Our Lady of the Rosary: The Rosary and October

Today, October 7th, is the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. October is in fact that month of the Rosary. You will hear it said that it commemorates the victory of a Christian fleet against an invading Muslim force at the Battle of Lepanto. More than anything, however, it commemorates the power of this prayer to Jesus through Mary, as exemplified by the victory given to that outnumbered fleet.

The Rosary, of course, has a long history ante-dating this event battle. Prayer beads had long been used with various styles of prayer from very early times. Indeed, they are also found in non-Christian cultures. Among Christians, as early as the seventh century, there was a practice among the laity to recite 150 Hail Marys, in imitation of the 150 Psalms, which were sung by monks throughout the week. It is out of this "Psalter of Mary" that the Rosary was to emerge, and it is still sometimes called by this name.

At its core, praying the Rosary consists of three sets of five "decades." These decades consist of one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, and one Glory be. During each decade, one meditates on a Mystery (that is, a revealed truth) about Our Lord (or his Blessed Mother, those these mysteries be seen as an extension of the mystery of Our Lord, as they pertain to God's love for her). Offering a rosary is understood to consist in essence of praying five such decades. Nevertheless, various additions have been made to this prayer. I am not aware of any version of the Rosary where these decades are not preceded by an additional Our Father and three Hail Marys.

The beginning of the prayer varies according to local custom. In the United States (and I believe all of the English speaking world) the practice is to begin with the Sign of the Cross and the Apostles' Creed while holding the crucifix attached to the Rosary. In Rome, the practice is to begin with the opening words of the Divine Office: "Lord, open my lips. And my mouth will proclaim your praise. God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be . . ."Hail, Holy Queen (Salve Regina). This is usually followed by a collect (concluding prayer). Additionally, the Litany of Loreto (about which more will be written on Saturday) can follow. Finally, the prayer to St. Joseph might be made after the Rosary.

This certainly does not exhaust the possibilities of praying the Rosary, or the adaptations which can be made by an individual or group. For instance, one might desire to pray the Memorare before the Rosary in order to better set a prayerful mood. Moreover, various prayers may be added, for vocations, peace, etc

It should not go without saying that in 2002 John Paul II, in the Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, introduced five new optional mysteries for meditation during the Rosary, known as the Luminous Mysteries. These include 1) the Baptism in the Jordan; 2) the Wedding at Cana; 3) the Proclamation of the Kingdom and Call to Repentance; 4) the Transfiguration; and 5) the Eucharist.

It should be noted that this has caused a great deal of consternation among a number of traditionalists. The primary reason is that it appears to sever the practice from its roots as substitution or complement for the Psalter (i.e., as "Mary's Psalter"). Nevertheless, one could argue that there are already various chaplets offered using Rosary beads anyway. We can see this simply as another of those chaplets.
Regarding the Rosary, we find the following text in the Enchiridion no. 17 sec. 1:

• A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who
• 1. devoutly recite the Marian rosary in a church or oratory, or in a family, a religious community, or an association of the faithful, and in general when several of the faithful gather for some honest purpose.
• 2. devoutly join in the recitation of the rosary while it is being recited by the Supreme Pontiff and broadcast live by radio or television.
• In other circumstances, the indulgence will be partial

Praying the Rosary under these circumstances is indeed one of six ways in which a member of the faithful may gain a plenary indulgence on any day. The other ways would include: 1) devoutly reading Sacred Scripture for 30 minutes; 2) devoutly praying before the Blessed Sacrament for 30 minutes; 3) praying the Stations of the Cross; 4) praying the Akathistos hymn under the same circumstances as the Rosary; 5) praying the Paraclesis service under the same circumstances

In this month of October, and on this Feast Day, we have a great opportunity to renew or take up this practice for the first time.

To Jesus through Mary

Today is the Feast of the Nativity of Mary. It is one of the 10 High Feast Days in the Eastern Church, while (like the Transfiguration) a little less emphasized in the Western Church. Nevertheless, it is one of the feasts in honor of our Lady, coming nine month after her Immaculate Conception (just as the Nativity of Jesus, Christmas, is celebrated nine months after the Solemnity of the Annunciation).

Given the particularly Marian character of this day (or what's left of it -- I'm writing this at about 11:00 pm), it seemed best to present the first part of the project of the prayer book under construction. The first part of the prayer book (or at least the first part of the prayer book which I am writing) contains four different settings of the Rosary.

One might wonder why there might need to be four different settings of the Rosary. Typically, I assume that when someone prays the Rosary, it is based upon the bare minimum Rosary card they might receive when first introduced to this prayer (especially in the case of converts, or those of us who grew up in an environment where "Catholics just don't do that anymore"). Sometimes, they might have a prayer book or small Rosary devotion book which contains brief meditations such as "Consider how the apostles were over-joyed to see the Risen Lord." Sometimes the meditations can be quite elaborate.

John Paul II, in his Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, proposed that we use Scripture as the primary meditation text for the Rosary itself. Thus, after one begins the Rosary with the Apostles' Creed, Our Father and Three Hail Marys, they proceed to announce the first mystery. After announcing the first mystery, it is proper to present the text from Scripture relating to the Mystery then announced. Thereafter, one continues to meditate on the Mystery of Our Lord with Mary, praying the Lord's Prayer and the ten Hail Marys. Moreover, that this prayer may be more intimately tied to the Sacred Liturgy, it was proposed that Collects (the prayers said after the Kyrie and Gloria in the Mass, and before the Readings) conclude the prayer. This is an excellent idea, as there are suitable Collects from our Tradition for each of the Mysteries.

When John Paul II's death was announced to the world, a priest who was a spokesperson for the Vatican, after announcing the death, began to lead the people gathered in St. Peter's Square in prayer. The prayer chosen was the Rosary. During this particular Rosary, after the announcement of the Mystery, the priest read a passage from Scripture, followed by a passage from the Catechism. Given that they were in Rome, the Rosary was, of course, in Italian. For much of the last five and more years since this event, I have often looked for an arrangement of the Rosary such as this, to no avail.

I have also had the blessed opportunity to become acquainted with the Blog What Does the Prayer Really Say?, wherein Fr. Z, the author, began a Patristic Rosary project. For those who do not know. Patristic Literature refers to those writings lasting from the end of the New Testament writings (beginning with the Apostolic Fathers) through to the the sixth or seventh century (generally ending with St. Gregory the Great in the West and St. John Damascene in the East). As ressourcement was a goal of Vatican II, i.e., going back to the ancient sources, it is understandable that anyone seeking to implement devotions in the "Spirit of Vatican II" would certainly want to include such a measure in the life of their parishes and families.

There have been some publications which have sought to include readings from Scripture alongside Collects. In particular, I can mention A Prayer Book of Catholic Devotions: Praying the Seasons and Feasts of the Church Year, by William G. Storey and published by Loyola Press. This prayer book gives short Scripture verses for each Mystery of the Rosary, as well as Collects for each. Additionally, citations of longer passages are provided. Unforunately, the longer passages are not themselves included within the text, meaning that one would need to thumb through one's own Bible while trying to pray the Rosary, or else type out their own devotional text. In addition, the prayers concluding the reading are not, as far as I can tell, from the Liturgy (although some are certainly inspired by liturgical prayers).

Another publication worth mentioning is the booklet The Rosary with the Luminous Mysteries: Scripture Meditations and Prayers from the Liturgy. I admit that I have used this much more frequently in my own personal prayer life. It is small and easily portable. It also provides images of each of the Mysteries of the Rosary as well. Unfortunately, the Scripture Meditations are often Paraphrases. Moreover, after a brief verse from Scripture for the Third Luminous Mystery, we are met with a non-Scriptural commentary of the need to go to Confession (not a bad thing in itself, and something intimately tied to the Mystery; nevertheless, the meditation should consistently be from Scripture).

Despite what I see as shortcomings of these two publications, I do not want to seem ungrateful for the inspiration they have provided. Without having access to them, I do not believe that I would have been inspired to make this prayer book. Moreover, the variety of forms of Scripture Meditations, especially combined with other texts for meditation, have inspired me to make four settings of the Rosary in my prayer book. Those settings may be found as follows:

• The First Setting consists of short readings from Scripture, largely inspired by the work of A Prayer Book of Catholic Devotions. I have not yet decided (mostly because I do not know the costs that will be associated with the endeavor) whether to include images with this first setting or not.
• The Second Setting will have a medium-sized reading from Scripture followed by a reading from the Catechism for each mystery, with a Collect from the Liturgy to conclude each decade.
• The Third Setting will contain identical medium-sized readings from Scripture as those of the Second Setting, but followed by relevant readings from the Fathers of the Church. The Collects concluding the decade are also identical to those of the Second Setting.
• The Fourth Setting will include long readings from Scripture. The same collects as found in the Second and Third Settings will similarly be used in this setting.

Thus far, I have been able to set the First, Second, and Fourth Settings. I will take some time in finding appropriate Patristic readings. I hope to be finished with this section within the next couple of days. Thereafter, we should be approaching the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross and the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. That would be a perfect time to mention the plans for the Stations of the Cross, and perhaps the Seven Sorrows.

Lex Orandi

After many years of not finding any physical prayer book suitable for devotions of individuals, families, and parishes, I finally got the bright idea to create my own. This blog is to express my intentions for the creation of this prayer book, as well as to solicit ideas for what it ought to contain. The book shall be respectful of the tradition of the Catholic Church, presenting traditional renderings of the Rosary, Stations of the Cross, Seven Sorrows, etc. Nevertheless, in a spirit of continuity of tradition, and influenced by the forces behind the Vatican II, it is my intention to provide meditation texts from Scripture, and the Fathers of the Church, for these traditional devotions. I will certainly include a Scriptural Way of the Cross alongside that of St. Alphonsus Liguori.

Over the last two decades, the Holy Fathers John Paul II and Benedict XVI have worked strenuously to reassert awareness of the Church's Lex Credendi. This may especially be seen by the completion of The Catechism of the Catholic Church and The Catechism of the Catholic Church: Compendium. I would recommend everyone have both of these.

Similarly, John Paul II sought to instill in everyone a great sense of the Lex Vivendi, the rule of living called for by the Gospel. This may be seen especially in his catecheses on the Theology of the Body.

In the present, and especially for the last decade or two, there has been a great movement especially toward strengthening the Lex Celebrandi, the rule of celebrating of the Church. As a Cardinal, Joseph Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI, was instrumental in giving life to this movement. Even now, he is supportive of those who hope to bring liturgical praxis into greater continuity with our tradition, respecting the authentic reforms called for by Vatican II while also allowing greater use of Extraordinary Form of the Mass of the Roman Rite, a priceless treasure we should never lose.

Among the reforms sought are restoring Gregorian Chant to having "pride of place," in the music of the liturgy, as the music proper to the liturgy. The work done at musicasacra.com is essential to this work. Further, there has been a movement to a literal, richer, more poetic translation of the Roman Missal. At any rate, Latin teachers would no longer have to give our Mass translations a failing grade.

In the wake of these movements toward a greater enculturation, there remains the matter of the Lex Orandi, the rule of praying. John Paul II began much work in this direction, particularly with the Rosary and the Stations of the Cross. Starting in 1991, he created a new Scriptural Way of the Cross, also consisting of fourteen crosses as stations. In 2003, he authored the Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae. In this text, introduced the Luminous Mysteries to the traditional Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries. Further, he advocated that, after announcing the mystery, that a text from Scripture be used for meditation, with the decade concluded with a Collect from the Liturgy.

In English, we need a prayer book that fully respects the great traditions of our Church and preserves the best of the older forms in their integrity. Also, we are in need of forms of these devotions drawing on the ancient wisdom of the Scriptures and the Patristic literature. This in no way disrespects the fruitful development of the Middle Ages, but rather seeks to breathe in the air that is ever ancient, and ever new.

Such is my project, and such is my endeavor to make some small contribution toward strengthening the Church's timeless Lex Orandi.