October: the month of the Rosary

I notice I had not posted anything to this blog on the month of October for the last two years. I'd like to think that I must've been praying the rosary!!! ;)

The rosary is a dear prayer for me. I too, owe the rosary for my conversion. When I was a child, my parents went for a tour around Europe and bought us some rosaries from their stop at the Vatican. That was my first rosary; other than a crucifix and an image of Our Lady, there's nothing accompanying it to suggest it was to be used for prayer!

Many years later in high school, in Singapore, I met a group of Catholic friends and a Catholic teacher (who later became my godmother). We used to pray the rosary in an empty classroom everyday before class started. In the first few weeks, they used to 'skip' me because I didn't know the mysteries nor the 'accompanying' prayers outside the repeated Pater and ten Aves. Through this humble daily prayer meeting, Our Lady works to bring us ever closer to her Son. That teacher of mine had assisted many of her students to find their religious vocations, and I came to know and love the Church more after those two years. She became my godmother when I received the Sacrament of Confirmation at the end of those two years.

The two links below reflect on the rosary:

1. A story by a priest in China, baptized in secret and raised in persecution, about how the rosary kept their faith alive.

2. A short reflection by a Dominican, defending the rosary whom some had derided as being "the illiterate's substitute for reading the Gospel." (courtesy of "A moment with Mary")

The simplicity of the Rosary

It may seem strange that a prayer as simple as the Rosary is particularly associated with the Dominicans. One seldom thinks of Dominicans as simple people. We have the reputation to write long and complex works on theology. However, we fought to preserve the Rosary. It is our sacred heritage. (...)

But why is this simple prayer so dear to the Dominicans? Perhaps it is because at the heart of our theological tradition there is an aspiration towards simplicity. Saint Thomas Aquinas once said that we were unable to understand God because God is so perfectly simple. (...)

There is a false simplicity, of which we must rid ourselves: that is the way of simplifying everything, from those who always have an easy answer to everything, those who know all things in advance. They are either too lazy or too incompetent to think. There is also a true simplicity that comes from the heart, the simplicity that can be seen in the eyes of the beholder. One can only reach that point by proceeding slowing, with God’s grace.

The Rosary is simple indeed, very simple. But we can aspire to its wise and deep simplicity and therefore find peace.

Br. Timothy Radcliffe, o.p.

From his “Pray the Rosary Seminar” given in Lourdes, October 1998

3. And lastly, (how can I forget!) here's a link on How to pray the Rosary

There are so many people and intentions to remember that we can bring up in our Rosary prayers!

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!