Vatican City, Apr 26, 2017 / 12:29 am (CNA).- It is interesting that in her appearances at Lourdes, Fatima and other locations, the Mother of God repeatedly recommends praying the Rosary. She does not invite us to pray the Divine Office, or to do spiritual reading, or Eucharistic Adoration, or practice interior prayer or mental prayer. All the mentioned forms of prayer are good, recognized by the Church and practiced by many saints. Why does Mary “only” place the Rosary in our hearts?
We can find a possible answer by looking at the visionaries of Lourdes and Fatima. Mary revealed herself to children of little instruction, who could not even read or write correctly. The Rosary was for them the appropriate school to learn how to pray well, since bead after bead, it leads us from vocal prayer, to meditation, and eventually to contemplation. With the Rosary, everyone who allows himself to be led by Mary can arrive at interior prayer without any kind of special technique or complicated practices.
This does not mean – and I want to emphasize this point – that praying the Rosary is for “dummies” or for simple minded people. Even great intellectuals must come before God as children, who in their prayers are always simple and sincere, always full of confidence, praying from within.
All Christians are called to the kind of interior prayer that allows an experience of closeness with God and recognition of his action in our lives. We can compare the Rosary to playing the guitar. The vocal prayers – the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be – are the central prayers of Christianity, rooted in Scripture. These are like the rhythm in a song.
But simply strumming a guitar is not a song. And mindless repetition of words is not interior prayer. In addition to rhythm, keys are needed. The Mysteries of the Rosary are like the chords on the guitar. The vocal prayers form the framework for meditation on the Mysteries.
There are always these five chords to the rhythm of the repetition of the prayers, which make the lives of Jesus and Mary pass before our eyes. With meditation, we go on reflecting on what happens in each Mystery and what it means for our lives: At Nazareth, the Son of God is incarnated in Mary. In Holy Communion, He also comes to me. In Gethsemane, Jesus sweats blood. He suffers, is in anguish, and yet his friends remain asleep. Can I keep vigil with Him or do my eyes close with tiredness? On Easter morning, Jesus rises and breaks forth from the tomb. The first day of creation brought light. The first day of the week conquered death and gave us life. Christ can change the darkness in my life into light.
And so, our prayer begins to change into music. That is to say, it is no longer monotonous and boring, but now it is full of images and thoughts. And when the grace of God permits, it is also filled with supernatural illuminations and inspirations.
There is one more thing needed to have really great music, or to have a prayer that is even more profound and intimate: the melody that the heart sings. When playing the guitar, a voice is needed to interpret the song. When praying the Rosary, it is the song of our heart, as we place our own life before God, to the tempo of the prayers and meditations.
It is this song of the heart that allows us to enter into the mysteries of the Rosary: For my sake you were scourged, and it was I who struck you. Forgive me! You have ascended into Heaven, Lord. I long for You, I for your kingdom, my true homeland.
In contemplation, the person praying sees the mysteries pass before his eyes, and at the same time he abides in particular affections or movements of the heart before God. The one who prays sings the song of his own life, in which naturally there can arise specific desires: You wanted to be the son of a human Mother; help my sick mother! You were crowned with thorns; help me in this financial difficulty which I can’t get out of my head. You sent the Holy Spirit; without You I don’t have the courage or the strength to make a good decision.
With this understanding, the following tips can help those who pray the Rosary move from vocal prayer to meditation to inner contemplation:
1) Schedule the time
Our schedule is full of appointments. More or less consciously, we also plan out the time we’re going to need for each task or appointment. Sometimes it is good to set aside 20 or 30 minutes to pray the Rosary, and write it down in the schedule. This “appointment” with Jesus and Mary is then just as important as all the other ones planned. For all of us, it is possible to set aside a time to pray the Rosary, at first, once, twice or three times a week. Over time – and this is the goal – it will be easier to find a time to pray the Rosary daily.
2) Don’t rush
We can learn a lesson about prayer by observing people in love. During a romantic candlelit dinner, no one would be constantly looking at the clock, or choking down their food, or leaving the dessert to one side to finish as quickly as possible. Rather, a romantic meal is stretched out, maybe lingering for an hour to sip a cocktail, and enjoying every moment spent together. So it is with praying the Rosary. It shouldn’t be treated as sets of Hail Mary’s to be performed as if one were lifting weights. I can spend time lingering on a thought. I can also break away from it. I can, principally at the beginning, simply be peaceful. If I keep this peaceful attitude and an awareness of how important this 20-minute “appointment” is, then I will have prayed well. It will have been a good prayer, because my will is focused on pleasing the Beloved and not myself.
3) Savor the experience
Saint Ignatius recommends what’s called the “third form of prayer,” which consists in adjusting the words to the rhythm of one’s own breathing. Often it is sufficient in praying the Rosary to briefly pause between the mysteries, and to remember that Jesus and Mary are looking at me full of joy and love, recognizing with gratitude that I am like a little child babbling words every so often to in some way affirm that I love God. To do this, it can be useful to pause and take a few breaths before resuming vocal prayer.
4) A gaze of love
The vocal prayers of the Rosary only provide the rhythm of the prayer. With my thoughts, I can and should go out from the rhythm to encounter the Mystery which is being contemplated. This is more clear in German, where the mystery is announced not only at the beginning of each decade, but before each Hail Mary. It’s a time to look your Beloved in the eyes and let Him look back, with eyes full of love.
5) Allow yourself to be amazed
One of the first and most important steps for inner prayer is to go from thinking and speculation to looking upon and being amazed. Think of lovers who meet, not to plan out what they’re going to give each other or what they might do on the next vacation, but to enjoy the time together and to rejoice in each other. Looking at a family photo album is very different from looking at a history book. In the photo album, we see people who are important to us, whom we love – and even more – who love us! That’s how our gaze at Jesus and Mary ought to be in the Rosary.
6) Allow your “inner cameraman” to notice details
Some people close their eyes while praying in order to concentrate. Others find it useful to focus their eyes on a certain point (such as a crucifix). Either way, what is important is for the eyes of the heart to be open. Praying the Rosary is like going to the movies. It’s about seeing images. It’s useful to ask yourself: Who, What, Where am I looking at when I contemplate the birth of Jesus, or his crucifixion, or his ascension into Heaven? And on some occasions, like a good cameraman does, come in for a close-up image of some detail: contemplate the warm breath of the ox that’s warming the Child, the pierced hand of Jesus that spread so much love, the tears in John’s eyes as he gazes at Jesus rising up to Heaven.
7) Pray in words, mind, and heart
The words accompany, the mind opens, but it is the heart that has the leading role in prayer. All the great spiritual authors agree that inner prayer is about dwelling in the affections, that is, the inner sentiments and movements. Teresa of Avila says very simply: “Don’t think a lot, love a lot!” An elderly lady was ruefully complaining to me that she could not reflect while praying her daily Rosary, and that in that situation she could barely say “Jesus, Mary, I love you!” I congratulated the lady. That is exactly what praying the Rosary ought to lead us to.
[…]
We read: “The cardinal said that as an Augustinian, Pope Leo has ‘a solid foundation in the tradition and spirituality of St. Augustine’.” From St. Augustine–as with individuals and now with parts of the Church itself, the double life:
“…it is no monstrous thing partly to will a thing and partly not to will it, but a sickness of the mind [!]. Although it is supported by truth, it does not wholly rise up, since it is heavily encumbered by habit. Therefore there are two wills, since one of them is not complete, and what is lacking in one of them is present in the other” (Confessions, Bk. 8, Ch. 9:21).
Deeper than the misnomers of “left”and “right.”
The use of the terms “left” and “right”, while sometimes used as political terms cannot be used when the reference point is the fact that God, The Most Holy And Undivided Blessed Trinity, In The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, The Perfect Divine Eternal Love Between The Father And His Only Begotten Son, Who Proceeds From Both The Father And His Only Begotten Son, Is The Author Of Love, Of Life, And Of Marriage. To deny that The Blessed Trinity Is The Author Of Love, Of Life, And Of Marriage, is apostasy.
Christ’s Teaching on the Sanctity of all human life from the moment of conception to the moment of death, and the Sanctity of the marital act within The Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, and thus sexual morality, is not up for debate.
Perfect Divine Eternal Love does not divide, it multiplies, as in The Miracle Of The Loaves and Fishes.
We read: “The cardinal said that as an Augustinian, Pope Leo has ‘a solid foundation in the tradition and spirituality of St. Augustine’.”
From St. Augustine, about the double life and individuals and now parts of the Church as a whole, both:
“…it is no monstrous thing partly to will a thing and partly not to will it, but a sickness of the mind [!]. Although it is supported by truth, it does not wholly rise up, since it is heavily encumbered by habit. Therefore there are two wills, since one of them is not complete, and what is lacking in one of them is present in the other” (Confessions, Bk. 8, Ch. 9:21).
Deeper than the political misnomers of “left” or “right.”
Years ago, in 1995, we attended a Mass in London. It was in English but very bland. Like a grade school play. We then attended a Mass in Germany. It was in Latin or German and we could understand the clarity of the complete Mass. I had been raised in USA serving as an Alter Boy in the Latin Mass, so I understood it and enjoyed it. I think I would still prefer the Latin Mass.
My neighbor attended a friend’s Catholic funeral a few years ago, along with several of the deceased’s local friends. One of them, who was raised Catholic, turned to the my neighbor on the way out and remarked, “That is not the Catholic church that I grew up in.”
When you ‘water down the brand,’ you give people an excuse to jump ship, further evidence that the Eucharist is irrelevant to many.
Patrick, unfortunately with all the Bergoglian bishops now in office, the closest anyone can get to the Extraordinary Form of the Mass would be any Mass said by the Ordinariate Rite. It’s said “ad orientem”, prayed respectfully and prayerfully as if offering an unbloody re-presentation of Christ’s Holy Sacrifice on the Cross (which the Mass is).
DR;
You give the impression that it is virtually impossible to find a TLM.
I disagree – Google ‘Latin Mass’ and take it from there. It might be difficult to reach it but the sacrifice is well worth it. Here in Maine I have met people at the Latin Mass in Lewiston who make a round trip of up to 200 or more miles to reach the Mass and they don’t mind it at all – it can be done and, as I have already said – the sacrifice is well worth it.
My dear Diogenes, don’t broad-brush these bishops; many are very good men who were picked by our Pope Leo!
“These issues have divided the Church because, at a certain point, it became unclear what is right.” That point would be the moment one denies God, The Most Holy And Undivided Blessed Trinity , In The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, Is The Author Of Love, Of Life, And Of Marriage, ipso fact separating oneself from Christ and His One, Holy, Catholic, And Apostolic Church and becoming a part of The Great Apostasy.
The Truth is the truth, it is neither left nor right. Let’s stick with the Truth.
I would like to hope for great things from this new Pontificate: crystal clarity in teaching doctrine; bold proclamation of the centrality of Christ, the Redeemer; settling doubts on “synodality”, the synod of bishops, and the fundamental role of the hierarchy established by Christ, etc.
But there remains a nagging doubt that Pope Leo will be sufficiently brave enough to resist the radical leftest juggernaut that has been in control of the Vatican, the Church and Church policy for the past dozen years.
Lord have mercy!
I think I get why Cardinal Goh was on some papabile lists.
One to watch, I’d say.
God, The Ordered Communion Of Perfect Complementary Divine Eternal Love, The Most Holy Blessed Trinity, In The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, Is The Truth Of Perfect Divine Eternal Love. Love, which is always rightly ordered to the inherent personal and relational Dignity of the persons existing in a relationship of Love, is devoid of every form of lust. Let no one deceive you, the end goal of the modernist, the atheist materialistic overpopulation alarmist globalist, is the objectification of the human person.
Pope Benedict XVI warned us :
“When the freedom to be creative becomes the freedom to create oneself, then necessarily the Maker himself is denied and ultimately man too is stripped of his dignity as a creature of God, as the image of God at the core of his being. The defence of the family is about man himself. And it becomes clear that when God is denied, human dignity also disappears. Whoever defends God is defending man.” – Pope Benedict’s Christmas Address 2012
There will not be clarity in Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic , and Apostolic Church until the counterfeit church is charitably anathema by a True Vicar of Christ , and those Faithful Bishops who affirm The Unity Of The Holy Ghost , and thus the fact that “it is not possible to have Sacramental Communion without Ecclesiastical Communion”, due to The Unity Of The Holy Ghost ; For It Is Through Christ, With Christ, And In Christ, Oh God Almighty Father, In The Unity Of The Holy Ghost (Filioque), The Perfect Divine Eternal Love Between The Father And His Only Begotten Son, Who Proceeds From Both The Father And His Only Son, In The Ordered Communion Of Perfect Divine Eternal Love, That Is The Most Holy And Undivided Blessed Trinity.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have remained with us; but that they may be manifest, that they are not all of us.
20 But you have the unction from the Holy One, and know all things.
Read full chapter
“Behold your Mother.” – Christ On The Cross
https://catholicism.org/heavens-icon.html
A Bridge that denies The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, The Perfect Divine Eternal Love Between The Father And His Only Begotten Son, Who Proceeds From Both The Father And His Only Begotten Son, is a bridge to Apostasy.
Prayers that Pope Leo XIV, is a True Vicar of Christ, validly elected by the minority of Cardinals who remain in communion with The Body of Christ, and thus Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic , And Apostolic Church, who desire to Render onto God what belongs to God, and thus whose competence it is to elect a True Vicar of Christ, will restore the Papacy by a charitable anathema of the counterfeit church with its counterfeit magisterium, who are attempting to cause chaos and confusion , which is not of The Holy Ghost, by attempting to subsist within The Body of Christ while creating a god in their own image, a god who, by denying The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, denies The Divinity of The Most Holy Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, And Holy Ghost.
“Penance, Penance, Penance.”
https://catholicism.org/heavens-icon.html
“If we are not clear about what the Church teaches, it is very difficult to work together in unity…. there has been an internal division on certain issues such as marriage, LGBTQ+ rights, and transgender rights. These issues have divided the Church because, at a certain point, it became unclear what is right.”
I strongly disagree!
It has always been clear what is right in Catholic theology regarding “certain issues such as marriage, LGBTQ+ rights and transgender rights.” The problem is not that we don’t know what is right. The problem is that there are those in high places within the Church who do not want to accept what is right. They want to spread doubt and confusion in moral theology in order to gain acceptance for their sinful practices.