Dear Parishioners,

Among Roman Catholics, October has traditionally been observed as the month dedicated to the rosary, the time-honored prayer that in many ways epitomizes our devotional life. October acquired this designation by Pope Saint Pius V who inaugurated the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 7 in thanksgiving for a battle victory which the Christians enjoyed over the Turks at Lepanto in 1573. But prior to this historical moment, the rosary had already endeared itself to Christians.

One of the oldest prayers addressed to the Virgin Mary is from (at least) the 3"d century and is called Sub tuum praesidium, Latin for "Under your protection." The prayer reads:

We fly to your patronage,
O holy Mother of God;
do not despise our petitions in our difficulties,
but deliver us from all dangers, always,
O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.

This prayer that has been translated in numerous languages including Greek, Latin, Coptic. Old Slavonic and English, is unique because it does not recount some historical event of the past, but instead is directed to the present moment when immediate assistance is needed. While this may appear to be a rather minor characteristic of the prayer, it in fact reveals something that is highly significant -- that from the early centuries Christians have called upon the prayerful intercession of the Mother of God to assist them in time of trial. It is from this conviction that devotion to Mary grew into the many expressions that are common in many cultures and faiths. The reformer, Martin Luther, had a profound devotion to the Blessed Virgin as well as to the rosary. Luther's objection was to the practice of indulgences that accrued themselves to the rosary and that created the erroneous understanding that prayers of this sort (or any sort for that matter) could manipulate God and cause souls to be released from purgatory.

The rosary as we have it today appeared in the 14th & 15h centuries. Its name is from the Latin word Rosarium which literally means "rose garden." Pius legends have claimed that St. Dominic Guzman, the founder of the Dominican order in the 13th century, received a vision from the Virgin Mary who presented him with the rosary asking him to popularize it among people of faith. There seems to be no reference of this to this vision in the writings of St. Dominic, and even though Dominicans, even to this day, externally wear a 15 decade rosary on their habits, the rosary existed prior to the foundation of the Dominicans.

Using beads or stones as a counting device to help people keep track of repeated prayers is common in several faith traditions. The Christian rosary usually consists of 153 beads - 150 Hail Mary's, in 5 decades plus 3 added at the beginning, 6 Our Fathers, 6 Glory Be to the Father ... and the Apostles Creed. There are currently 4 sets of events from the life of Mary and Jesus called "The Mysteries" that commemorate the most prominent moments in salvation history: Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and Luminous.

These mysteries provide food for meditation as one repeats the Hail Mary's and Our Fathers, in a beautiful rhythmic manner that leads one to a prayerful awareness of God. Some historians have suggested that the 150 Hail Mary's represented the 150 Psalms in the Bible, and that the rosary was a substitute form of prayer for the less educated or illiterate monks who were unable to read the actual texts of the psalms during the Divine Office. Whatever its origin, the rosary became immensely popular from its inception because: it was portable, it could be prayed in the language of the people, it could be prayed by the laity with the presence of a priest (although the clergy adopted the rosary as well), it delighted the religious imaginations of people who could place themselves in the biblical contexts of the different mysteries and it provided something that was tactile, thus appealing to the sense of touch. In addition to all these, the rosary offered optional ways to pray. One could pray the rosary by concentrating on the actual prayers themselves. One could pray the rosary by directing one's attention to any of the mysteries of our faith. Or one could pray simply by holding this article consisting of beads and a cross that are strung together and fashioned into a circle, which is a most fitting way that expresses the timeless, limitless quality of God's life and love.

I believe the ultimate reason that the rosary has been consistently popular among Christians down through the centuries to our present day is because it celebrates the "stuff" of life using it as the source for prayer and the means of encountering the Divine. In his comprehensive work, The Mystery of the Rosary: Marian Devotion and the Reinvention of Catholicism, the liturgical and historian scholar, Nathan Mitchell, writes:

Embedded in these events (i.e., Mysteries) are profoundly human and accessible motives, conflicts and emotions. The deal with the raw material of the human drama: a young woman suddenly confronted with an intruder whose "improbably" message leaves her stunned, confused and pregnant. There follows a panicky trip to a trusted older relative who, though surely postmenopausal -- also becomes pregnant leaving her agreed husband literally speechless. Then we hear of parents in flight, a birth on the run in a stinking, unsanitary shed. After that, the drama continues with an old man's promise that the kid will run into deep trouble and the mother's heart will be broken - followed by the scary episode of a missing child.

The abovementioned description is of the Joyful Mysteries. One could prayerfully explore the Sorrowful, Glorious and Luminous mysteries in a similar manner as well. Taken altogether, the rosary and the sacred mysteries it puts before us, reveal the glory of our mortal life in which a God, who is passionately in love with us, chooses to interact with us in such a manner so as to lead us to the glory of an eternal life. How blessed we are to have this form of prayer literally at our fingertips!

Fr. Gabriel O.S.B.

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