This
article was first
published in The
Universe
Why
A Former Evangelical
Loves the Rosary
By
Dwight Longenecker
Scott
Hahn is a well-known
Catholic writer.
He used to be
staunchly anti-Catholic
Presbyterian
minister. He
is now a Catholic.
Scott tells how,
as a fervent
Evangelical teenager,
he discovered
his grandmother’s
rosary beads.
His grandmother
had just died
and the young
Scott Hahn ripped
the rosary in
pieces crying
out, ‘God, set
her free from
the chains of
Catholicism that
have bound her!’
Since
then, Scott has
discovered the
power of the
rosary and has
written a beautiful
book about the
Blessed Virgin
Mary called Hail
Holy Queen. Scott
is not the only
American Evangelical
to have discovered
the rosary. I
was brought up
in a similar
background. After
university I
came to England
to study and
was eventually
ordained as an
Anglican priest.
As an Anglican
priest I used
to make my annual
retreat at Quarr
Abbey on the
Isle of Wight.
Just as I was
about to leave
for retreat a
parishioner gave
me a rosary.
She had just
come back from
a pilgrimage
to Walshingham
and she had felt
led to buy me
this gift. I
had never used
the rosary, and
was prejudiced
against it.
But
one of my guiding
principles was
a little saying
I had discovered
while a student.
It is, ‘A person
is most often
right in what
he affirms and
wrong in what
he denies.’ So
I looked at the
rosary and asked
myself why I
was denying something
used by millions
of fellow Christians.
Who was more
likely to be
right—me or the
millions? So
I went to the
Abbey bookshop
and found a little
book of instruction
and started to
learn my way
around that ‘chain
of prayer that
binds us to God.’
What
happened next
was terrible.
Within weeks
my life started
to come apart
at the seams.
I was a young
priest who thought
he had everything
together. Suddenly
I began to see
great fault lines
in my life. I
started to receive
Christian counselling
and God began
the long process
of sorting me
out, and before
he could start
to put me together
he had to take
me apart. It
wasn’t easy,
but in the midst
of it a gentle
priest said to
me, ‘Our Lady’s
prayers have
done you so much
good haven’t
they?’ Only then
did I realise
that the healing
process I was
going through
had started once
I began using
the rosary.
Since
then I have used
the rosary regularly
in my life. The
journey of Christian
healing is never
over, and the
rosary has been
my link back
to that same
power that constantly
seeks to draw
me back to Christ.
I am also convinced
that praying
with the rosary
has been one
of the great
magnets that
finally drew
me into full
communion with
the Catholic
Church. Evangelicals
have great difficulties
understanding
the Catholic
view of the Blessed
Virgin Mary.
At worst they
think we worship
Mary instead
of God. At least
they think our
worship of Jesus
Christ is distorted
by our devotion
to Mary. They
have trouble
accepting the
Immaculate Conception
and the Assumption
of Our Lady.
I had thought
these things
through, but
it was the rosary
that brought
me to understand
them with the
heart, not just
with the head.
This
is why I am so
delighted by
Pope John Paul’s
new encyclical
letter on the
Rosary. He has
called for the
year from now
until next October
as the year of
the rosary. As
part of his renewal
of the rosary
the Pope has
introduced five
new mysteries.
These five mysteries
take us further
into the life
of Christ. The
Joyful Mysteries
focus on his
conception, birth
and boyhood.
The sorrowful
mysteries focus
on his passion
and death. But
the new ‘Mysteries
of Light’ or ‘Luminous
Mysteries’ take
us into his earthly
ministry. The
five new mysteries
are 1. Our Lord’s
Baptism 2. Our
Lord’s First
Miracle at the
Wedding in Cana
3. Our Lord’s
Teaching on the
Kingdom and the
need for Repentance
4. The Transfiguration
and 5. The Institution
of the Eucharist.
Many
people who use
the rosary focus
on one set of
mysteries per
day. Where does
the new set of
mysteries fit
in? The traditional
form is for Sunday
to be devoted
to the Glorious
Mysteries, then
Monday and Thursday
for the Joyful
Mysteries, Tuesday
and Friday for
the Sorrowful
Mysteries and
Wednesday and
Saturday for
the Glorious
Mysteries. The
Pope suggests
that instead
of focussing
on the Glorious
Mysteries on
Saturday and
Sunday, that
we focus on the
Joyful Mysteries
on Saturday instead
of Thursday,
which leaves
Thursday free
for the Luminous
Mysteries.
Put
simply, the order
goes like this:
Sunday: Glorious.
Monday: Joyful.
Tuesday: Sorrowful.
Wednesday: Glorious.
Thursday: Luminous.
Friday: Sorrowful.
Saturday: Joyful.
I’m
delighted with
this renewal
of the rosary
not only for
my own life,
but because of
my friendship
with Evangelicals.
I correspond
regularly with
many evangelical
friends. I have
to admit that
most are not
really interested
in the Catholic
Church. But some
are interested
and a few are
attracted to
the Catholic
faith. However,
they still have
problems with
our devotion
to the Blessed
Virgin Mary.
Now the Pope
has answered
many of their
concerns.
They
have argued that
that the rosary
does not focus
on the ministry
and teaching
of Jesus. Pope
John Paul has
corrected that
imbalance. They
have worried
that the prayer
is a vain form
of repetition
done only for
its own sake.
The pope warns
that the rosary
is simply a method
of contemplation.
As such, ‘it
serves as a means
to an end and
cannot become
an end in itself.’ They
have complained
that those who
use the rosary
ignore Scripture.
In the new encyclical
the pope teaches
us to use passages
from Scripture
to nourish and
inform our contemplation
of Christ. They
have complained
that the rosary
focuses on Mary
too much. The
Pope has reminded
all of us that
the centre of
the rosary is
Christ not Mary.
Furthermore,
in substituting
the Luminous
Mysteries for
one day’s focus
on the Glorious
Mysteries he
has boosted our
focus on Christ
and slightly
lessened our
attention to
Mary in the mysteries
of the Assumption
and Coronation.
One
of the best things
about Evangelicals
is their emphasis
on having a ‘personal
relationship
with Jesus’.
Often that means
they regard Christ
as a friend and
brother. That
is good, but
Jesus Christ
is also our Lord
and God. Because
of this our relationship
with him should
also be one of
adoration and
love. My evangelical
friends admit
that they are
not strong on
this aspect of
worship. They
shouldn’t be
afraid of the
rosary. It provides
a way for all
Christians to
enter into a
closer relationship
with Christ.
To contemplate
is to spend time
in Christ’s loving
presence, and
the rosary is
an excellent
way to do this.
As the Pope reminds
us, ‘To recite
the rosary is
nothing other
than to contemplate
with Mary the
face of Christ.’
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