The beautiful rosary

I learned the rosary from an Anglo-Catholic priest. He knew the history of the rosary quite well and never prayed the luminous mysteries. I don't have any judgment toward those who do, but for me, the rosary will always be prayed with the full 150 Hail Mary's to remember the 150 Psalms. I wrote this on an old blog of mine back in 2016.

I wanted to write this for people unfamiliar with the rosary. It is a very beautiful devotion though often misunderstood. The rosary is quite a scriptural prayer and takes on the prophetic narrative of the 150 Psalms and how they are fulfilled in the Gospel. For instance, Mary’s intercession on behalf of sinners is seen in John 2:1-12. She stands at the side of the King (Psalm 45:1-9) and is always present in his life. One needs to become acquainted with the Psalms though to see how Mary is prophetically seen alongside her son in his mission but this is why the rosary has three sets of mysteries. The joyful, sorrowful, and luminous mysteries. Not only do they recount the prophetic detail of the Psalms but also the prophetic detail of Mary’s participation in Jesus’s life. What initially started as 150 Psalms became 150 Our Father’s and then 150 Hail Mary’s.

So here is the basics on how to pray the rosary.

Start with the crucifix saying the Apostle’s Creed–

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

Next, pray the Our Father holding the next bead–

Our Father, Who is in heaven, Holy is Your Name; Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

On the next three beads, three Hail Mary’s–

Hail Mary, full of grace. Our Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

On the next bead, pray the Glory Be and optional Fatima prayer–

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

O my Jesus, forgive us of our sins. Save us from the fires of Hell. Especially those in most need of your mercy. Amen.

Then begins the first Our Father introducing the first decade. An Our Father introduces the decade, and then the mystery is announced. Normally, information on the rosary does not specify the mystery, however, for our purposes, we will identify each one as I am most interested in explaining a full rosary which will give the 150 Hail Mary’s reflecting on the prophetic message of the Psalms.

After saying the Our Father, the joyful mysteries are begun. They start with the Annunciation. This is announced followed by 10 Hail Mary’s. Afterward, a Glory Be and optional Fatima prayer and whatever intercessions desired are made.

Then another Our Father and the Visitation of Mary’s to Elizabeth is the next joyful mystery. This is announced followed by 10 Hail Mary’s. Afterward, a Glory Be and optional Fatima prayer and whatever intercessions desired are made.

Then another Our Father and the next mystery is the Nativity. This is announced followed by 10 Hail Mary’s. Afterward, a Glory Be and optional Fatima prayer and whatever intercessions desired are made.

Then another Our Father and the next mystery is the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. This is announced followed by 10 Hail Mary’s. Afterward, a Glory Be and optional Fatima prayer and whatever intercessions desired are made.

Then another Our Father and the next mystery is the Finding of Jesus in the Temple. This is announced followed by 10 Hail Mary’s. Afterward, a Glory Be and optional Fatima prayer and whatever intercessions desired are made. This concludes the joyful mysteries. The sorrowful mysteries are then transferred to as you pick up normally.

An Our Father is said and the first sorrowful mystery is the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. This is announced followed by 10 Hail Mary’s. Afterward, a Glory Be and optional Fatima prayer and whatever intercessions desired are made.

Then another Our Father and the next mystery is the Scourging at the Pillar. This is announced followed by 10 Hail Mary’s. Afterward, a Glory Be and optional Fatima prayer and whatever intercessions desired are made.

Then another Our Father and the next mystery is the Crowning with Thorns. This is announced followed by 10 Hail Mary’s. Afterward, a Glory Be and optional Fatima prayer and whatever intercessions desired are made.

Then another Our Father and the next mystery is the Carrying of the Cross. This is announced followed by 10 Hail Mary’s. Afterward, a Glory Be and optional Fatima prayer and whatever intercessions desired are made.

Then another Our Father and the final sorrowful mystery is the Crucifixion. This is announced followed by 10 Hail Mary’s. Afterward, a Glory Be and optional Fatima prayer and whatever intercessions desired are made.

This concludes the sorrowful mysteries as the glorious mysteries are next transitioned to which complete the prophetic nature of the Psalms. If we go to Hebrews 1:1-12, we see many Psalms are fulfilled in the resurrection. In addition, St Peter cites numerous Psalms, specifically Psalm 110:1 in Acts 2 related to the resurrection. There are three glorious mysteries which refer to our own resurrection–the resurrection of Christ which we are to become incorporated into, the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in which our baptism is a major part and we are joined to Christ’s resurrection in baptism (Rom. 6:3-4), and the Assumption of Mary which reveals Mary’s own resurrection from the grave to be foreshadowing of our own resurrection.

An Our Father is said as the glorious mysteries are announced. The first of which is the Resurrection of Christ. This is announced followed by 10 Hail Mary’s. Afterward, a Glory Be and optional Fatima prayer and whatever intercessions desired are made.

Another Our Father is said. The next mystery is the Ascension of Christ into Heaven. This is announced followed by 10 Hail Mary’s. Afterward, a Glory Be and optional Fatima prayer and whatever intercessions desired are made.

Then an Our Father is said and the next mystery is the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This is announced followed by 10 Hail Mary’s. Afterward, a Glory Be and optional Fatima prayer and whatever intercessions desired are made.

Then an Our Father is said and the next mystery is the Assumption of Mary. This is announced followed by 10 Hail Mary’s. Afterward, a Glory Be and optional Fatima prayer and whatever intercessions desired are made.

Then an Our Father is said and the last glorious mystery is the Coronation of the Ever-Virgin. This is announced followed by 10 Hail Mary’s. Afterward, a Glory Be and optional Fatima prayer and whatever intercessions desired are made. There is one more prayer–the Hail Holy Queen.

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, hail, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve: to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus, O merciful, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Amen.

This concludes the rosary.

Stolen!

It was just a few years ago. The very first rosary I've ever had. It was quite beautiful. It was missing a chain link when I first got it. It had a pendant of St. Michael the Archangel. I remember it had gotten me through some tough times. Once, in a hospital bed, a nurse saw and said to me, "Oh, you pray the rosary too!" It had connected me to numerous people. I started praying the rosary when I was led into the Anglican faith. I still pray the rosary. Even though I'm Eastern rite, I believe the rosary is meant for the entire church. I was given a one decade rosary as a baptismal gift.

So in 2017 we first visited Washington, D.C. Well most of us in my family first visited. Some of us had been there previously. Okay, about half of us, but you get the point. We visited Washington, D.C. in 2017. The belly of the beast. My now brother-in-law was working as an intern with the CIA. It was our last day there. We packed our bags and left the rental house and decided to eat something before catching our flight. He was the chauffer since he had already been spending much of his time in D.C. as a result of his internship. But the Arizona license plate made us easy-pickings regardless. Not to mention the myriad of luggage and bags.

I had my rosary in a backpack that was also lulling around a few books, tourist papers, an iPod, and not much else. I remember the horrifying moment when we got back to the car. The windows were shattered. There was glass all over the floor of his nice car. My parents lost nothing. But my sister, now borther-in-law, and I lost our backpacks. The rosary was gone! I couldn't believe it. How? The one that had been with me when I first came to Christianity. It was gone! Out of my life! Stolen! I broke down. I kept describing the rosary over and over to the officer investigating the scene. I remember the janitor of the GWU School of Law campus who wanted to make certain my now brother-in-law remembered her so the CIA wouldn't come after her. She was funny. But the rosary was gone. I didn't want to talk about it. I hated when my dad kept saying, "so sorry". As if that helped. It didn't.

Then there was the flight home. For some reason, the flight attendant paid much attention to me. I don't know if it was just the overwhelming shock but it really felt the most memorable. As if the flight attendant was somehow placed on board this airplane to watch out after me. I've never been treated that nicely by a flight attendant. There was a disabled person on board who needed extra care to get off the plane after it landed. The flight attendant turned to me to wait while the disabled person was helped off. She mentioned something about she knew that I would be willing to wait or help or something like that. She wasn't wrong. It almost seemed as if we had become close friends despite knowing each other for only mere hours. I cannot remember enough. I can only remember the emotion because it was just a mixed bag of emotions at this time.

Then, in the airport, I broke down. I had lost something exceedingly special and no amount of consolation could help. I remember a woman asking why I was so upset and distraught in the airport and my parents attempting to explain and then my dad said, "Dude! They found your rosary!" I looked coldly at him, as if to say, you'd better be right. Because I knew such a claim was nonsense at this point. Or was it?

At home, I just sulked into bed. My younger sister slept in the room next to me. I was barely waking the next day. I heard her talking on the phone. I was trying to make out what the conversation was about. She peaked her head into my bedroom. She said to me, "Daniel! They found your backpack. And there was a gray rosary in it. Your rosary was gray, right?" "Well, I think it more a purple shade but I can understand why someone would think it a gray rosary. Did it have the St. Michael pendant?" "They didn't say that but there were four books and an iPod." "That sounds like my backpack!" It had been found! What was once lost was now found! Amazing!

I kept praying with that rosary for the next few years to come. I am normally quite territorial with my rosaries but for some reason I wanted the Crazy Church Lady to hold onto it. Before the services closed to the public, I started letting her hold onto it during vespers, complines, pre-sanctified liturgies, etc. She said that she feared she would forget to give it back if she did that. I told her not to worry, all that is mine is yours. Finally, I gave it to her as a Mother's Day gift. A week later. The Crazy Church Lady asked if I was sure, and I said yes. She told me to let her know if I ever wanted it back. I want it with her though.