The PK and the "rose garden"

As I continue to pray the rosary each day, I thought it would be interesting to do a little research on the history of the rosary. For starters, the word rosary comes from the Latin rosarium meaning "rose garden" or "garland of roses." When is comes to the history of the rosary itself, not everyone agrees. Tradition teaches us that the rosary was given to Saint Dominic when the Virgin Mary appeared to him in 1214. More than 400 years later Saint Alanus de Rupe (St. Alan of the Rock) also received a vision of the Blessed Mother who delivered a message that the rosary needed to be reinstated. St Alan is also credited with having received the 15 mysteries. (It wasn't until Pope Paul II in 2002 that the 5 Luminous Mysteries were added to the 5 Sorrowful, 5 Joyful and 5 Glorious Mysteries.) Many Church historians go all the way back to the 4th century where is was discovered that the Desert Fathers used 'prayer ropes" to count he repetitions of the Jesus Prayer ("Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner"). Prayer Beads are used by devout people from every major world religion: Islam, Roman Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism. That is one big community of believers!

Wednesday's Rosary and the "Glorious" Mysteries

Wednesday's Rosary is all about the Glorious Mysteries which include The Resurrection, The Ascension, The Descent the Holy Spirit. I grew up as a PK hearing all about these events from the life of Christ. The last two mysteries aren't quite so familiar. The Assumption and the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Although the Bible doesn't mention Mary's death much less her being "assumed " into Heaven, I did some research and found that his tradition is based on narratives from the 5th century.The coronation of the BVM (Blessed Virgin Mary) is supposedly what happened after she was assumed bodily into heaven. This is where Jesus, places a crown on her head and sets her up in a sa-weeet postion of Queen of Heaven. Another title that is relatively new to me is Mother of God. I can see my father rolling his eyes at that one. But if you think about it, if Mary isn't the Mother of God, then who is she the Mother of? Cause Jesus is God incarnate, right?
Oh well, nothing like some Glorious Mysteries to make your day and make you THINK!

Tuesday's Rosary

What IS it with Tuesdays?! They seem to always bring their fair share of conflict. Maybe it's because Tuesday is named after the Nordic god of war, Tyre. My attention was split seven ways to Sunday (or Tuesday) among several important tasks that I wanted to accomplish. By the end of the day day I had only completed one of the tasks and had only started the other three items on my list. smile. sigh.

Tuesday's Rosary (and Friday's as well) is all about the Five Sorrowful Mysteries: The Agony in the Garden, The Scourging at the Pillar, The Crowning with Thorns, The Carrying of the Cross, and The Crucifixion. These mysteries are definitely R rated. The blood content alone would garner a PG13. I guess I understand the historical significance of a blood sacrifice, but I also feel like there is enough violence in the world today that I can do without getting totally fixated on the romanticized bloodshed of the crucifixion. Call me a radical, but I really find it hard to believe that God had to murder Jesus, the son, to prove that God loved me. I am trying to just focus on the positive and be grateful that the nasty habit the Romans had of nailing people to wooden crossbeams is no longer a common everyday occurrence. Tuesday, a day of conflict and redemption. Somethings never change

The PK and the Rosary

OK, so praying the rosary is not exactly something that I ever thought I would find myself doing. First of all, it obviously comes from a very Catholic tradition. PKs , on the other hand come from a very Protestant tradition as most Catholics priests are unmarried and have no children. Although I know a couple of Married Catholic priests! Yes, you read it correctly: MARRIED CATHOLIC PRIESTS! To be completely honest they were married EPISCOPAL priests before they became Catholic ones, but nevertheless...

So I was vacationing in New Mexico and saw this amazing turquoise and silver rosary and I just had to have it. Now mind you, I didn't even know a complete Hail Mary from memory but I thought, "What the hay..." I'll learn how to pray the rosary and see what happens. So I immediately went to the Apps store via my new iPhone 3GS and searched for a rosary app. Would you believe there are SEVERAL to choose from? I purchased two of them and found that I liked the one with audio so I could pray along with the nice man and woman who take turns saying the prayers. I have been saying the rosary for several days now and although I have to admit, it still seems a little foreign to me, it's starting to feel kinda relaxing and meditative, if you know what I mean. Some of the prayers at the end of the Rosary seem a little over the top on the I'm-in-love-with-the-Virgin-Mary Scale, but the prayers are ancient and who am I to say what's "over the top" when it comes to spiritual admiration.

I'll keep you posted on how my prayer life continues to develop now that I have a stunning piece of turquoise prayer jewelry to inspire me. smile. sigh.

Day One

PK: It's a moniker that only other PKs can fully understand and appreciate. Being a preacher's kid means that you spend a fairly large percentage of your growing-up years inside churches on Sundays and Wednesday nights, parishioner's' homes during the Sunday Dinner hour, and funeral homes several times a month. It means that everyone expects you to be a "goodie-two-shoes" which , of course, is why PKs tend to go out of their way to pretend to be bad asses. PKs typically lead two very different lives. One life is that of the consummate conscientious Christian the other is that of a renegade rebel with a pretty serious cause: to prove to all of your peers that you are not who they think you are. The more conservative the preacher, the more rebellious and radical the PK. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about here. I was well into my 30's before I realized that I don't have to prove anything to anyone regarding my PK status.