Rosary Redux

For a quick how-to guide, check out http://www.rosary-center.org/howto.htm.

This is my method, no papal approval or priestly blessings, merely one Protestant woman's often bungled attempt to pray.

Traditionally, you start the rosary by making the sign of the cross. Touch forehead, center of chest, left shoulder, right shoulder. I find this somewhat foreign gesture meaningful: God, in my head, my mind; Jesus, in my heart, my soul; Holy Spirit on my shoulders, helping, guiding, keeping a lookout.

Next is the Apostle's Creed, a bunch of mumbo-jumbo I knew by heart almost before I could read. As years pass, though, those rote words take on meaning, meaning I can live with, beliefs I hold dear. Even in great pain. Even under doubt and stress and anger. Even when God is the last person I want to deal with.

"I believe in God the Father, Maker of Heaven and Earth..." Yeah. I do. I look around at this big beautiful messy world we live in, and I see God, somewhere. Always. Even when I am mad at God, Nature calls to me. Or a friend. Or a sibling. I believe in God. I believe in the Creator.

"...and in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into Hell. The third day he arose from the dead. He ascended into Heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead..." Okay. Sometimes I take a few liberties with interpretation, but I believe that Jesus came to connect Heaven and Earth. I believe his mother found herself inexplicably pregnant. I believe this innocent man suffered and died to atone for my sin and yours. And I believe Jesus loves and understands humanity. I don't understand how it works, but I believe it.

"...I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting." These concepts present no real obstacles: the Holy Spirit, Dickinson's "thing with feathers", the dove that alludes to both the Transfiguration and the grounding of Noah's ark. Our guide and helper. "Catholic" simply means "universal". The whole church. All of God's people, wherever they might be. "The communion of saints" feels to me a matter open to my personal interpretation, and so I remember the pot luck dinners at my home church, with old Mrs. Carter's chicken and dumplings, young Mrs. Carter's cookies, Mrs. DeMario's cake, and my mother's spicy beef. Most are surely saints now, if not then, and the memory is comforting. Or to be more academic, the saints of the church, in communion with each other and with God. And with me, somehow. "The forgiveness of sins." God, I surely hope so! "The resurrection of the body"--Jesus' or mine makes little difference to me. However Heaven works, I believe it works. That "life everlasting". There had better be life after this one. Don't get me wrong, this one is lovely in many ways. But I cling passionately to the idea that one day, this world will make some sort of sense. One day, I'll enjoy old Mrs. Carter's chicken and dumplings again. One day, I'll know that my 20 year old son--the one whose untimely death sparked my interest in the rosary--one day, I'll know he's okay.

Next up, we'll tackle the structure of the rosary.