Holy Rosary - Carmelite Sisters

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The Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families...that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary."

- Sister Maria Lucía of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, O.C.D.

The Holy Rosary and our Life of Prayer
"Prayer is the life of the new heart. It ought to animate us at every moment. But we tend to forget him who is our life and our all. This is why the Fathers of the spiritual life in the Deuteronomic and prophetic traditions insist that prayer is a remembrance of God often awakened by the memory of the heart: "We must remember God more often than we draw breath."1 But we cannot pray "at all times" if we do not pray at specific times, consciously willing it. These are the special times of Christian prayer, both in intensity and duration.

The Tradition of the Church proposes to the faithful certain rhythms of praying intended to nourish continual prayer. Some are daily, such as morning and evening prayer, grace before and after meals, the Liturgy of the Hours. Sundays, centered on the Eucharist, are kept holy primarily by prayer. The cycle of the liturgical year and its great feasts are also basic rhythms of the Christian's life of prayer.

The Lord leads all persons by paths and in ways pleasing to him, and each believer responds according to his heart's resolve and the personal expressions of his prayer. However, Christian Tradition has retained three major expressions of prayer: vocal, meditative, and contemplative. They have one basic trait in common: composure of heart. This vigilance in keeping the Word and dwelling in the presence of God makes these three expressions intense times in the life of prayer.

"Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary. This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him."

-from the Catechism of the Catholic Church

What is the Rosary and How Do We Pray It?
The Rosary is the simplest yet most profound of prayers. The entire prayer incorporates the mysteries surrounding life of Christ. The four mysteries are known as the Glorious, Joyful, Luminous and Sorrowful. Each set of mysteries are meditated on during the recitation of the Rosary prayer. It is customary to recite five decades of the Rosary at a time while meditating on one set of mysteries. A soul allows the words of the prayer to be spoken while its heart is united in recollected meditation on the life of Christ.

From its beginings the Rosary was known as the Psalter of Jesus and Mary. Monastic and Religious communities would chant the 150 psalms in the Book of the Psalms of David daily but this was a difficult task for the ordinary faithful Christian. Instead of memorizing all 150 Psalms, Christians could prayerfully recite 150 Hail Marys in union with the Liturgical Hours prayed within the Church. In our modern times we have been blessed with the addition of another set of mysteries to meditate upon during the praying of the Rosary. They are entitled the Luminous Mysteries and were given to the church by His Holiness Pope John Paul II.
A soul must remember this, it is not so much the length of a prayer as the fervour with which it is said which pleases God and touches his heart. A single Hail Mary said properly is worth more than a hundred and fifty said badly. Therefore, when you pray, do not speed through each Ave and decade, but keep yourself recollected on the Mystery of each decade and allow your soul to offer this pray from your heart.

"When the Rosary is well said, it gives Jesus and Mary more glory and is more meritorious for the soul than any other prayer."

Saint Louis de Montfort

Carmelites and The Rosary
It is well known that our Holy Mother Saint Teresa of Jesus prayed the Rosary daily. It is believed that while she was traveling throughout Spain, she enjoyed the hospitality of at least one Brigittine Monastery, and from the Brigittines, learned to say their six-decade Rosary. The six-decade Rosary was later adopted as the Rosary of the Discalced Carmelite habit, with a large medal of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in addition to, or even in place of, the crucifix found on the Dominican Rosary. Only six of the eighteen decades are worn, as opposed to the entire fifteen decades of the Dominican Rosary, worn with the religious habits of some other Orders.

The Brigittine (or "Saint Bridget") Rosary looks similar to a regular Rosary, but with an extra decade. The resultant seven Pater beads honor the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the sixty-three Ave Maria beads commemorate the sixty-three years it is believed the Blessed Mother lived on this earth before her Assumption. In praying the Brigittine Rosary, there are a total of eighteen decades: In the six Joyful Mysteries, the first is the Immaculate Conception; the sixth of the Sorrowful Mysteries commemorates when the Body of the Lord was placed in the Arms of His Sorrowful Mother; and the sixth of the Glorious Mysteries is recited in honor of the Patronage of Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace (and, for the Carmelite, Mary, Queen and Beauty of Carmel). The other mysteries are the same as in the Dominican Rosary. However, at the end of each decade, the Apostles Creed, not the Glory be, is recited." --Fr. Boyd

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