October is the Month of Mary's Rosary

This tender painting is titled, Old Lady with a Rosary. It was created by the Scottish portrait painter, George Fiddes Watt (1873-1960).  

There is so much to notice here. This elderly woman lives in extreme poverty. Her dress is faded and worn. Her threadbare, tattered curtains are useless. There is what's left of a broom leaning against the wall under the window. Her spinning wheel is there as well, but I sense she is now too frail to use it. The wooden table with the damaged edge has been around a long time.

There is a small pitcher on the table and a cup of tea perhaps. She has just placed it there — see the steam rising from it. The walls and the floor are the color of the earth. They remind us that death is near, as does the clock on the wall.

What thoughts fill her rosary prayer? What does she bring to her prayer? Maybe just an uncomplicated love of God. Is she lonely, having outlived everyone? Is she mourning the loss of dear ones? Has her poverty reduced her, such that she is asking for death? Maybe she is praying for strength to accept the challenge of dimmed sight, arthritic hands and spine? The beads she holds delicately have gone round and round for a very long time — what stories they could tell. I think she is an image of a faithful soul, accepting what comes each day. She is taking her time — a contemplative soul, full of inner awareness, and I expect gratitude for all that has upheld her over the years.

Even to hold the rosary is a prayer. But if we learn nothing else from her, perhaps this, that finishing the whole thing in record time isn't what matters, but that we pray even the littlest bit of it with attentive love.

A Rosary Decade When Feeling Hopeless or Heavy Hearted

A few years ago Pope Francis lovingly referred to the Rosary as, "the sweet chain that ties us to God." And recently a friend and I were talking about her rosary prayer group and she asked about the rosary I own. I sent this picture of the rosary I made when I was newly ordained nearly forty three years ago. It has gone with me all along the way. I can imagine you have your own. I enjoy presenting it here every now and again, inviting folks to pray with me. 

Here are short meditations to aid focus between each Hail Mary when perhaps feeling hopeless or heavy hearted. Or maybe you're just sitting in a waiting room and the magazines are a waste of time and you'd care to join the prayer.

Our Father...

I woke this morning beginning the new day with gratitude. God's mercies are all around — that I am God's dear child even when I don't feel it, that I am forgiven what happened even a very long time ago. God did not create me simply to figure out what work I have to do, but how to be, how to live — authentically, like Jesus.

Hail Mary...

Perhaps there is something that weighs heavily on my heart — something which threatens hope in me, which steals away energy, sleep or joy — which tests faith.

Hail Mary...

Is there worry in my life because I feel my aging (or someone dear to me)? I detect physical changes, weakness or losses that concern me. My sight, my hearing, my bones, my mind, my energy? Perhaps these signs of outer loss are an invitation to live more interiorly? In an extroverted world, to go inside. In a world that can't stop talking, to listen, to be more still. 

Hail Mary...

The state of the world is causing many people to feel hopeless. We need servant leaders. I pray for them, and that the world would be done with autocrats, liars, cowards, power-grabbers, conspiracy creators, manipulators, disrupters, soulless people devoid of conscience. What grief these people cause.

Hail Mary...

A woman who survived the Yugoslav war said, "We couldn't believe anyone would bomb a medieval city?" But here we are again with the invasion of Ukraine. It is unthinkable that in our time a single man could cause so much death, pain and destruction. Even the churches of his own publicly claimed religion are blown up. In my helplessness I pray...

Hail Mary...

Perhaps there is a person with whom I feel distance. Maybe there has been a disagreement or there is simply physical distance. The nation feels at times as if it is poised for a new war of division. There are people who call for it. Our poor weaponized country. Even the children seem to have lost their right to go to school feeling safe. In my frustration I pray...

Hail Mary...

Some events can cause us to say, "There are no words to describe how I feel." Maybe some trauma, guilt, disappointment, mistake or failure. Is there perhaps some life-turn that I simply can't make sense of, or a worry that I can't seem to shake? In that helplessness I can pray...

Hail Mary...

Is there someone I know whose struggle is chronic — a disability, a wound, handicap, some emotional problem, addiction, depression or physical disease. In my fear of the unknown or not knowing how to help I pray... 

Hail Mary...

I only have to walk outside and feel the unrelenting heat and drought to become worried. Or in other places the problem is floods. Everything seems to be record breaking or un-precedented. The covid pandemic and threats of new diseases have left us alienated and worn out. The new weapons the world continually turns out are increasingly fearsome. In my discouragement I can pray...

Hail Mary...

Before I end this rosary decade can I simply be still, quiet, silent — giving heaven some moment or space in which to speak a word. 

Hail Mary...

Glory be to the Father

Sacred Night in August

Maybe you'll remember this painting titled Sacred Night by Fritz von Uhde who painted it in 1888-9. We talked about the image last Lent when the work of Von Uhde was our theme. Recently a friend wrote about her devout and elderly mother needing to spend some weeks in a physical rehab. I sent these little rosary mediations (as an audio message) to help her along the way, figuring the Christmas mystery would surely be familiar to her. I think the Incarnation is the central mystery-theme of the Christian life and that we might meditate on it often and not just in December. I've made a few adjustments to the one line meditations for our purposes.

Our Father

Jesus was born in little and insignificant Bethlehem. Every place is important to God — whether it's  Bethlehem or the little room where I live and pray.

Hail Mary

Mary was very young and poor. God notices everything and everyone. God notices me.

Hail Mary

The first guests of the Infant Jesus at Bethlehem were poor, marginalized shepherds. God rejects no one. We do, but God doesn't.

Hail Mary

There was a bright star over the little house of Bethlehem where Mary gave birth to Jesus. The birth of Jesus makes glad the whole world and beyond the beyond!

Hail Mary

The cow and the donkey were in the stable of Bethlehem. Even the animals know who this little child is.

Hail Mary

In Jesus, God now has a human face. God sees us and loves us through the human eyes of Jesus. I'm not invisible to God.

Hail Mary

Perhaps it is naïve, but the artist has filled the night scene with singing angels. They are entering through the holes in the roof and singing their hearts out while sitting on the rafters. What has happened at Christmas is wonderful. God has jumped the distance between the eternity of heaven and earth time. It is amazing! Why are we so silent about it all?

Hail Mary

When the angel asked Mary to be the Mother of Jesus she said yes. Today I will say yes to what God asks of me. I will say yes to the Christ-presence I encounter today.

Hail Mary

The physical birth of Jesus is in the past — a historical moment. But the love born that night is forever — it is true for me and each human person on this planet.

Hail Mary

God came to be with us at Christmas in a new way. I don't have to be afraid — God is with us tenderly all the way in Jesus and Mary.

Hail Mary

Glory be to the Father

Ascension Rosary Decade

 The Ascension of Jesus ~ Artist: Eleanor Dixon Stecker

Our Father...

St. Luke tells us that Jesus ascended to heaven, Forty days after his Resurrection. Forty is a biblical number that means simply, a long time. We don't really need to know more than that. It may seem that we have a long time to "get it right" whatever that is. And as we get older, time seems to go by more quickly — like the sand in an hour glass seems to pour through as it nears the end. Truth be told, while I may have a long time, I don't have forever.

Hail Mary

To say Jesus ascended suggests first he had descended. He descended into death, yes, but he also descended into the place of our own deepest interior un-doing. He descended to bring life and light to the inner place of white superiority. Descended  to the inner place where we think our kind is best and everyone else is "other" or  "them." It is a sad place. Ungodly. Un-Christly.

Hail Mary!

As Jesus departs he promises the gift of the Holy Spirit, the power from on high, will be given to us. It is the same Holy Spirit Jesus received at his baptism. The Holy Spirit is God's engagement with us today. Have I forgotten this? What do I do with this Spirit-Gift? It's easy to be Spirit-filled from 8 to 9, or 9 to 10, or 10 to 11 on Sunday morning. But what about the rest of the week?

Hail Mary!

The Holy Spirit gift is likened to the wind. Wind can be wild. We don't know where the wind comes from or where it is going to go. Do I detect this spirit-wind in my life today? Where is it taking me? What new place? Not a vacation dream spot, but the new place for love and service. What next engagement with the divine?

 

Hail Mary!

The apostles witness Jesus' departure. They must have felt a terrible loneliness. The loneliness is intensified by not knowing what the future without Jesus will bring. I might pray for the Ukrainian people who are feeling devastating aloneness? Many millions are now refugees while others are left behind. How could this be allowed to happen? How could cities be reduced to rubble? How could such brutalizing violence happen in the 21st century? How alone!

Hail Mary!

Notice that the artist has wisely included as many women as men in the Ascension event. Mary, the Mother of Jesus is pictured, and the myrrh bearing women of Easter morning. These women are the first witnesses to the Resurrection. The gifts of each person are needed for Christ's purposes. If we're a church known for exclusion, we're in a very wrong-headed place.

Hail Mary!

For forty days the Risen Jesus has eaten with his disciples. He has shown himself to them, allowed them to touch him, even place their hands in his wounds. Then he departs. returning to the right hand of the Father within the inner Trinitarian community. As he departs, he entrusts the mission of love to us. It is a challenging mission, requiring energy, creativity and risk.

Hail Mary!

We are spiritual beings with bodies, not bodies in search of a spiritual life. Yet some Christians are essentially worldly people — thinking with the world, shopping around in the world, arguing about the world. Some clergy are so worldly, Pope Francis has likened them to pagans. A spiritual person doesn't simply heap up pieties and wave dogmatic and moral credentials, but sees the world through Christ's eyes, and becomes a whole human person as Christ is a whole human person.

Hail Mary!

The apostles (our ancestors) are sometimes a silly, wrong-headed and contentious bunch. Some parishes just move the furniture around, debate changing the hymnal (yet again), even fight over the placement of a statue, making polite conversation at polite meetings and social gatherings. But when Jesus ascended, leaving us Spirit-gifted and in charge, he had more than this in mind. What radical thing is my parish doing? Radical comes from Latin word radix meaning root. How are we so rooted in the Gospel of Christ that we're doing something brand new that makes a difference?

Hail Mary!

When Jesus ascended, a cloud took him from the apostles' sight. A cloud appeared when Jesus was Baptized and again when he was Transfigured and became white, like snow with the sun shining on it. It is a gloriously hopeful scene in a world of disaster and tears. Is hope still alive in me, or has it been knocked out of me by all the bad news? Have I even become a cynic? Not a few Christians have.

Hail Mary!

Glory be to the Father...

An Easter Rosary Decade ~ Remembering the Myrrh Bearing Women at the Tomb

The Mafa are an ethic group living in northern Cameroon, Africa. In the 1970's they created the Jesus Mafa project, as a catechetical tool, depicting the Gospel accounts to resonate with their own culture. Here is their picture of a handsome, comfortable angel greeting the animated and beautifully dressed myrrh-bearing women at the Easter morning tomb. O praise the Lord, all you nations, acclaim him all you peoples!! Psalm 117:2

And here is my rosary decade remembering the witness of these faithful women friends of Jesus. A little mediation is offered between each Hail Mary to help us stay focused. Thank you for your good prayer.

Our Father...

The number of women who approached the Easter morning tomb of Jesus varies: two, three, five, eight? It doesn't matter. What matters is that these women, who are referenced in a number of other gospel places, loved Jesus. May we be counted among them.

Hail Mary!

These women witnessed the awfulness of Good Friday. St. Matthew's Gospel tells us at first that Mary of Magdala and the other Mary simply sat in front of the tomb. They kept a kind of vigil. Perhaps they asked themselves, "What now?" But then what? What did they do between Friday night and Sunday morning? They did the things of love — preparing the embalming spices they would carry on Sunday.

Hail Mary!

They carried clay jars of ointment and spice. Women often carry things when they visit: a gift for the new baby, a housewarming gift, food they've prepared for a church dinner or funeral luncheon. May we learn generosity from them, and carry within ourselves hearts that help others to feel included and valued.

Hail Mary!

The women hurried away from the tomb — they ran. In some Eastern Christian churches at Easter, the priest seems to run around the sanctuary during the liturgy in imitation of them. In our culture people run to horde things out of fear, run to get more food or to be first in line, run to make money, run to get wars underway. May we have hearts that run to help, to serve, to love.

Hail Mary!

These women knew each other as friends. We never hear of contention among them (except maybe a little grumbling when Martha feels her sister Mary isn't pulling her weight when Jesus visits). By contrast, the apostles are frequently arguing, jealous and suspicious of each other. May we bring the friendship of the myrrh bearers to our parish communities.

Hail Mary! 

Because they were sent to the apostles with Easter news, the myrrh bearers are called Equal to the Apostles. But if women in the church are given that lofty recognition, then they ought to have a voice. In many instances women are silenced, shut out and marginalized. May the church model the voice-giving of Easter.

Hail Mary!

In the ancient world a woman could not be a witness in court — she could never testify to what she'd seen or heard. What does it say then about the reality of Christ's Resurrection?  If the Easter accounts are a fabrication, the authors would never have written women into the story as witnesses. 

Hail Mary!

As the women approach the tomb at dawn they expect to encounter death. "Who will roll away the stone from the tomb for us," they ask. But instead, and to their surprise, they receive a message of life. Might I allow God to surprise me — not like some kind of lucky charm that brings me good fortune, but can I imagine allowing God to surprise me with a change of mind and heart about something which I was so stubbornly resolute. 

Hail Mary!

One Easter hymn speaks of the myrrh bearing women as stopping the lamentation of Eve. Their witness turns things around. May we pray for those who weep, who shed painful tears for the great losses they suffer — the women of Ukraine who weep for their husbands, children, parents, homes, friends, neighbors, gardens, animals, churches.

Hail Mary!

These women are not only courageous but defiant. The tomb was sealed on Friday and that was supposed to be the end of it. Soldiers guarding the tomb would make sure of it if necessary. But the myrrh bearers seem fully prepared to say, "No, we're not finished yet."  Pray for the defiant women of Russia who have been whisked off to jail, court dates, and the threat of long prison time for protesting the evil being perpetrated upon their Ukrainian neighbors.

Hail Mary!

Glory be to the Father

A Rosary Decade at the Start of the New Year and the Feast of Mary, Mother of God

Lorenzo Ghiberti created this tender Madonna and Child sculpture of poly-chromed clay in the early years of the Renaissance somewhere between 1425-1450. It was intended not for a church but someone's home — perhaps even a child's bedroom. Mary is depicted as the ideal mother. Her love is close and tender. Her expression is even wistful. She holds the Christ securely by his left leg while rubbing his chubby thigh with her thumb. The Infant holds onto Mary's collar with his left hand; his right arm rests on her shoulder.  He is wrapped in a striped blanket or perhaps it is the lining of Mary's mantle. 

But notice this, Ghiberti's sculpture is 3D — the baby's right leg extends out of the image into our space. We see the sole of Jesus' foot just as we see it in the Byzantine icon titled Glykophilousa (Sweet Kissing). The artist intended that we be able to touch the Child's foot. I have younger siblings and remember playing with their toes and making them laugh as infants. But this Child has withdrawn a bit. We sense his vulnerability and need to be consoled. The red tunic reveals this is a divine-human person.

Sitting before Lorenzo Ghiberti's Madonna and Child, at the start of the New Year and this Feast of Mary's Divine Maternity, perhaps we can pray this decade of the Rosary together with these short meditations between each prayer.

Our Father...

O Lady, your Divine Child holds onto your collar. Strengthen me as I hold on tight during these difficult days. I ask for the charism of joy.

Hail Mary...

This image is nearly 600 years old. I become heart-aware of the countless persons gone before me who have prayed before your image, O Mother of God. 

Hail Mary...

What trauma and struggle the world has known over these 600 years. Watch over this new year, Holy Child, and help us to keep mercy, justice and peace alive.

Hail Mary...

O Jesus, your foot extends out of the image and into our space. It is the foot that will walk throughout Galilee and then to Jerusalem, the Calvary Hill and from the Easter tomb. May I walk with you.

Hail Mary...

As Mother, Sister and Friend, hold me up too, Mother of God, especially (name the challenge that is most on your mind).

Hail Mary...

The colors of red and blue suggest the presence of divinity — God so close, I may miss it. May I be aware as the new year begins.

Hail Mary...

Perhaps the Holy Mother's gaze suggests she senses the Child's future of rejection. I pray for those who suffer alienation around the world. Those who in their human struggle are minimized and ignored.

Hail Mary...

Something has caused the Holy Child to recoil a bit, looking for his mother's consolation and security. I pray for those who suffer only insecurity and dis-ease. May we have sensitive and aware hearts.

Hail Mary...

May the beauty of your image, O Mother of God, serve as an antidote to the ugliness that can invade our lives — the accounts of fighting, insult, lies, violence and death.

Hail Mary...

I ask the Holy Child of Bethlehem to change hearts — that every child would be welcomed and loved. That every Christian would do something to bless the lives of children.

Hail Mary...

Glory be to the Father...

An October Rosary Decade Before the Iveron Mother of God Icon

Mother of God Portaitissa ~ "She Who Resides by the Door" ~ Mount Athos

The Iveron icon of the Mother of God is kept in the Iveron Monastery on Mount Athos in the Greek Archipelago. The tradition says St. Luke painted the icon and by the 9th century it was in the possession of widow in Nicaea in Asia Minor. The stories surrounding wonder-working icons seem fanciful to moderns. "Really? That can't be true!" I don't concern myself with the newspaper truth of any of it — I look instead for the meaning — especially meaning for today. Anything else seems spiritually unhelpful.

During the iconoclastic period (8th-9th centuries) an icon destroying soldier slashed the icon's face with a sword. Immediately repentant he advised the widow to hide the icon. She prayed for guidance and rather strangely placed the wooden image in the sea where it didn't sink, but stood upright before drifting westward. Years later the icon appeared on the shore of Mount Athos close to the Iveron Monastery. A holy monk, Gabriel, retrieved the icon and placed it in the monastic church. But it refused to stay in place — each morning the icon was found standing by the monastery gate. Gabriel understood that the Mother of God wanted to protect the monks who built a chapel on the spot to house the icon. With this, she was given a kind of nickname: Portaitissa, which means gate-keeper. 

A thousand years later the monks, the chapel and the icon remain in place. Copies of the icon have been sent around the world, some of them observably wonder-working. Why would I doubt the story? We believe politicians who tell grievous lies. We believe the astonishing disinformation of anti-science folks. There are TV commercials making ridiculous promises and we still buy the products. I have a friend who believed an investment deal and lost a lot of money. An icon riding the waves, landing safely, kept and honored by reverent monks for a thousand years? Call me naïve, I don't have a problem with it. 

But to quote Shakespeare, "Here's the rub" (a problem or difficulty) — I believe more than this. I believe the story about the icon standing on the waves and keeping watch at the gate for centuries has meaning for today. Such exploration might prove discomforting. The icon and its story haven't survived this long so we could be simply edified, incense-bearing admirers. But I'd suggest the gatekeeping icon needs to be re-interpreted as welcome-r, greeter in an inhospitable world. Might the Portaitissa be a corrective to those countries that have swung hard right in their nationalist "keep out, go away, go home, go back to where you came from" policies.

So here's my new rosary decade before the Iveron Mother of God — who floated away looking for a home during terrible times. 

Icon of the Portaitissa Icon on the Waves

Our Father...

There are eighty million people in the world who are refugees, migrants and victims of human trafficking. Eighty million! They suffer greatly. 

Hail Mary...

"We have to respect the human dignity of the person. The human person is the image of God." Pope Francis

Hail Mary...

The Iveron Icon floated on the sea. I pray for the Christian people to feel the need to move from indifference to solidarity to better understand the plight of migrant people and refugees around the world.

Hail Mary...

The Portaitissa is called the gatekeeper. "Countries have the moral obligation to open the doors for those who might be rich in dreams and expectations." Pope Francis

Hail Mary...

Some people float on an actual sea or ocean hoping for help, but millions more float on a "sea of troubles." May my sense of human family continually grow. In Africa, only one percent of the population has received even one dose of Covid vaccine. Here, many people are putting up their noses.

Hail Mary...

Honoring the new comers — the stranger — is a primary message of God. Jesus says, "Love your neighbor."  He further teaches that neighbor extends well beyond my next door. The double arched colonnade outside St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is symbolic of arms reaching around the world.

Hail Mary...

The Church is a "we" — not an "I" — to walk together, to make alliances with others to help, to lift up, to work together. No more walls of separation. No longer "others," but a "we" that encompasses all of humanity. This is classic Catholic social thinking.

Hail Mary...

"We are called to love others as much as one's family. Let us love the stranger. Let us love the immigrant, the undocumented, the one who is unfortunate, faceless, voiceless because they are the dwelling place of Jesus Christ." Pope Francis

Hail Mary...

Before the Portaitissa Icon I pray: "O Lady, may every child be welcomed and loved." 

Hail Mary...

The Iveron Icon was recovered. I pray for every human person who needs to be recovered, to be brought back into the human family. May my thinking, my personal policies, my votes, my contributions reflect this. "Christ, you have come to disturb us." Leonid Dostoyevsky

Hail Mary...

Glory be to the Father...

A Rosary Decade Before the Tolga Icon of the Mother of God ~ At the Start of October

October is the month of Mary's Rosary. Here are ten short prayer-focusing meditations before the Tolga icon of the Mother of God. The icon's 14th century story is told through the prayers.

Our Father

The Holy Bishop, Prochorus was traveling throughout his diocese and stopped to spend the night along the Tolga River. He was awakened at midnight by a bright light shining among the trees. May we know Christ who calls himself, Light for the World.

Hail Mary...

The icon of the Mother of God was revealed to the bishop at midnight. May we be inwardly awakened to Christ these days of deep darkness.

Hail Mary...

Prochorus wasn't a stay-in-the-office bishop, but a traveler. As our lives are a kind of traveling on this blue, green and white planet, may we discover God's energies, which delight us with gifts and blessings.

Hail Mary...

The maphorian of the Mother of God is the color of clay. May we be grounded in a Mary-like faith, humility and gratitude.

Hail Mary...

The Tolga icon is of the Eleousa (tenderness) type — the Holy Child and Mother are cheek to cheek. Christ's left arm reaches around his Mother's neck. I pray for those who only know fear and desperation, who hope to feel this kind of belonging. Deporting hopeless people who have lost everything is not the gospel way.

Hail Mary...

The Holy Mother holds and supports the Christ with her left hand. I give thanks for those who have held me up and supported or guided me over the years — offering this prayer for those who are rejected and cast away.

Hail Mary...

The Mother of God seems to have stepped up to heaven's window looking full-faced with Christ into our world. May I never fear looking with eyes of mercy into our world of troubles.

Hail Mary...

The icon is not approached with the world's critical, consumerist eye — "Does this suit my tastes? Would this complement my décor?" but with a heart of wonder. May wonder be birthed again in me, as when I was a child.

Hail Mary...

The Holy Child is in full motion — as if he has taken a running jump into his Mother's arms. This is how the world is loved by God — God, who is not waiting for us to sin, but who leaps in love into our world.

Hail Mary...

This is an old icon, cracked, chipped. I ask for strength when I am feeling worn down, where strength is perhaps fading, asking to feel God's close embrace. I also pray for —N— to experience this enabling strength today.

Hail Mary...

Glory be to the Father...

May Rosary to End the Coronavirus Pandemic

Pope Francis has asked the Catholic faithful to pray the rosary during May for an end to the coronavirus pandemic. Each evening of the thirty days, the rosary is prayed from a different Marian shrine across the globe. In May we're reminded that violets are symbolic of the Mother of God. Growing close to the ground they are emblems of her humility, "I am the Lord's servant..." Luke 1:38

Below, I'm offering a short intentional prayer-thought between each Hail Mary.

Our Father

We have the ability to end this viral pandemic by vaccines, sharing and the careful observance of health protocols. May we be generous in a protective love for other people.

Hail Mary

There are countries particularly hard hit by this virus because of internal corruption or poverty. In India, there are villages being decimated by the virus because there are no doctors, hospitals or clinics.

Hail Mary

We pray for doctors, nurses, lab technicians, vaccinators, first responders and rescuers, and those who have the difficult job of burying the many who have died of coronavirus.

Hail Mary

We pray for those who are mourning the millions who have died, who have lost relatives and friends to coronavirus. For their consolation and strengthening.

Hail Mary

For those who are are quarantined, and the many who are struggling to stay alive in hospitals — mindful that in some parts of the world, patients are dying for lack of oxygen. May we take nothing for granted and learn gratitude in depth.

Hail Mary

There are some, even politicians, who are not helping at all, but who in the their anger are causing confusion, spreading fear and lies, pandering to a base of deniers. Others are making money off of this pandemic as profiteers do during times of war.

Hail Mary

We pray for those who participate in events called super spreaders, others who cheat to get vaccines ahead of others. May Jesus give us the clean heart of the Gospel.

Hail Mary

For the strengthening of those elected officials and public servants, truth tellers, who work bravely to bring this pandemic to an end, despite the obstructers.

Hail Mary

It seems now in this time of great anger, when people do not like or approve of what someone else has said, they quickly resort to death threats. We pray for God to change the nation's heart, to convert us to humility, docility, generosity of spirit  and true religion.

Hail Mary

And for ourselves to have the poverty of spirit Jesus blesses — that inner soul which wants nothing more than to see the face of God — to trust God, to love and delight in God.

Hail Mary

Glory be to the Father...

The Easter Myrrh-Bearers ~ A Rosary Decade

Contemplating this marvelous icon of the Myrrh-Bearers on Easter Morning, you can click on the image and join the prayer.

Our Father...

The Gospel's Easter accounts vary. One woman, two women, three women and others—this doesn't matter. Only that, as at the Gospel's start, it is women, Mary and Elizabeth, who are most spiritually awake. Can we pray for a world that might be well-served by their insights and spiritual gifts. 

Hail Mary...

This splendid icon shows the pre-dawn sky with its stars still shining. Is there some place in my life, or the life of my family, that is awaiting the light Christ brings. 

Hail Mary...

Again, one angel, two angels, or simply a man—these details don't signify. What matters is that God is revealing himself inwardly in dazzling brightness, announcing the new life Christ lives now and wants so much to share with each human person.

Hail Mary...

Matthew's Gospel tells us there was an earthquake. Christ's Resurrection should shake my tiny world. Here we see the earth cracked and broken open—like a human heart, welcoming Christ, and breaking open in awareness, compassion and gratitude.

Hail Mary...

Here, eight soldiers have fallen down like dead men. They are dressed for battle: swords, shields and armour. Their spears are in disarray. We might want it to be otherwise, spend huge money to protect it, but there is only one real power—Christ's love for our weary world, and our response.

Hail Mary...

This Gospel scene takes place on Sunday morning. Where have these women been since Friday? They have not been home, hiding like the men, but carrying on in love, observing the Sabbath restrictions and preparing the ointment they will take with them to the tomb. To carry on in love is an Easter message.

Hail Mary...

Notice that the angels are pointing to the burial clothes of Jesus. They are not unwrapped and left behind, as if Jesus were simply a resuscitated corpse that needed to get free. But Jesus has passed through the shroud. He didn't need the stone rolled back because he couldn't get out otherwise, but only to show the women he was no longer there.

Hail Mary...

Angels always begin their conversations with, "Do not be afraid."  And these Easter angels are no different. Don't we need to hear this angel message these days more than ever? May we stay standing in courage and not cave in to cynicism or willful ignorance. 

Hail Mary...

We're told that the angel sat on the stone, as if to say, "Take that! Death is undone." These angels speak with Divine authority. Their sceptres, leaning to the right, suggest they are in motion, contrasted with the chaotic spears of the toppled soldiers. Their helicopter-like wings accompany their urgent message: "The one you are looking for among the dead, is alive. Now go and tell the others." 

Hail Mary...

These animated angels are pointing to the shroud as a teacher would point, so that we miss nothing. We see the napkin which covered the face of Jesus. St. John tells us that napkin was rolled up and put in a place by itself. Is this another image of death having been wrapped up and put away? And rather tidily at that.

Hail Mary...

Glory be to the Father...

A Rosary Decade Before Duccio's Last Supper

Here is Duccio's painting of The Last Supper. It is one of twenty- one images found on the back of the Maesta Altarpiece. You can click on the painting if you'd like to join in today's rosary decade.

Our Father...

We see the apostle John leaning against Jesus during the supper. The Gospels tell us that he leaned against Jesus' chest. He is listening to Jesus' heart. Can I imagine taking the apostle's place and listening for that heartbeat of God, which beats for me and each human person?

Hail Mary...

There is wine at the Passover meal. There is wine at every Mass. It is the Jewish symbol of God's joyful and abundant presence. In the life of the Church, do we live as if we believe that? Or are we just law abiding and dutiful observers?

Hail Mary...

The apostles are not observing social distancing as we are in our own day. May we live lives centered on Christ, which doesn't observe distancing of the heart, but lives in close solidarity with the world, often stressed and suffering.

Hail Mary...

The apostles are eating the flat, yeastless Passover Bread. In the Exodus story, the bread had to be made quickly, there was no time to wait for yeast to rise. I don't have the past; it is gone forever. Nor do I have the future. All I have is time - right now time. May I not waste it.

Hail Mary...

Here, we see that curtain rolled up over the horizontal pole running the width of the upper room. The curtain has been drawn up - revealing the love of God in Christ's self-gift which begins in the new depth of Holy Thursday night. That self-gift is made an experience for us in the bread and the wine.

Hail Mary...

Judas is in the front row, on the long bench, second from the left. He has received his First Communion and will leave the room before the meal is ended. The others will disperse in fear, leaving only John and Jesus' Mother to stay with Jesus until the end. May my heart never be ruled by anxieties.

Hail Mary...

St. Luke tells us that the apostles argued about who is the greatest at this Last Supper. How delusional we are. We often use the words great and greatest in speaking about ourselves nationally: greatest military, greatest medicine, greatest freedoms, greatest achievements, greatest possibilities for advancement. Before God, that means nothing. God only cares that we be great in compassion, great in truth, great in justice, great in mercy - indeed - great in humility.

Hail Mary...

Duccio doesn't spend a lot of time depicting the table settings and food here. It's a pretty sparse table at that. Maybe he doesn't want to distract us from the inner reality, which is the superabundant suffering-love of Jesus.

Hail Mary...

Duccio also leaves out half the haloes. All those golden circles would be a bit much. But what about my halo and the halo around my home. "Oh, I'm no saint" lots of people say. We should be embarrassed to say that. Truth be told,  not a few Christians think sanctity means, too good to be true. Maybe our ideas about holiness are immature or impoverished.

Hail Mary...

This supper was celebrated under a bright Passover Moon. The Exodus took place under the full moon so the Hebrews could see where they were going as they fled Egypt. Do I know where I'm going? Maybe we can't know, because each day brings its own challenges and invitations. But I can tell if I am going more deeply into the heart of Christ - which is go more deeply into awareness, mercy, gratitude and compassion.

Hail Mary...

Glory be to the Father...

Tuesday in Holy Week ~ An Audio Decade Before the Icon of Our Lady of Corfu

A Holy Week Rosary-Decade in a Time of Health Crisis

"It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."

Our Father...

At the start of Holy Week, I pray for the people who are separated from loved ones who are hospitalized. And for the many who are working long hours and away from home.

Hail Mary...

For the millions of people who are self-isolating, as a gift to the larger society. In our isolation, like monks, may we learn something new about ourselves and God.

Hail Mary...

People who are out of work are being reduced to sudden poverty. There are food pantry lines that are miles long. We pray for those who find themselves in dire need, and for those who help to "feed the hungry."

Hail Mary...

May we learn that national pride is not determined by any greatness other than the greatness of our coming together as a people who care for others, as Christ has revealed.

Hail Mary...

I pray for those who are working through their fear and fatigue to help heal the sick. May I be healed of any bitter negativity during this challenging and disruptive time.

Hail Mary...

I pray for families stricken with grief at the loss of a loved one and for the many who now find themselves in financial difficulty. 

Hail Mary...

Behind the front line care workers are those who are performing the essential work that keeps a society functioning. Often their work is selfless and hidden. I ask blessing for them.

Hail Mary...

Our unity is always under threat. May we be creators of fellowship, turning a deaf ear to the angry blamers, scoffers and dividers who weaken family, church or national life.

Hail Mary...

May we not lose our awareness that this is a global crisis. The suffering is very great in other parts of the world. 

Hail Mary...

Calling this pandemic, God's judgment on sin, is immature religion and a projection of resentment towards others. The only judgment is our judgment about the things that matter deeply to our continued life on this planet. May we learn well.

Hail Mary...

Glory be to the Father...

A Rosary Decade During a Time of Global Sickness

This is a touching painting titled, Old Lady with Rosary by the Scottish painter George Fiddes Watt (1873-1960). The painting is found in the Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum in Scotland. This elderly woman isn't having an easy time of it, is she? The room is so poor it's hard to describe. The curtains and her clothes are threadbare. The table is worn. Is that a dirt floor?

Everything seems dark, except her rosary, which is at the very center of the painting and seems to even glow, like jewels. She's sitting at her prayer, somewhat stooped. We can imagine she has a lot on her mind. Perhaps she is a widow, lonely and worried about money. How much longer will she be able to pay the rent on her shabby space. Has she outlived any children? If not, are they still around or have they thrown her away. What is happening in her world that might be causing her anxiety? Or, maybe her prayer isn't about worry or sorrow at all, but simply gratitude for the sunlight and the little soup bowl we see steaming on her table.

We might want to join her in prayer. I've put up a rosary decade's worth of short one-line prayers here. You can click on the painting to hear them and the accompanying "Hail Mary's" or just read them at your leisure. 

I hope this rosary decade helps us to stay in touch during these days of distance and isolation.

Our Father...

I pray for anyone who has tested positive for the Coronavirus. I pray in solidarity with those who are critically ill.

Hail Mary...

I pray for the first-responders, the doctors and nurses, the aids and housekeeping staffs, who are closest to the sick. For those who in labs are working for a vaccine.

Hail Mary...

I pray for people all around the world who are filled with anxiety, distraction, fatigue or depression—who are suffering from the uncertainty of our times.

Hail Mary...

I pray for the world's leaders—asking for them to be truthful, uniters, to lead without hidden agenda or to use this crisis for their own ends.

Hail Mary...

I pray for the employers who are struggling to keep their businesses going. For those who have been furloughed or lost their jobs, who are burdened with financial worries.

Hail Mary...

I pray for those who are using this pandemic to scapegoat others, to blame or divide people. For those who should be helping, but instead are provoking racism and hatred.

Hail Mary...

I pray for the countries which have suffered the greatest number of Coronavirus deaths. For those who are quarantined at home or who are away from loved ones. 

Hail Mary...

I pray for the more than eight million children worldwide who are not in school these days.We pray not to lose hope or faith in the love of God—God who has shown us a great suffering-love in Jesus crucified.

Hail Mary...

Standing at the cross with Mary, we ask to keep our eyes set on Easter and God's promise that we are not to be overcome with sorrows and troubles. 

Hail Mary...

May affection increase among us. May we discover new ways of expressing affection and unity. May our hearts remain grateful.

Hail Mary...

Glory be to the Father...


Thank you for joining the prayer. God bless you and your family and friends—keep you safe; keep you well.

The Fifth Glorious Mystery ~ Mary is Queen

This photograph is of the mosaic apse of Mary's Coronation in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major) in Rome. The mosaic series was completed in 1296. Saints and angels abound. In the center there is a great aureole, an orb of stars representing the cosmos. On left and right there are the coiling branches of acanthus trees offering shelter to all kinds of birds. 

Our Father...

It is said that Pope Liberius received news in a dream that the Virgin Mary would pick the site in Rome for a basilica to be dedicated to her. Then on August 5th, the Roman Esquiline hill was covered with snow. Liberius traced the perimeter of the basilica in the snow. August! Did it actually happen that way? Doesn't matter. What matters is that I be prepared and walk the path God opens before me - even in its surprise. Surprises - like snow in summer.

Hail Mary...

The Basilica of St. Mary Major has the tallest belfry in Rome, housing five bells. One is named "La Sperduta" - the lost one. This bell rings every night at 9. Might we share this title with Mary and pray: Crowned Mother of the Lost Ones, of those who are lost in inner chaos or darkness, who have disappeared, who are lost in power abuse, lost in addictions, lost in life's troubles, pray for us.

Hail Mary...

In the Litany of Loreto, Mary is given the title, "Queen of Peace." We prepare for war and spend incomprehensible amounts of money to ready for war. We celebrate war heroes and treat history as a series of wars. Some cathedrals feature the disintegrating banners and flags of war throughout. Would that we studied peace as eagerly, how to create it, sustain it, advance it. "If you want peace, create justice," Pope Paul VI said. Do we even now what that means?

Hail Mary...

The First World War began July 28, 1914. "The thrill of war" we say - excited then to use the newest war technology: tanks, airplanes, submarines, machine guns, flame throwers, poison gas. More than 9 million soldiers, sailors and airmen were killed before it was all over, November 11, 1918. The most deadly war in history. Queen of Peace, have we learned anything?

Hail Mary...

In 1995 Pope John Paul II added, Queen of Families to Mary's Litany of Loreto. We pray for dysfunctional families, addicted families, families of divorce and separation, migrant and displaced families, unbelieving families, families living in poverty and financial insecurity, families ruled by domestic violence...

Hail Mary...

Some people say that the only legitimate families are those comprised of married mother and father with children. But that definition leaves much of the world outside of Mary's care. 40% of babies born in the United States are born to unwed mothers. In our country, 27% of children under 18 live in single parent homes. And what are we to do with phrases that speak of parish family, human family, family of nations. Mary's mother-embrace is wide, wider, widest, don't you think?

Hail Mary...

There is a shrine-church in Orlando, Florida called, "Queen of the Universe." The universe is the new frontier. But for why? So we have a place to which we can escape when we have succeeded in rendering this planet uninhabitable - a ball of extinction, ash and trash? Is the universe the safe vantage we establish the better to bomb our enemies? Or is universe the dazzling, wondrous evidence of God's limitless imagination?  

Hail Mary...

Might we add our own title, honoring Mary's Queenship? Perhaps, Queen of the World's Children.  Pray that every child would be welcomed and loved. Pray for the girls around the world who are kept out of school, the young boys who are pressed into being soldiers, the children of arranged marriages, the children who are enslaved in work or sex trade.

Hail Mary...

The entire mosaic is suffused with acanthus leaves and flowers. Its roots have curative powers (may our nation be healed of all this hatred). It symbolizes immortality (may we see Jesus face-to-face in heaven). Solicitude for lowly things (may we learn the heart of the Gospel - love for the littlest and the poorest). 

Hail Mary...

On the far bottom left there are three saints, left to right: a young St. Francis of Assisi, St. Paul and St. Peter. And just in front of St. Peter, but before the entourage of angels, is a little pope in a red chasuble. That is Pope Nicholas IV - the pope responsible for the creation of this golden mosaic-window into heaven. May we pray for the Pope of Rome who navigates the Church through dangers - like a great ship finding its way through an ice field.

Hail Mary...

Glory be to the Father...