Is the Rosary superstitious? Is it simply a prayer for old ladies? For the unsophisticated?
Absolutely not.
The Holy Rosary is a very monastic prayer, not unlike Lectio Divina. With the prayers of the Holy Rosary the person praying more or less unconsciously exercises himself in the prayer of Lectio Divina: lectio, meditatio, oratio, contemplatio. In the recitation of the Rosary we announce the mystery of each decade - a sort of lectio, then ruminating the mystery as we pray - meditatio, while praying the word - oratio, thus opening the soul to contemplatio - lifted up, as it were, into the very bosom of the Holy Trinity, through the intercession of Our Lady. Of course the Rosary is a prayer focused upon the Gospel and the words of the prayer are the words of the Gospel itself, thus it leads the soul ever deeper into the very heart of the Gospel. The Rosary becomes a wonderful companion and continuation of the exercises of communal liturgical prayer and private sacred study. A monk shouldn't leave his cell without it.
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Going forward, for the month of October I will try to post more on the Holy Rosary.
I have always loved the rosary, even when I didn't fully understand it.
ReplyDeleteI keep one with me at all times so that in long lines, waiting at the doctor, spare fifteen minutes here and there, I can pray the rosary.
The immediate benefits are calmness and serenity, the long term benefits are infinite!
Years ago I began collecting rosaries and when a friend travels and asks me what I want brought back I always say that I would like a rosary made in the country to which they traveled. They have all been blessed and they all are used.
The rosary is my favorite devotion!
It is a great gift from Our Lady.
Thanks Terry for emphasizing the Rosary on your blog! Our Blessed Mother is ALWAYS with us.
ReplyDelete-Paul
Hello Terry,
ReplyDeleteThough it should have been obvious, considering the Rosary as a form of Lectio never occurred to me.
Was that a quotation?
Pax,
John
Hi John, no this wasn't a quotation. It is just my opinion and I may be wrong.
ReplyDeleteTerry, I don't think you're wrong.
ReplyDeleteYes, more posts on the rosary!
ReplyDeleteI love the Rosary; it's not an "anti-monastic prayer"...in fact, the Carthusians really endorsed it just by their praying of it...they wear it on their cincture, I believe...it really has its origins in the desert Fathers, with their praying of the Paters...
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