Form and Function

The building blocks of the rosary are familiar to most Christians, although one mystery and a handful of words derive from the Roman Catholic tradition. But what are these words? What goes where? Why?

Traditionally, the rosary is prayed while you hold an actual rosary--the beads. Personally, I prefer to say the prayers as I walk, often at breakneck, witch-on-a-warpath speed, counting the Hail Marys on my fingers.

Prayers of the rosary:
- Apostle's Creed
- Lord's Prayer
- Hail Mary
- Gloria Patri
- "O My Jesus" (optional Fatima prayer, not part of "official" rosary)
- "Hail Holy Queen" (Roman Catholic intercessory prayer)

Format:
1) Sign of the cross.
2) Apostle's Creed
3) Lord's Prayer
4) Hail Mary (repeat three times)
5) Announce first Mystery (more on these in a later post)
6) Lord's Prayer
7) Hail Mary (repeat ten times)
8) Gloria Patri
9) "O My Jesus" (optional--the Fatima prayer. I say it because I like it)
10) Announce second Mystery
11) Hail Mary (ten)...
...and so forth

The physical sign of the cross, Apostle's Creed, initial Lord's Prayer, and trio of Hail Marys form a sort of introduction. (See earlier post for my thoughts on the sign of the cross and Apostle's Creed.)

"Our Father, who art in Heaven." OUR father. Not mine. Just saying the words reminds me that we are in community, that my problems and praises are part of a cacophony going up to Heaven at any given time.

"Hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." The enduring strength of Jesus' not-so-subtle reminder of Who is in charge is not lost on me.

"Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." Again, Jesus' words hit me where I live. Bread? How boring! Like little Oliver Twist, "I want some more, please." And then I'm not even allowed forgiveness of my sins unless I can also forgive the sins against me. But charging on:

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Even when evil is really, really fun? Even when temptation seems almost innocent? But before I get too bogged down in these questions, Jesus moves us along to remind me once again that God is in charge, whether I like it or not: "For thine are the kingdom and the power and the glory forever." (I substitute my Protestant version of the Lord's Prayer. Most Catholics use their traditional "Our Father", which ends after "...deliver us from evil.")

And from there to the Hail Mary, a simple and endearing prayer for intercession from the woman God chose to bear the Son: "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." Straight out of Luke, nothing to quibble with here. And then: "Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our deaths." Sounds good to me. At the risk of sacrilege, BTO said it pretty well: "Any love is good love, so I took what I could get" (Bachman Turner Overdrive, "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet"). You bet I'll take Mary's prayers on my behalf. Now and at the hour of my death.

The structure of the rosary is powerful and logical. The beginning creed--literally, "I believe"--followed by the one prayer Jesus taught us and a plea to his mother for her support sets my mind in the right gear. These are not personal prayers. They are the collective cry of all God's people.

As I say these words, often in an unintelligible, under-the-breath mumble that involves a combination of mouthed words, spoken words, and imagined words, my mind doesn't necessarily focus automatically. I don't feel a sudden calm, a secure beam of light from on high that reassures me God is listening. These are not magical words. But they are powerful.

Next up, Mysteries.