Ever since hearing the story of Fatima, the Rosary has been my life-line. For more than sixty years I have prayed the Rosary as many as three times a day. However I have never become obsessive about it. If I’m tired or unwell, I am content to simply rest in the Lord. I never liked the idea: You must. That kind of thing tends to become musty!
Once when researching the history of the Rosary, in San Clemente, I came across an ancient and rare book entitled: Le Triple Rosaire, where the author, Bernard of Toulouse referred to the three stages of attention in prayer:
To the words,
to the thoughts
to God.
Something like that happens in ordinary conversation: When we are with strangers, words seem necessary and we are careful about how we choose them. With friends or colleagues we exchange thoughts of business or pleasure. One often hears a woman who has lost her husband, say: I miss him so much and feel that half myself has died---not that he ever said a lot—he just sat there and smiled across at me. That surely is communication or should I say communion, something beyond the words or thoughts--- a resting in the heart.
With the Beloved, it is enough to sit in silence. Being totally present to God and to each other is what matters.
Sr. Elizabeth of the Trinity lived could not cope with the Rosary, as she found it did not sit well with her contemplative spirit. I believe that the Little Flower also found it a difficult prayer to manage. For those who can’t think clearly or concentrate, it may be that they are gone beyond that stage. They may be moving into a slower more still way of praying the Rosary. Listen again to Bernard: When summoned to the royal court, do not dally along the corridors and antechambers looking at pictures of King, but walk calmly on into his presence.
Not need then to worry if you cannot concentrate all the while. For myself I take up the beads each morning and pray the first Joyful mystery, leaving myself open to the Lord’s Annunciation for this day. I do indeed say the Our Father and the ten Hail Marys, but slowly and with stillness. It is not so much a thinking in the head as a lingering in love with the Lord and his Mother.
hartygabriel@yahoo.co.uk
Dominican Priory, Tallaght Village, Dublin 24 Ireland
Once when researching the history of the Rosary, in San Clemente, I came across an ancient and rare book entitled: Le Triple Rosaire, where the author, Bernard of Toulouse referred to the three stages of attention in prayer:
To the words,
to the thoughts
to God.
Something like that happens in ordinary conversation: When we are with strangers, words seem necessary and we are careful about how we choose them. With friends or colleagues we exchange thoughts of business or pleasure. One often hears a woman who has lost her husband, say: I miss him so much and feel that half myself has died---not that he ever said a lot—he just sat there and smiled across at me. That surely is communication or should I say communion, something beyond the words or thoughts--- a resting in the heart.
With the Beloved, it is enough to sit in silence. Being totally present to God and to each other is what matters.
Sr. Elizabeth of the Trinity lived could not cope with the Rosary, as she found it did not sit well with her contemplative spirit. I believe that the Little Flower also found it a difficult prayer to manage. For those who can’t think clearly or concentrate, it may be that they are gone beyond that stage. They may be moving into a slower more still way of praying the Rosary. Listen again to Bernard: When summoned to the royal court, do not dally along the corridors and antechambers looking at pictures of King, but walk calmly on into his presence.
Not need then to worry if you cannot concentrate all the while. For myself I take up the beads each morning and pray the first Joyful mystery, leaving myself open to the Lord’s Annunciation for this day. I do indeed say the Our Father and the ten Hail Marys, but slowly and with stillness. It is not so much a thinking in the head as a lingering in love with the Lord and his Mother.
hartygabriel@yahoo.co.uk
Dominican Priory, Tallaght Village, Dublin 24 Ireland
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