Tomorrow is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Originally, this feast was celebrated under the name Our Lady of Victory. (See my other post about the history of this feast.)The Rosary is a very powerful yet simple prayer. The Creed, the Gloria, the Our Father and the Hail Mary are all you really need to pray it. You don't even need a rosary, per se. (That's why God gave us 10 fingers!)
The Rosary was originally called The Poor Man's Psalter. The clergy prayed the psalms (psalter) as part of their daily prayer life. When the laity wanted to deepen their prayer life, they looked to the monastery for guidance. Not being able to afford (or in many cases, even read) a book of the Psalms, (remember, in those days books were copied by hand) the Rosary, which originally consited of 150 prayers, took the place of the daily reading of the Psalter that the monks engaged in.
The Rosary can be prayed any time, anywhere, broken up by daily work, offered for our intentions, and prayed throughout a busy day. It is still a perfect prayer for busy people looking to come closer to God.
Years ago, I was made aware of a tradition that had fallen out of use by the time I was growing up. That is the Catholic practice of carrying a rosary with you at all times. Although not necessary for praying the Rosary, a physical rosary is a wonderful reminder to pray. The cord rosaries made by the Rosary Army are nearly indestructable and they will send you one for FREE. You can even learn how to make them yourself.
If you haven't said the Rosary in a while, or you never learned how, I challenge you to try. The Rosary, whose prayers come mainly from the Bible, is a powerful weapon against evil and an easy way to include the Biblical stories of Christ in your daily prayer life, through the 20 mysteries from the Annunciation of the Birth of Christ, through His life, death and resurection.
I saw a bumper sticker a couple of years ago that I have not been able to find a picture of that says it all:
Angry? Need a Weapon? Pray the Rosary!
I cant help but contrast this post with the anger the Amish shooter had; but he had no spiritual weapon and we do. Please pray for the Amish, who have willingly laid down their lives as martyrs. God is shaking those of us who are believers; from the priest scandel to the Islam scandel (terrorism) to the Amish shooting. God does not want us to deny or pass blame but to learn how to forgive. The Mass is about forgiveness. The Eurcharest is about forgiveness. Christ's Body can only be given to us through His decision to forgive in a painful situation. This has taught me to forgive someone close to me who literally destroyed my life (through divorce). This is why confession/reconcilliation is tied to the Mass. Sin and the beauty of forgiveness go together. The Amish are choosing to forgive. The Amish are donating money to the killer's family. Please consider giving to both the Amish and the killer's family a donation. You can donate through the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS), the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), or can send donations to Nickel Mines Children's Fund or Roberts Family Fund in care of Home Towne Heritage Bank.
ReplyDeleteP.O. Box 337.
PA, 17579.
Checks also can be mailed directly to: Anabaptist Foundation Nickel Mines School Victims Fund, c/o HomeTowne Heritage Bank, P.O. Box 337, Strasburg, Pa., 17579. Information about the fund is available on the Anabaptist Foundation Web site at www.afweb.org
Go to Confession, the Mass, say a rosary for the Amish and the killer's family and for the killer's soul. Then give a donation as you celebrate the miracle of forgiveness. The first victim, asked to shot first to let the others go free. This is what the all the sacraments are about. This is what we have in common with the Amish, with Gandhi and with other religions. I pray that the muslims, world over, can read about this and get a fortaste of the concept of forgiveness that is ours for the asking.
Angry? Should we seek to be happy?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15143377/site/newsweek/from/ET/
MK--you are right. The Amish have been model Christians through all this. Would that we all were so forgiving. The world would certainly be a better place.
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