A Rosary for Tradition

The boys and I had a long day yesterday, and attended our first homeschool workshop with friends. While the big kids experienced what it was like learning in a one room schoolhouse, my friend and I took our littles to a science imaginarium. We wrapped up the morning with lunch at a Chinese restaurant (definitely not on my "Do Again" list--at least with boys! Oh man!)

We had errands to run afterward, but we made sure to leave enough time to get to our chapel for a parish Rosary that evening. Fittingly, yesterday was the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary. The organized Rosary was said for the intention that traditional Catholic family values will be upheld during the Synod of Bishops on the Family, currently underway. The fact that traditional Catholic values has to be specified is sad. There is really only one set of Catholic family values.

 

In the 1500's Muslim Turks of the Ottoman Empire were ravaging Europe. They had sacked Constantinople, and Rome was in danger of falling to them. In 1571 Pope St. Pius V organized a fleet to combat the Turks. While preparations were underway, the Holy Father sent out an urgent request for all the Faithful to unite in praying the Rosary, beseeching the Mother of God as Our Lady of Victory to obtain victory for the Christians. The Battle of Lepanto was fought October 7, 1571. Though the Turkish forces outnumbered the Christians in both number and strength, it was an unprecedented victory for the Christians. The Battle so successfully crushed the Ottoman Empire that they would not rise to power again for 100 years. In 1572 Pope St. Pius V established the Feast of the Holy Rosary. G.K. Chesterton beautifully told this story in his poem, "Lepanto".  The book "The Lion and the Crescent" is also another great read, and is the story of Don Juan of Austria, commander of the Holy League forces during the Battle.

Prayer beads have been used for centuries, as well as repetitious prayer to aid in meditation. (Buddhists chant to assist their meditation, though you'll rarely hear their methods being questioned.) I've heard arguments against the Rosary, reasoning that God doesn't want us to say mindless prayer over and over again. This is partly true in the fact that if it's "mindless" it's not really prayer. Praying is defined as lifting your heart and mind to God. If you're not doing that you're definitely not praying. The traditional Rosary is designed for the meditation of 15 mysteries of the life of Christ and His Holy Mother, directed through Mary as our most powerful Intercessor. That is, being closest to God, she is the most helpful in obtaining for us what we need from God. This is often misconceived by non-Catholics as prayer to Mary, when really our prayers travel through Mary, as she works for us to convey our prayers to God. St. Dominic is traditionally accredited in spreading devotion through the Rosary.

"The rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known; it is the book of the simple, which initiates them into mysteries and knowledge more satisfying than the education of other men; it is the book of the aged, whose eyes close upon the shadow of this world, and open on the substance of the next. The power of the rosary is beyond description." ~ Archbishop Fulton Sheen "

I once heard a story meant to illustrate Marian devotion, and it goes something like this:

A King had an adopted son who had seriously transgressed the law and had fallen out of his favor (as we sinners have with God). This son wanted desperately to regain the favor of his father, knowing that all good came from the King and he would never be happy outside the graces of his father. Petition after petition of the fallen son went unheeded, so great had he offended the King. The son knew the King loved his Mother (Mary) so much that he never denied her any request. Taking inspiration from this thought, the son met with the King's Mother and begged her to restore his position in the kingdom. The unfailing love of this merciful Mother moved her to beg the King for the son's forgiveness and a restoration of his position. And so it was.

The Synod on the Family, convened to settle family matters apparently at question for modern Catholics, has been discussed ad nauseam. So I don't feel the need to elaborate too much on what exactly is going on there. It's obvious that many Catholics are losing their Catholic identity and what it really means to be Catholic.

The fact remains that God in His perfection will always remain the same. Change implies imperfection, such as this world is, and while people feel the need to "keep up with the times", God is the same in every age. While circumstances and situations may change, what is morally right or wrong will always remain right or wrong, despite what is "politically correct" at that time.

We were given awe-inspiring examples of what it means to be Catholic in the sacrifices of the early Christians who so selflessly spilled their blood for their Faith. The Church that Christ founded, with a visible head (St. Peter) to guide, the Church that has been a vessel for thousands of souls to gain sanctity, with unchanging moral certainty, is now under attack by the spirit of the world. It is under attack by those who want the Church to mold herself to their needs, to "get in line with the times". The Church that Christ gave us is under attack by those clamoring for streamlined annulments, for Communion for adulterers intent on living in sin, for acceptance of sexual perversity disguised as "love". I can't help but wonder why those whose beliefs are so far from being Catholic even care to remain Catholic? They've already disowned the Faith by their lifestyle, and what they believe is much closer to that of other religions than Catholicism. The Catholic Church is not a democracy. You don't suddenly become a fan of Catholicism simply because the current Pontiff seems to be "loosening" up and accepting of things that were formerly unacceptable (which cannot be the case, by the way).

The laws of God, of the Catholic Faith, were not given to us "for the time being", but as part of the "everlasting covenant" meant as a tool for our salvation. The fact that these are even under question is disturbing. And so we have recourse to our Unfailing Helper, Mary our Holy Mother, in this time of ultimate confusion.

The easy way, the "way of the world", will never win over the sacrificial, selfless way of God.