Rosary

Aug 01 2024

The Rosary: A Private or Public Devotion

In 1961 Venerable Patrick Peyton gathered 550,000 people in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park to pray the most holy Rosary. This was a tremendous victory for promoting the praying of the Rosary as well as family prayer. Ven. Patrick Peyton was known for the maxim, “the family who prays together stays together.” He believed that the praying of the Rosary would bring so many graces into family life. Since that day in 1961 though, devotions like the Rosary have been argued to remain as private devotions so as to not shove religion into people’s faces and cause them discomfort.

This begs the question, what kind of devotion is the Rosary? It seems like the Rosary has a private devotional life for people. People pray it when they’re on their way to work, when they’re in eucharistic adoration, when they’re in a time of great need, and many other times. There is an intimacy involved in the Rosary that is brought about by private recitation. A person can come to know the Blessed Virgin Mary through the Rosary. Still, more importantly, a person can come to know Jesus Christ more intimately through the Rosary. The private recitation of the Rosary allows one to reflect on the words and mysteries they are praying at their own pace. All of these are good things, but do they warrant the keeping of the Rosary as a private devotion?

The Rosary has another dimension to it that can only be seen when it is prayed in common. The Church offers a plenary indulgence for those who “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” (Manual of Indulgences). Ven. Patrick Peyton also asked families to pray the Rosary together, and not in their own separate rooms. What is it about the public or group recitation of the Rosary that is different from the private recitation?

Praying the Rosary in a group gives a person the opportunity to enter into the 3 vows religious brothers and sisters take of poverty, chastity, and obedience. A person enters into obedience by following the pace of the group praying. The pace may be slower or faster than what a person is used to. A person enters into poverty by losing control of how the group might be praying the Rosary. There might be devotions that a group adds to the praying of the Rosary that a person may not think are necessary, but this is how that group has come to pray the Rosary. A person enters into chastity through the mind while praying the Rosary. St. Thomas would call this spiritual chastity. He says that if the human mind delights in union with God, and not union with things contrary to God, this is spiritual chastity.

The public praying of the Rosary can also evangelize the world. This is why St. Pope Paul VI said that the Rosary is the “compendium of the gospel.” The general life of Christ can be explained with these simple beads that we use to pray and those beads are a helpful tool to explain to those who do not believe in Christ.

To conclude, the Rosary cannot be contained to being either just a private devotion nor can it be contained to being just a public devotion. It is both. The Rosary has transformed many people into saints. And the Rosary has the power to transform us into the saints that God has made us be.

This article was written by Br. Jerome Masters, O.P..

Photo by John Osterhoudt.

Jun 24 2024

The Rosary’s Essential Element: Contemplation

In the decades following the Second Vatican Council, Venerable Patrick Peyton wanted to increase devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. To foster this devotion, he would lead Family Rosary Crusades where he coined the phrase: “The family that prays together stays together.” Eventually, in 1971, he wrote a letter to Pope Saint Paul VI asking the Rosary to be elevated to a liturgical prayer like the Liturgy of the Hours. Many similar requests that were received by the Holy See prompted Paul VI to promulgate the Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus (On Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary) which was issued on February 2, 1974, on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.

The Church’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin is an intrinsic element of Christian worship.
Pope Saint Paul VI, Marialis Cultus

This Apostolic Exhortation is split into three sections: the liturgy and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the renewal of devotion to Mary, and reflections on the Angelus and the Rosary. In his reflection on the Rosary, Paul VI reminds us that the Rosary is “the compendium of the entire Gospel.” It is a “Gospel prayer” with a rich history that the popes have written numerous times such as Pope Saint Pius V, who “established the traditional form of the Rosary.” According to Paul VI, the Rosary makes us oriented to Christ, by its structure. “The litany-like succession of Hail Mary’s becomes in itself an unceasing praise of Christ…” In the Hail Mary, we call to mind the Savior of the world who is the fruit of Mary’s womb. Paul VI suggests that the name of Jesus was inserted into the Hail Mary to “help contemplation and to make the mind and the voice act in unison.”

Many will argue that the Rosary is not a commandment of God, nor is it found anywhere in Scripture. Why then pray the Rosary when you can go to God directly? Paul VI provides a good response to this argument both from the Rosary being a “Gospel prayer” (as stated above), but he also discusses, what he calls, the “essential element in the Rosary.” Contemplation. The Rosary without contemplation is “a body without a soul, and its recitation is in danger of becoming a mechanical repetition of formulas and of going counter to the warning of Christ: ‘And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words’ (Mt. 6:7).” By its nature the Rosary invites us, through the intercession of Our Lady, to contemplate the mysteries of Christ’s life. Starting with the angelic greeting of Gabriel to Mary to the Nativity of the Lord, to his public ministry, to his sufferings in the last days of his earthly life, to finally “the glory of the Risen Lord which fills the Church.” Paul VI beautifully says that “this contemplation by its very nature encourages practical reflection and provides stimulating norms for living.”

Paul VI invites us into three ways the Rosary could be recited. The first is private where there is an “intimate recollection with the Lord.” The second is in community, whether that be among family or in groups, “to ensure the special presence of the Lord.” The third is publicly where “the ecclesial community is invited.” Paul VI gives special consideration to the second way, specifically the Family Rosary. He says that after the Liturgy of the Hours “the Rosary should be considered as one of the best and most efficacious prayers in common that the Christian family is invited to recite.” As the Second Vatican Council calls the family “the domestic church” so Paul VI invites all families, as Patrick Peyton did, to pray the Rosary as a family. “Families which want to live in full measure of the vocation and spirituality proper to the Christian family must therefore devote all their energies to overcoming the pressures that hinder family gatherings and prayer in common.”

Although Pope Saint Paul VI did not give Venerable Patrick Peyton exactly what he asked for in making the Rosary a liturgical prayer, he provided a wonderful reflection on how “the Church’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin is an intrinsic element of Christian worship.” Because she points us to her son, who is both her savior and our savior. I recommend reading Marialis Cultus in its entirety and reflecting on how your devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary has led you to Christ through her intercession.

This article was written by Br. Jerome Masters, O.P..

Photo by Fr. Lawerence Lew, O.P. (used with permission)

May 27 2024

The Luminous Mysteries

Throughout his extensive pontificate, Pope Saint John Paul II held a deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Most Holy Rosary. In 2002, he introduced the Luminous Mysteries to the rosary, explaining their significance in his apostolic letter, “Rosarium Virginis Mariae.” ”Moving on from the infancy and the hidden life in Nazareth to the public life of Jesus, our contemplation brings us to those mysteries which may be called in a special way “mysteries of light”. Certainly the whole mystery of Christ is a mystery of light. He is the “light of the world” (Jn 8:12). Yet this truth emerges in a special way during the years of his public life, when he proclaims the Gospel of the Kingdom. In proposing to the Christian community five significant moments – “luminous” mysteries – during this phase of Christ’s life, I think that the following can be fittingly singled out: (1) his Baptism in the Jordan, (2) his self-manifestation at the wedding of Cana, (3) his proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with his call to conversion, (4) his Transfiguration, and finally, (5) his institution of the Eucharist, as the sacramental expression of the Paschal Mystery.”

The Apostolic Letter of St. Pope John Paul II entitled Rosarium Virginis Mariae.

The Luminous Mysteries

First Luminous Mystery: The Baptism of the Lord
“In Those Days Came John The Baptist, Preaching In The Wilderness Of Judea, ‘Repent, For The Kingdom Of Heaven Is At Hand.’” Matthew 3:1-2

Second Luminous Mystery: The Wedding Feast At Cana
“There Was A Marriage At Cana Of Galilee, And The Mother Of Jesus Was There; Jesus Also Was Invited With His Disciples.” John 2:1-2

Third Luminous Mystery: The Preaching Of The Kingdom Of God
“Crowds, [Jesus] Went Up On The Mountain, And When He Sat Down His Disciples Came To Him. And He Opened His Mouth And Taught Them.” Mathhew 5:1-2

Fourth Luminous Mystery: The Transfiguration
“Peter And James And John, And Led Them Up A High Mountain Apart By Themselves.” Mark 9:2

Fifth Luminous Mystery: The Institution Of The Most Holy Eucharist
“Disciples Had Prepared The Passover, When The Hour Came, Jesus Sat At Table And The Apostles With Him. And He Said To Them: ‘I Have Earnestly Desired To Eat This Passover With You Before I Suffer; For I Tell You I Shall Not Eat It Until It Is Fulfilled In The Kingdom Of God.’” Luke 22:14-16

We Invite You to Pray the Joyful Mysteries with Us

Apr 22 2024

The Joyful Mysteries

The first part of the Rosary contains five mysteries: the first, the Annunciation of the archangel Gabriel to our Lady; the second the Visitation of our Lady to Saint Elizabeth; the third, the Nativity of Jesus Christ; the fourth, the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple and the purification of the Blessed Virgin; the fifth, the Finding of Jesus in the Temple among the doctors. These are called the Joyful Mysteries because of the joy which they gave to the whole universe. Our Lady and the angels were overwhelmed with joy the moment the Son of God became incarnate. Saint Elizabeth and St. John the Baptist were filled with joy by the visit of Jesus and Mary. Heaven and earth rejoiced at the birth of the Saviour. Holy Simeon felt great consolation and was filled with joy when he took the holy child into his arms. The doctors were lost in admiration and wonderment at the replies which Jesus gave; and who could express the joy of Mary and Joseph when they found Jesus after three days’ absence?

The above is an excerpt from The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis de Montfort.

The Joyful Mysteries

First Joyful Mystery: The Annunciation
“Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” Luke 1:31

Second Joyful Mystery: The Visitation
When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:41

Third Joyful Mystery: Nativity of Jesus Christ
[Mary] gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Luke 2:7

Fourth Joyful Mystery: Presentation in the Temple
When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought [Jesus] up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. Luke 2:22

Fifth Joyful Mystery: Finding in the Temple
“How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Luke 2:49

We Invite You to Pray the Joyful Mysteries with Us

Apr 03 2023

Living the Triduum at Home

On the evening of Holy Thursday, the whole Church moves from Lent to the Sacred Paschal Triduum–the days from Holy Thursday until Easter Sunday. These are the most important days of the year for through them we enter into the saving mysteries of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, we should try to enter into them with a particular attentiveness and devotion so that the graces the Lord merited for us through the mysteries that make up this time may bear abundant fruit in our lives. These days are not only concerned with the major liturgies in our churches though. They should also lead to a conversion of our lives, and as such they can impact every aspect of this time. From the way that we approach work to the practices we take up at home, these days can bear great fruit if we do our best to enter into them in everything that we do. To help draw this out, here are some practical recommendations on how the mysteries that make up the Triduum can guide us both in our churches and in our homes. Feel free to choose whichever ones you would like or other cultural customs that you or your family have found helpful. The whole goal is to enter more deeply into this sacred time. From our devotional practices to our culinary customs and to everything in between, these days can be rich with grace and lead to a flowering of holiness in our hearts and in our homes. May the Lord bring that about for you and your loved ones.

Download the guide

Download Living the Triduum at Home: A Practical Guide to Christian Living During the Sacred Paschal Triduum by Fr. Peter Martyr Yungwirth, O.P.