The story that is the rosary

A female captain and one of her top male crewmembers crash-landed on a faraway planet.  As the hours slip into days it seems that rescue is unlikely.  The pair settles in a bunker and now they must confront how they will deal with their relationship in such close quarters.  During their discussion, the crewmember takes a surprising approach.  He tells her a story rather than being direct. The captain easily picks up on the implied message that he will respect her both as his captain and as a woman who is already in a committed relationship.  Because of her forceful personality, her reaction is far more surprising; her composure softens as a single tear rolls down her cheek.  For me, this scene visualizes the power of a story to touch a heart.

While this introduction for a piece on the rosary may seem odd, it will serve to highlight what I consider its “sacred story.”  The New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 12, has an extended article on the rosary with a heavy emphasis on its historical development (p. 373ff.)  And, of course, the account of Our Lady giving the rosary to St. Dominic is included in the article. I make mention of both the historical as well as what many people consider pious folklore, rather than either/or. My stance is one of both/and.

Although some people know the background of the Feast of the Holy Rosary, which was established in 1573, few may know that Pope St. Pius V in 1569 issued the Rosary Bull.  A bull is a pope’s official, formal decree in which he makes a statement or declaration of an article of faith or moral law.  Another pontiff, Pope Leo XIII—who is widely regarded as “the worker’s pope” for his writings on labor—was also known as “the pope of the rosary.”  During my research, I found that he issued 11 of his 84 encyclicals focusing on the rosary. 
Pius XIII’s influence was not only felt in the areas of the Liturgy and Scriptural studies but also extended to the rosary as well as other devotions.
The rosary has often been called the “gospel in miniature.”  Like stained glass windows, the rosary teaches as it reaches out to our tactile nature.  We humans need our senses in order to relate to the divine.  And, it seems God “needs” our senses to express some of his ways to us. In other words, we respond to the beautiful as stained glass glows with God’s message and we finger the weight of beads made out of everything from fine marble to simple string. 

I found one phrase from the New Catholic Encyclopedia article to be especially meaningful:  the rosary is also a “summary of the liturgical cycle.”  Thus, could one perhaps say that the community of faith also “prays” the rosary throughout the liturgical year when it gathers to celebrate Mass?

As I mentioned before the rosary is a both/and.  That is, it is also like a tool that must have two prongs before it can be used as a tuning fork.  In this case both the historical facts and the sacred narrative of Mary’s gift to St. Dominic are needed to tell the whole story that is the rosary. 

My introductory paragraph was a scene of a television sci-fi series of some years back.  I remember it because I, like most people, remember a good story.  Not only that, stories express who we are and, in turn, reveal us to ourselves.  So the next time you pray the rosary, take a few moments to discover your place in the greatest story ever told.