October 31st

I know . . . today is All Saints’ Day.

Well actually it isn’t really . . .
it’s just the day to which that Solemnity has been transferred by the decision of the English Bishops; the Scots (and most others) will keep it tomorrow, November 1st, which has traditionally always been the Feast Day.

What today undoubtedly is, though, quite apart from this transferred observance, is the last day of October; which means that it is the last day of the Rosary Month : and it is in connection with that rather more significant fact that there is something which I thought was worth drawing your attention to . . .

. . . which is that if you aren’t already a Member of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary, then you should join. It costs nothing, and your basic obligation is only to say all fifteen mysteries of the original Rosary once in every week . . . although you don’t sin if you aren’t able to do it for any reason.

In the side column on the left of this blog there is a ‘tag’ which allows you to make contact with fr Neil Ferguson OP, the English co-ordinator for the Confraternity : or you can email me (or put up a comment, which I shan’t display, but just pass on to him) giving me the personal details which he needs to receive so that you can be enrolled in the Confraternity.

As I’ve said before, there are many indulgences and blessings attached to membership of the Confraternity; so if you aren’t one already, do let me encourage you to end this Month of the Holy Rosary by becoming a Member of the Confraternity : not only so that you can benefit from your membership, but so that others can benefit from your prayers . . .

Be sure that, today and constantly, all my Followers and Readers are in my prayers as I say my Rosary : as are those I know who are coming into Holy Mother Church (as one facebook friend did yesterday, and another one is about to do), and those I know who are ill, dying, or departed . . . and I shall obviously be very grateful, on their behalves, for them to have even a tiny share in your own prayers, particularly your Rosaries.

As October ends, do reaffirm your commitment to the Rosary; to Mother and her love for the Church; and to all who share these feelings with you : and may God, and Our Lady, bless you in your devotion to, and use of, the Most Holy Rosary.

Well . . . how splendid

This is a very brief post, to encourage you to go and look at today's post on Godzdogz about the Dominican Volunteers International
. . . a scheme mainly aimed at the poor and marginalized in which four English Dominicans have taken part in the last ten years.
. . . and as one of them is fr Lawrence Lew OP, who is also the great photographer, who was invited to the tenth Anniversary celebrations in Rome last week, there are some wonderful photos to see . . . and you may like to look at the DVI's website as well.

It gets us there . . .

One of Neville Ward’s comments is interesting. He accepts that it is not, in general, possible to ‘meditate discursively’ whilst saying the Rosary (certainly not if one is saying it out loud, publicly); a comment which I personally find entirely accurate.

What I find even more interesting, though, is his suggestion that ‘It is enough to have a single thought in connection with each mystery, or simply to look at it in love and faith. But the saying of the Rosary is infinitely deepened in value if at other times we think about these great themes, penetrating as far as we can into their meaning.’

In other words, there is merit to considering the Mysteries of the Rosary at times other than when one is actually praying it; and I have to admit that, although I don’t do it all that often, I have found that this is both true and – in an odd kind of way – rewarding, as it slowly, over time, gets one’s mind into step with the whole rationale of the Rosary, and of its Mysteries.

At the same time, he makes another comment which I find both interesting and, in a way, rewarding and reassuring : As one becomes familiar with the Rosary the prayers gradually recede to form a kind of ‘background music’, and the mystery is before the mind as thought one is looking at a religious picture or ikon.

In other words, as one gets used to the idea of trying to pray one set of prayers whilst at the same time thinking – even slightly – of something else slowly develops into a method whereby both elements exist, and have merit, but perhaps somewhat independently of each other. Indeed, he points out that the balance frequently changes, and the prayers occupy the foreground of the mind for a time, and this may lead to a form of simple attention to God which is more like contemplation. If one finds one’s mind being led into a stillness and concentration of this kind it is good to let it happen.

Indeed Neville Ward recognizes, and teaches us, that it is a fact of Christian history that the saints put their money on contemplation rather than meditation for producing the longing for God. And the longing for God, if it is not the treasure itself, is certainly the field in which it is hidden.

. . . and if one knows the field, then surely one will have the inclination and the motivation to explore further until one finds it : which brings a whole new, and exciting, dimension to the use of the Holy Rosary.

Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy

October – the Month of the Rosary – draws towards its end; but I hope that none of us lose our commitment to the Most Holy Rosary, and the easy way which that offers of keeping directly in touch not only with Our Lady, but also with Our Lord through the repeated contemplation of the mysteries of His life and death.

There are, of course, many splendid books – and probably even more rather ‘average’ books – about the Rosary and its mysteries; and of course it’s never a bad thing to read and consider one of the good books, as it not only may give us some new insights, it will in any event freshen up our existing considerations just because changes in language and phrasing offer new directions for perception, and thus solidify and deepen our understanding of the implications and dimensions of the mysteries . . . which hopefully has benefits for us not only now, but into the future.

The very first book I personally read about the Rosary was perhaps, in one way at least, an unusual and unexpected book : Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy by J. Neville Ward was first published in 1971, and republished in 2007.

Unusual and Unexpected ? Well, I know that a lot of people, both at the time of its publication and ever since, have found it odd that a Methodist Minister wrote a book about – and enthusiastically commending – the Rosary; and I have heard (and have no reason to doubt) that Pope Paul VI had, and used, a copy of it in translation . . . which is all perhaps a little surprising, even now; and in 1971 was probably even more bewildering.

Let me commend the book to you; it will give you ideas and insights into the Mysteries of the Holy Rosary (alright; the original fifteen; it was written well before the Luminous Mysteries were suggested by His late Holiness), and stimulate your mind in ways which will undoubtedly have an effect on you . . . and very probably expand your thinking about the mysteries of the Rosary for ever.

Read the book – it’s still easy to obtain – I hope enjoy it, and do please say a prayer for the repose of Neville Ward’s soul.

Praying for people . . .

Ronnie Knox, in a sermon preached at the London Oratory (in celebration of the Golden Jubilee of its Consecration) was considering the ‘gracious showers of consolation which have fallen upon Christian hearts in this place’; and I have been thinking over the last few days about ‘gracious showers of consolation’ which have fallen in the Oratory, and perhaps more importantly will do so in the very near future.

Ronnie continued his thinking Favours bestowed, not always the favours we asked for; difficulties overcome, not always in the fashion we had in mind; strength to undergo the ordeals from which we would fain have been delivered; patience to bear the misfortunes we laboured to avert.

My own experience is that all showers of consolation, the Oratory’s or otherwise, are gracious, and remind one constantly of God’s infinite love and mercy : and yet as one gets older one realizes more and more clearly that there is so much truth in Ronnie’s comment that the consolations one receives are not necessarily what one either expected, or even hoped for.

I wasn’t received at the Oratory; and yet in an odd way it had a lot to do with my eventual reception, if only because of the great charity and concern – and welcoming, yet undemanding, handling of me in the 1970s of a priest of the Oratory now long dead, F. Edward Leicester. He, I think, realized – was it perhaps because of what was happening in almost all the Church in the UK in the early 70s ? – that my journey into the Church would be a lengthy, and perhaps convoluted, one; but that it would eventually succeed not only in bringing me home, but in bringing me home happily and with complete conviction and commitment.

I have to agree with every word of that continuation of Ronnie’s from my own experience; and I also have other friends who have been received at the Oratory who have found that it is absolutely true, yet agree with me that what they have found has been God’s greatest possible gift of consolation . . . thus proving Ronnie’s final comment that The angels of God have been thronging down the ladder too; no prayer ever went up, but some grace came down.

So why do I go on about this ? Well, because on Saturday one of my facebook friends will be received at the Oratory; and another friend – whom I have known better, and still longer – fairly soon hereafter : and I believe that it will be reassuring for them to know now that, despite the uncertainties and moments of concern which will beset them – especially a few days after their Reception – the ultimate evidence is that God will show His love and mercy to them, day by day, until they finally come to join Him in heaven : because no prayer goes up without grace coming down in return.

Do, please, keep these two friends of mine – and particularly the young lady who will be received this Saturday – in your prayers, even without knowing their names.

The Example of the Almost Unknown

Today is the Feast of Ss Simon & Jude; two Apostles about whom there is perhaps less known than about any of the others : indeed perhaps the only significant thing known about them is that it was S. Jude who, at the Last Supper, asked Our Lord why He only revealed Himself to His disciples.

His answer to that was If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

In other words, it is conformity to God’s will which is the key to meeting Him; the adherence to His principles which will make you lovable, and by being lovable will ensure that you are loved by Him : and Jude’s epistle reminds us that we should contend for the faith once delivered to the saints . . . that is, always try to stick to what God told His saints He wanted them to do.

I try – and usually fail miserably – to remember this; and perhaps to remember most of all that we were directed to love one another, as I have loved you.

Why ? Because it seems to me that if I can love those whom God has put around me, then with a little bit of luck I may manage, by extension, to love Him too . . . and then, as Jesus said to Jude, God will love me, and I shall be saved by that.

Something we can do . . .

I suppose I’m a bit of an oddity; because I’ve never seen it as a problem for Christians to upset people who are opposed to the will of God, providing that what upsets them is our determination not to offend God, and not anything personal to us . . . and Lo and Behold ! - in the Office of Readings a day or so ago, S. Clement not only said that I was not sinning by this attitude, but actually commended it :

Let us offend foolish and thoughtless men, men who puff themselves up and boast in the pride of their words, rather than offending God.

In other words, we’re not meant to try and upset them; but we are allowed to do so by adhering to God’s will . . . and particularly if what we’re doing is offending against their pride and arrogance by complying with what God wants of us.

I mention this not because I’m trying to cause problems; but because I am conscious that increasingly nowadays there are people out there – people like Professor Dawkins, for instance – who do display an arrogance and a pride in their rejection of God : and I am aware that there are those who feel that resisting them forcefully, and contesting them clearly, is a type of arrogance and pride on the part of those who do it.

Well, I may be wrong, but I don’t think that’s the case; because people who do that are risking opprobrium, even hatred, in the interest of serving God; and are almost certainly reducing their status in the eyes of many people by standing up for the God in Whom they believe . . . in other words, they’re not puffing themselves up, but rather God; not boasting in themselves, but rather in Him Who created them, and will (they pray) in due course save them . . . which is not quite the same thing.

What they do do is set up a good example for God’s followers : and one which we should always be willing to follow, whenever His interest needs us to. Let us pray that we can do so.