When younger I was interested in Fatima, then I ‘outgrew’ it, well a foolish thought I know. Now I am looking at this again. I got this book from our store here titled: “Fatima for Today: The Urgent Marian Message of Hope”. The message is Gospel, and it brings out the importance of how connected with others when we pray we are and how important is to pray for all. Our loved ones, our enemies and those who hate us and yes God; for God hates no one and wants all to come to salvation. The rosary is central to the Fatima message, because we when praying it we seek to delve deeper into the mysteries that we are saying that can be found in the New Testament. I like to say the rosary very slowly, so I never get a whole one in. Or I make a prayer rope with 33 knots and sometimes use it for pondering one of the mysteries.
We bring others with us when we pray, those we may never meet or know. When we pray the “Our Father’ and the “Hail Mary” it is good to know that both are universal prayers, no one is left out. In praying these prayers with conscious intent, there is healing of those relationships that we struggle with.
Beads can be very helpful in relaxing the body and mind for when feeling the beads (or knots in my case) glide slowly through the fingers, it relieves physical tension. No one says the Rosary the same, each is unique as it should be. Some say it fast, others slow, some meditate as they pray, others consecrate on the words and some do both. Some pray with scenes from the bible, other us abstract symbols. All are good, for again we are each unique. We are called to love all and to pray for all.
It is much easier to judge and to feel contempt, but that is not the way that Christ Jesus taught us. So when praying, know that you bring many with you. The more conscious one is of that reality, the faster prayer will take on a deeper significance in life. To pray is to breathe, to expand the heart and soul, to grow in love. The reward for loving, is to love even more and deeper and more expansively. Prayer is not about seen results, but about growing in the image we are made in. To pray is to come face to face with ultimate reality and if kept up one will experience a deep healing on ones heart and soul. It is grace, it happens on its own, all we need to is to stay open and grow in love and trust.
When using beads for prayer, it is soon realized that a deeper silence will also come about, and then it is good to allow ones self to stop and just be in the presence of the infinite. For in the end, it is about a union of wills, of love that we all strive towards. At least that is true in the Christian tradition.
Br. Mark Dohle, OCSO
Holy Spirit Monastery
