “On the Devout Recitation of the Rosary.” He especially urged the praying of the rosary during the month of October, as had his predecessors, Leo XIII and Pius XII. But he asked that it be prayed for very contemporary purposes.

 

“That the (leaders) responsible for the destinies of the great and small nations… may attentively assess the serious duty of the present hour… That they may assess the sad tally of ruin and of harm wrought by armed conflicts… and that they may not place any trust in them… that they may adapt civil and social legislation

to the real needs of (all people)…”

 

In 1962, Pope John XXIII published “Meditations on the Rosary.” This is his meditation on the fifth Joyful Mystery:

 

 

The Child Jesus with the doctors in the Temple

Jesus is now 12 years old. Mary and Joseph accompany him to Jerusalem for the ritual prayer of that age. Suddenly He disappears from the sight of his loving and vigilant parents. There is great anxiety in the three-day search.

 

He is found in the temple reasoning with the doctors about the law. How significant are the words of St. Luke who describes him so clearly! They found him sitting in the midst of the doctors “listening to them and asking questions.” That meeting place of the doctors constituted everything in those times: knowledge, wisdom and practical directives in the light of the Old Testament.

 

In every age, this is the duty of human intelligence: to gather together the voices of the centuries, to transmit the good doctrine humbly to make way for the vision of scientific investigation about the future. Christ is found everywhere in the midst of (people), and that is his proper place: “You call me Master…, and you say well, for so I am.”

 

The fifth decade of Hail Marys of the Joyful Mysteries is a special prayer for the benefit of all those who are called to the service of truth and charity, in research, in teaching and in the diffusion of the new audiovisual techniques. All of them are urged to imitate Jesus: scientists, professors, teachers, journalists – and particularly journalists who have the characteristic duty to do honor always to the good doctrine in its purity without the counterfeit of fantasy.

 

 

Did you notice hoe Pope John allowed the mystery to put us back in touch with the Jesus of scripture? We can picture the worry of Mary and Joseph, their surprise and confusion at finding the child Jesus. The sight of Jesus amongst the learned teachers of the Torah can bring to mind all sorts of ideas about Jesus’ role as teacher, as interpreter of the Jewish Law and Prophets, as bearer and giver of wisdom. 

 

The meditation also puts us in touch with our world today. Notice how Pope John goes on to pray for the needs of those involved in communications, that truth might be served. The prayer might become very specific for us at that point, for we all know a teacher, or may be involved in studies, or are concerned about the effects of television and video-games on our children – whatever. The point is, the mystery involves us by addressing our life situation.

 

That is the purpose and the beauty of the mysteries of the rosary – that they put us in touch with the richness of scripture, and at the same time bring before God the needs of our lives, our families, our Church and our world,

 

You see, the word mystery here does not refer to something puzzling or difficult to understand. That's how we use the word in everyday language. Here, the word mystery refers to a truth that can be gone back to again and again. Each return brings us further into the truth, reveals a little more of the love of God and the reality of Jesus for us today. Mystery is never depleted; it always has more to show us.

 

 

In its origins and its transmission, the rosary was seen as particularly apt for promoting a lay spirituality. Lay people could not afford the time the monks, nuns, and clerics of the Middle Ages put into their daily regimen of prayer and meditation. But they could afford the time it took to pray the rosary – indeed, it could be prayed while at work, or traveling, or during the short time of quiet at the end of a busy day.

 

Nor did the rosary require the great books of meditations or the amount of formal study the monastic spirituality entailed. The mysteries of the rosary are simple points in the life of Jesus and Mary, easily entrusted

to memory.

 

Perhaps this is a reason for the rediscovery of the rosary today – the need and desire for a simple lay spirituality, one that has its roots in scripture and is very much at the heart of the Church. But there is also a challenge here – to adapt the rosary to the needs of today, 

to understand what is required in a basic lay spirituality, and to see how that might be appropriately met. With its unique characteristics, the rosary promises to be so adaptable as to play its part in the quest for a contemporary lay spirituality.

 

 

There is a final note to which we must pay attention. We recognize that the rosary is traditionally a Marian devotion, both in the telling of the beads and the points given for meditation. In an age of ecumenism, an age of rediscovering the person of Jesus and the gifts of the Spirit, Mary has received less attention. Our understanding of her place in theology and worship has lagged behind other aspects.

 

But a devotion to Mary always puts us in touch with our honored position as human beings, for Mary was fully human, fully open to the word of God. We see ourselves mirrored in her life.

 

It also puts us in touch with Jesus, because Mary always points beyond herself to her Son. We as Christians need to see ourselves and Jesus, and see these two elements connected. Mary is in a unique position to help us in this awareness.