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By Michael Duricy

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Brother John Samaha, S.M., sent us the text below with the following comments: "Ideas to help us appreciate the rosary ..."

Why Pray the Rosary? by Brother John Samaha, S.M.

The old expression "knock on wood" has its origin in the practice of reciting the rosary. Knocking rosary beads together was thought to bring an answer to prayer. 

From the Latin word rosarium, meaning a garden of roses, the name was extended to  the prayer devotion. 

Using beads to count prayers is a common practice in many religions,  especially those originating in Asia. 

While the use of the rosary is popularly attributed to St. Dominic, it comes from much older traditions. In fourth-century Egypt, Paul the Hermit and others recited hundreds of prayers daily and counted them by lining up pebbles and discarding them one at a time for each prayer. Celtic monks in the seventh century kept count by tying knots in the cords used as belts. 

By the thirteenth century, the term rosary was used for a string of beads used to recite 150 Hail Marys. As rosaries gained in popularity, so too did their manufacture. Paternoster Row in London became the location of a thriving guild that made beads of various values in precious stones, wood, lead, and bone. 

Legend tells us that St. Dominic received in a vision from Mary the "Marian Psalter" that later developed into the rosary, which praised the mysteries  of Jesus and Mary. But there is no evidence for such a vision. This practice preceded Dominic by more than a century. Meditating on the mysteries did not begin until two centuries after his death. 

In the fifteenth century Dominican, Alain de Rupe, divided the rosary into three groups of mysteries--the Incarnation, the passion, and the Resurrection--and encouraged praying the rosary in groups.  

Across the centuries, several changes occurred in the Hail Mary. In the fourteenth century the name of Jesus appeared, and the last line was added only after 1487. 

The most recent change was made in 2002 when Pope St. John Paul II commemorated the 25th anniversary of his pontificate by adding the luminous mysteries. He called the rosary a path to contemplation because it pairs both prayer and contemplation to keep us connected to our Christian roots. 

We are encouraged to pray the rosary because it deals with intimacy. The rhythm of the prayers  make it a familiar touchstone in our ever-changing world. 

The Catholic Church is an incarnational Church concerned with the material articles of daily life: bread, wine, homes, relationships. The rosary is a material object that helps us celebrate the incarnational side of our religion by reminding us of where we started, where we are going,  and  who we are.

This time-honored devotion both connects us to our past and resonates with us today.

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Marian Events

Event: Festal Celebration at Holy Angels Parish

Theme: The Annunciation to Mary and the Incarnation of Jesus.

Location:  Holy Angels Catholic Church, 322 Brown St., Dayton, OH 45409

Date: Monday, April 9, 2018

Holy Angels Parish and One More Soul are very pleased to invite you to A Celebration of the Annunciation and Incarnation of Jesus.  The evening will begin with Marian Hymns before the Solemnity Mass at 7 p.m. with Father Greg Konerman as Celebrant and Homilist.  After Mass there will be fellowship and refreshments in the Gymnasium with a talk by Anne Cherney, author of Supernatural Family Planning, the Original Method.

For more details, email steve@omsoul.com or call 937-626-0027.

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Mary in the Catholic Press

New Marian Feast Starts This Year (Zenit) March 27, 2018

 The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has clarified that the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, must be celebrated by everyone, beginning this year.

A "Notification" from the Church's Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has clarified that the new Obligatory Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, must be celebrated in the Ordinary form of the Roman Rite beginning this year. The new feast is to be observed on the Monday following Pentecost.

The notification, signed by Cardinal Robert Sarah, the Prefect of the Congregation, notes that an exception still exists, in accordance with the rubrics in the Roman Missal: "Where the Monday or Tuesday after Pentecost are days on which the faithful are obliged or accustomed to attend Mass, the Mass of Pentecost Sunday may be repeated, or a Mass of the Holy Spirit may be said."

Nevertheless, the document insists, "all else being equal, the Obligatory Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church is to be preferred."

Because Pentecost is a movable feast, tied to the celebration of Easter, it is possible that the new Memorial could coincide with another Memorial of a Saint or Blessed; and when this happens, the feast of Mary, Mother of the Church, will take precedence....

Mary in the Secular Press

The director and editors of All About Mary under the auspices of the International Marian Research Institute do not necessarily endorse or agree with the events and ideas expressed in this feature. Our sole purpose is to report on items about Mary gleaned from a myriad of papers representing the secular press.

Marian Feast-Day Calendar (Roman Catholic Saints website) March 22, 2018

 An online Marian calendar with a feast for every day!

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