The Rosary and the Christian Life

After all that has been said about the Rosary as a spiritual or mental prayer, as a meditation, or rather a series of meditations, upon the sublime truths of revelation, and as a contemplation of the fundamental mysteries of the Incarnation, the Redemption, and the future life of glory, we are naturally led on to conclude this subject of the Rosary as a Devotion with the thought of the untold influence upon the spiritual and supernatural life of the world which it must have had in the past, which it exercises to-day, and which it must have in the future, if we of to-day, as loyal apostles, hand it down with reverence to those who are to take our place when we have gone.

Influence it must have; it could not be otherwise. Popes have borne willing witness that where the Rosary has been cherished and loved, faith has flourished and piety has prevailed. How can it be otherwise? It is related of S. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi that, when only a little child, she would cling to her mother's robe as she walked home from church after her mother had received Holy Communion, because she felt an indescribable something which gave her pleasure come from the dress. The Gospel story of the woman in the crowd is instructive. She "came behind Him (Jesus) and touched the hem of His garment. For she said within herself: 'If I shall but touch His garment, I shall be healed.' But Jesus turning about and seeing her, said: 'Take courage, daughter; thy faith has made thee whole,' and the woman was made whole from that hour" (Matt. ix. 21, 22). Of others, too, it is related: "And they besought Him that they might touch but the hem of His garment, and as many as touched were made whole" (Matt. xi. 36). In the Acts of the Apostles again we are told that, "they brought out the sick into the streets, and laid them on their beds and couches, that when Peter came, his shadow at the least might overshadow any of them, and they might be delivered from their infirmities" (Acts v. 15). When we say our Rosary in the spirit of faith we are in the presence of Jesus Christ, not touching the hem of His garment, not basking in the shadow of His Apostle, but speaking to Him, thinking of Him, listening to Him, learning from Him, loving Him, and being loved by Him in return. How can we commune with Our Lord, and with His Divine Mother, and not come from the audience, as Moses came from the mountain, reflecting the light of Heaven, if not upon our face, still upon our inmost soul? How think of Him and speak to Him, as we do in saying our beads, without becoming better and holier from the spiritual contact?

"With the holy, thou wilt be holy; and with the innocent man, thou wilt be innocent" (Ps. xvii. 26). If in our meditation we "ascend upon the cherubim, and fly upon the wings of the wind" (ibid. 11), and our "conversation is in heaven" (Phil. iii. 20), how can our thoughts be all carnal, and our ways all of the earth, earthly?

If, in our thought, we soar above this valley, and stand upon the mountain top, whether of Bethlehem, Calvary, or Olivet, and breathe in the pure fresh air of heavenly mysteries, will not our breast dilate spiritually and our heart beat faster with supernatural emotions of faith, confidence, and love? The mind will be cleansed by the sublime truths as they filter through in heavenly streams; the heart will expand with tender love coming to our heart from the heart of Christ; the lips will be made holy by the sacred words of inspired prayer; the very fingers will quiver under the blessing which comes to them from the beads which have been sanctified by the Church, even as the sweet perfume comes from the rose; the whole being will be lifted up, and with Mary we shall exclaim: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.... For He that is mighty has done great things to me, and holy is His name" (Luke i. 46, 47, 49). As we have said in a former chapter, faith, hope, and charity must grow in the spiritual life, if we are constantly in touch with the mysteries which inspire and beget them. If we are frequently in our Rosary, "looking upon Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith," the virtues of His life must be reflected upon our ways, as Peter's shadow upon the sick, and we must rise to a higher level. We cannot think of the life and ways of Christ, in a simple, childlike spirit of faith, without becoming more Christ-like, more simple, more obedient, more patient, more forgiving, more "meek and humble of heart."