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An Open Letter to the Rosary Leader
Dear Rosary Leader,
First off, let me say thank you for volunteering your time to lead the Rosary before Mass. It is a service that is appreciated. Having said that, I do have some issues that need to be brought to your attention.
- Please keep a constant pace for the prayer. It is “Hail Mary full of grace the Lord…” It is not “halmarfulogratelor…” No one will be able to respond to you if you choose the latter, it’s too fast. We shouldn’t get through the prayer in seven minutes, it should take about 20 minutes. Set the pace so that it is constant and that everyone can understand the words to the prayer.
- Keep track of the mysteries. There are five mysteries; not four, not six. Five mysteries. Don’t repeat any mysteries and don’t cut one off. Don’t add a glorious mystery when we are doing the sorrowful mysteries. This can be avoided by remembering to bring your rosary with you and a prayer book that lists the five mysteries for that day.
- Keep track of the hail Marys. There are 10 for each mystery. Not 9, the goal is to not skip a bead. Not 11. But 10.
And finally, it is our job to make sure that we follow along with the leader. We’ll try our best, but you will make it easier for us if you follow my advice above.
Signed,
A guy that never does this:
Legend has it it was given to St. Dominic by our Blessed Mother herself. On most nights I’ll pray a rosary myself.
Given as a help to St. Dominic in his then-failing preaching mission to those caught up in the Albigensian heresy. And to us as we navigate the twists and turns of our daily routines, too. :-)
Plank?
I understandably doubt that this could be the kind of planking you mean, but I suppose it would be one way of “resting on the scriptural meditations.”
We’re just on the floor, not hanging off the shelves, but yes, we plank.
When I first came to Israel, I had some time to go exploring Jerusalem with a friend. I joined him at mass at Dormition Abbey on Mount Zion several times. The liturgy was in several languages (Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and mostly German), and when the congregation says the Lord’s Prayer, it is in German with chant. The church is German Benedictine, but everyone seemed to know the chant, even though the congregation would be mostly visiting pilgrims and tourists. The other thing I noticed about German visitors in churches is that if they pause to sing, it is always on key, which makes me think that music must be an important element of basic German education. I hope that is still true.
This is why it always pays to ask.
Since I consider “delightfully weird” high praise, may I say that is delightfully weird? I would have never known if I hadn’t asked.
Okay, more weirdness is in order then. I say my Rosary (using a phone app) while spinning — on a stationary bike. I crank up the resistance and the speed on the Our Fathers. On a good day I get in 6.75 miles in 21 minutes.
Nothing says you can’t pray and exercise at the same time, right?
I also love that it’s a communal prayer even when you’re saying it alone. You can be sure there are people all over the world saying it at the same time no matter when you’re praying. It’s the same with adoration.
As our young parochial vicar preached on Sunday: the mystery of salvation is the mystery of communion.
God bless that vicar. I simply love our parish’s vicar.
[Off topic rant: I was at Mass in California on Sunday, on a quick family trip, and the priest equated the Women’s March and the March for Life in his “homily.”
I literally got up and walked out to cool off in the corridor outside the chapel. Several hospitality ladies descended upon me in a flutter, all eager to share the toilet’s location with me. I told them I didn’t need it, although their priest made me want to throw up. They all backed away slowly…]
We had a “seamless garment” (words quoted) prayer of the faithful for the unborn, somebody else (immigrants?), and those condemned to death. I won’t attribute it to our solidly orthodox young parish priests, though. I always suspect the Pope and other liberals in the diocese/parish when I hear such things.
Yes, God wants everyone saved, but can we not equate the wholly innocent and vulnerable with murderous thugs? Please?
My online friend in London – who wrote and maintains – a Liturgy of the Hours app prays his daily Rosary while using a rowing machine…Incidentally, its also neat to think of one’s personal prayer being joined by those dear ones who’ve gone before, too.
Not that communion with God should be reduced to the latest fitness trend, but… does the Catholic church consider the combination of prayer and fitness an outreach opportunity?
Fascinating. As an Orthodox Jew, we use liturgical repetition in our daily services. Reciting Psalms in Hebrew is also a meditative device, but I could never be able to do that while rowing, spinning, or doing planks.
It seems to be an organic outgrowth of the faith. I’m about to join a class that does yoga while praying the Rosary.
BTW, I think yoga is spiritually risky, but isn’t it just like the Church to co-opt the practice for Christ?
Yoga, if treated strictly as exercise, I should think would be fine. It’s when it’s lead by spiritualists, who expect and welcome the supernatural, where it gets risky.
Karol Wojtyla, later Pope John Paul II, always viewed recreation as a chance to engage young people’s hearts for the Lord, taking groups of them on hiking and skiing trips.
Once, when he was a cardinal and skiing, someone told him it was unseemly for a cardinal to ski. “No,” he replied, “it would be unseemly for a cardinal to ski badly.”
Except that a large part of what we call yoga came to India in the Nineteenth Century from a Danish YMCA exercise manual. Yeah, YMCA. You know, Young Men’s Christian Association. Do it without worry for your soul.
The story I heard was that it came from British calisthenics of the time.
It was actually a combination from three roots. But there was a Dane from the YMCA involved, there were British calisthenics. The third root was from native Indian tumblers and acrobats. It was all about movement, not spiritual exercises, which were tacked on later.
Catholic liturgical practice evolved right out of Judaism. Our Liturgy of the Hours is heavily filled with psalms.
Yeah, that’s the part I (and the Church) have a problem with. Invoking certain spirits with certain poses and “emptying your mind.” An empty mind is the devil’s playground. Carmelite prayer encourages you to fill your mind with God. As does the Rosary — specifically the life of Christ.
Hence, hatha [health] yoga, originally, yes?
Almost entirely. Originally, one recited all 150 throughout the day (hence 15-10-bead mysteries of the original Rosary meditation). Now, they’re rotated on a 4-week cycle, along with other readings from Scripture and various early and contemporary church documents.
The Liturgy of the Hours is one of the most beautiful prayers that we have.
I try to do Compline every night before the rosary. Compline is I think the shortest and very managable for a busy person.