Our Lady of the Rosary

 

Prayer beads are used in many of the world religions. For Muslims prayer beads are used to remember and glorify Allah. Some Hindus use prayer beads to recite mantras. Other religions use prayer beads to help people to focus on their prayers, to repeat prayers, and even to ward off evil spirits. The origins of the rosary could reach back to the 3rd century when Christian hermits or the Desert Fathers, as they were known, used rope beads to help them focus on their prayers. But the origin of the rosary of Our Lady that we know today is said to have begun with an apparition of Our Lady in 1208, experienced by Dominic de Guzman in the church of Prouille. Different Popes down through the years have encouraged Catholics to pray the rosary. In 1569 the Dominican Pope Pius V formally established devotion to the Rosary. During the Penal times, when Catholics in Ireland were banned from attending mass, the rosary became a substitute prayer ritual in the home. To this day it still remains a central prayer in the life of Catholics. Reciting the rosary with a family was always a special moment during parish visitation.

 

The practice of the rosary comes to mind as I reflect upon the gospel reading  taken from Luke 10:38-42 about Martha complaining because she felt Jesus wasn’t concerned about the fact that her sister, Mary, was leaving Martha to do all the work of serving by herself. Jesus gently advises not to get so upset about the many things that crop up each day. Only a few of these things are necessary. And Mary had chosen the better part, to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen him speaking. I recall that, in Fiji, the family would work together to prepare the kava and the cup of tea before the community arrived for the rosary and prayer sharing. Maybe Mary and Martha should have worked together and got things ready well beforehand so that both of them could have had time to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to his stories and teachings.