A Penance Rosary - Prelude

From a letter by St. Francis of Assissi - Office of Readings for 10/4/19

Dearest Father,

• Introduction

You could not have picked a penance that would make me cringe more than to requested to pray a rosary.  I have never particularly cared for that devotion; I would much have preferred to atone by reading 50 psalms a day for three days or to have prayed all the hours of the breviary for three days or to do any difficult work at all of personal kindness or charity.  (Sigh.)  As I said, some of us -- including notably St. Therese of Lisieux -- do not particularly find rosary prayer fruitful.  I personally would prefer to make a rosary or two (I was in our Rosary Makers group for a while, long story but all my stories are long) than to pray one.

• Preparations

Rosary for the Church in Need

Well...  What is worth doing is worth doing well, so I put some thought into it.  I decided that for the offenses for which I atone, contemplating the Luminous Mysteries is most apt.  As I went to get the rosary which I played with at (Latin) mass as a child, the Spirit had me get this booklet instead (see inset).

Next, I remembered a dear priest in Italy had made a Holy Rosary site that I used all the time when I was a catechist, so I decided to pray using that as it has a bead by bead, since not using the physical rosary.

This site is particularly nice because it has selections from the Apostolic Letter  ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE  which instituted the mysteries.  Unfortunately, the music at the site no longer plays, but I have a Te Deum playlist, so I put that in another tab.

There is also a page sharing excerpts of history of the rosary by De Montfort.  He reminds us that Our Blessed Mother told St. Dominic:

"That is why, before doing anything else, priests should try to kindle a love of prayer in people's hearts and especially a love of my Angelic Psalter. If only they would all start saying it and would really persevere, God in his mercy could hardly refuse to give them his grace. So I want you to preach my Rosary."     

So, a fitting penance ...  and my priest gets brownie points.

• Psalm 51  

Usually before I perform any penance, I pray the Morning Prayer from the Office for the Dead.  I used to pray it a lot for zombies (those living but in a state of mortal sin) as well as those just physically dead. Today, I just loaded a series of choral renditions of the penitential Psalm 51 to meditate before beginning prayer.

~  The bones that were crushed shall leap for joy before the Lord ..... 

Father, he who knew no sin was made sin for us, to save us and restore us to your friendship. Look upon our contrite heart and afflicted spirit and heal our troubled conscience, so that in the joy and strength of the Holy Spirit we may proclaim your praise and glory before all the nations.      

~ The bones that were crushed shall leap for joy before the Lord

• Sign of the Cross   

This small prayer, often done mechanically and thoughtlessly, actually is a reminder and an aid to great humility.  As Christians, we do not act for ourselves but rather we should quietly subordinate our own wills for those of the Father as did Christ Jesus, and the Spirit imparted to us in Baptism speaks to us always what that Will might be should we be attentive. (One Bread, One Body)   

•   Apostles' Creed 
  

(You Are Mine)   I much prefer this credal formula to the Nicene.  In His descending into Sheol, I always picture Jesus the living God embracing John the Baptist first...and then Noah the second Adam, and third to Abram, the man who left everything to gain a family in a foreign land...who became a tribe... who became a race...who became a nation.  Unlike so many others, we children of Abraham, those of blood and those grafted on, are still a people today. and will be so to the ages of ages.  I just love talking to people about Abraham, particularly those who don't accept our Catholic teachings on immigration.

• Our Father  - intention: That all suffering from sin may repent and atone

(Be Not Afraid)  Most sin is idolatry, blasphemy, and misuse of time (the first three commandments).  We humans are constructed to discern but instead believe ourselves capable of judgment.  This prayer is so very humble:  on THIS day give us only bread for THIS day...  reminds me so much of the manna -- and Quail, Christians always gloss over the protein gift -- that fed God's People in the desert, with a double portion on Friday morning to cover the Sabbath when God rested with them. Why would anyone ever want more than God will provide?  I never really understood that.  But I guess that is what a prayer of petition is supposed to be: asking God to give me more than He already has?  No, I ask other people to do that for me.  I don't dare.

• Hail Mary for faith, Hail Mary for hope, Hail Mary for charity

(Mary, Gentle Woman)  FAITH 
In 1963, I asked a favor of Mother Mary. Pope Paul was going to let the Pieta come to the New York World's Fair.  I really wanted to see it, I knew all about Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel from books. The next year, my father was suddenly transferred to New York for a year to work in NYC and White Plains. So there I was: an 8 yr old standing in front of the Pieta.  I memorized every line in the stone...  and I prayed my thank you, but asked if it were all possible that I might see her statue again where it belonged, in St. Peter's in Rome.   
[insert Long Story here ]

(Mary Did You Know)   HOPE 
My son's best friend from middle school into high school is dead.  He took his own life while suffering from PTSD after a stint in the Navy.  Sad to say, death by despair is not unusual in their generation; only my own generation of baby boomers and the very sick and elderly have higher suicide rates.  Another sign of hopelessness is that birthrates are falling and age at marriage is rising.  Many of these deaths are due to the economic situation that unchecked greed has created, but spiritual factors are also important.  Constant ragging on certain topics has made this worse, as those shouting the loudest often suffer from cognitive dissonance and their inconsistencies lead anyone with brains to tune them out.  So they are unlikely to look within church communities for the help and support that they need.  Disconnected people embrace the three deaths of despair:  drugs, drink, suicide.  We must do better, we just must.

(On This Day, O Beautiful Mother  CHARITY
Sorry, but it just makes me insane that we teach our little ones to say "the Lord is with YOU" but don't correct their mamas and grandmas who contradict their bishops and catechists by saying THOU as their great-grandmas did.  My own children are nearly thirty years old, and I was teaching the Hail Mary as shown in the USCCB inset below way back when they were babies. I mean, we don't say "Holy Ghost" anymore as we did in my youth so change IS possible.  No excuse in my opinion to teach the children and neglect their elders like that.

[Father, Son, Holy Ghost:  whoever eats the fastest gets the most.  Amen] 

Personally I think this is failure to lead by our priests. Mama Maria wants us to speak to heavenly friends as we do those next to us in the pews. These silly airs of speaking stilted English in prayer are just that:  silly.  (What does any of this spouting of have to do with charity, you ask??  Well, I have thought this for a very long time but have only very rarely expressed it, that's pretty charitable when my views on the topic are so strong, lol.)

• Doxology Gloria Patri  (Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring - Bach)

I love this prayer.  It is very timey wimey, as The Doctor would say.
This and the Trisagion I could pray all day.  (I love that my sister Faustina included that in the Divine Mercy devotion, don't you?  Our Sanctus prayer is nice, but the original hymn is better, I think)

Human beings were created to sing praises.  Most people only seem to do that in church, which is a pity.  Going to church is for practicing the attitudes and words we need to use in our everyday lives.  We should praise God more than just on Sundays, and more than just saying it as an expletive once in a while.

d



[insert rant re how "world without end" does not belong in the Doxology]


Ok, let us begin celebration of the Mysteries of Light....