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.

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.

Introduction

I am Protestant, born and bred; praying the rosary is not part of my heritage. But when my son was killed, I found myself unable to pray and unwilling not to. The prayers of the rosary allowed me the space I needed and the connection I craved.

In those early days, I thought I heard God whisper within the shout of those familiar prayers: "You matter immensely to Me."

Like prayer, blogs can offer two-way conversation, but they usually don't. I hope this one does.

My husband's response, tongue firmly in cheek: "Oh, a blog for all the other rosary scholars."

Yes. A blog for those of us who find purpose and meaning in those words we've known since childhood.

I hope you will join the conversation.