The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1954-10-01
Just Among Ourselves
Passing Comment Considered or lnconsiderste

October, most kindly and gracious Of all the
years months. comes to us again To a Catholic
for whom every time and season has its own in
spration to fervor in the service of God October
brings an urgent reminder Of the importance of
devotion 10 the Mother Of God TO be shown in
particular by the frequent and fervent recitation
Of her Rosary The spiritual call Of october is doub
ly strong in this Marian Year,
Almighty God made use Of the Blessed Mother
as His channel and instrument in becoming man
to redeem us. And as all good comes to us through
the lncarT alton in which the Immaculate Virgin
Mother has an essential part so every benefit We
have from the Goldman comes in its way through
Mary There is no coming to or Lord other than
the way by which He came to US There is no
thought of Christ that can utterly exclude the
thought Of His Mother
And there is no thought Of Mary no devotion
practised in her honor, but is directed through her
to her Divine Son Like the shepherds and the
Mag all who come TO Mary or 10 Our Lord find
"the Child and His Mother" together II is quite
impossible to pay divine honor to Christ who IS
God without paying non-divine but truly religious
venerahon TO the Mother Of Christ II is equally
impossible to dishonor the one without dshonoring
the other
The heretics who Abandoned the Church in the
sixteenth century professed an intense devotion
TO the Divinity Of Christ misunderstanding or mis-
representing devotion 10 Mary they claimed that to
honor her is TO withhold honor from her Son. And
sec what has come Of their claim. To them, Christ
is God no longer, but kindly and benign man,
and nothing more Inovilaby, to abandon the Moth
ed is 10 abandon her Child
The faithful Of Christs Church have always fos-
tered devotion 10 the Blessed Mother as sure
means Of fostering devotion to the Ch, rch and to
Christ They have not made the mistake Of deifyinp
Mary or putting her on a par with God No; they
have merely accepted her in the true place in
which Gods Providence has placed her They adj
mire and praise in her the maserwork OF God.
in venerating the Masters work they yenerate The
Master
It is wholly in accord with the spirit OF the
Faith and with the clear view of human reason that
the children of God should be gathered in close
affection about Gods Mother II is entirely right and
reasonable that we should not only pay to Mary the
tribute of honor and love but that we should seek
TO have her join her prayers with curs presenting
our poor petitions and praises as interviewer with
the rich perfection of her own.
Now. the most complete and effective form Of
prayer to 'Mary-or more precisely Ct prayer to
God through Mary,-is found in the attentive and
reverent recitation of the holy Rosary The history
Of the Rosary is proof Of this statement Besides
there at least private revelations to assure us
that the Rosary is most pleasing TO the Blessed
Mother and that she wishes as to recite It, and
to recite il we'll
There are people who object TO what is called
form OF PRAYER. But these same people are
strict observers of set forms Of expression in their
daily social contacts Nor do they ever tire of hear
ing pleasing and complimentary phrases however
frequently repeated Besides few indeed of man
kind have the flucncy and abundance of thought
and speech which enable them. at any and all mo-
-gn4v In Ntafa nptN and
our Lord Himself taught His disciples set form Of
prayer that most complete and perfect prayer
which We call His own prayer,-the Our Father
other people conceding the need of a form pray
er. find objection in the seemingly ncessan repetl
lion Of the same form. They even try to find scrip
tural warrant for their view and say that we are
instructed diviney not to indulge in vain repet
tons These persons miss the point IN missing the
force Of the word vain" For sincere prayer
however often repeated is vain
The aosary is most perfect and useful form
Of prayer for everyone young or old, learned or
unschoolcd II combines the active work Of mind
and imagination with the will to worship and with
the words of the lips II fixes the mind upon truths
of the Faith II calls upon imagination TO see IN viz
id picture some notable event touching the Divine
Person Of our Lord II sets the will to the task OF
holding thought and feeling steadily upon such
events II puts words upon the lips Of The person
praying suitable and holy words, most Of them di-
rect from the Holy Scripture
In the truths or mysteries which person
reciting the Rosary contemplates there is endless
opportunity for meditation; the best endowed mind,
and the most deeply learned. cannot exhaust this
possibility the simplest mind cannot find the con
temptation difficult confusing And even the dull
or arid spirit which cannot fix for long upon sub
iect of contemplation, can determinedly attend
TO the sense of each PRAYER as il is uttered.
The Rosary is not long PRAYER either. II Is
rustomuily divided into three parts OF "chaplets'
each of which consists Of five decades or tens"
Of Hail Mafy's Indeed il is usual to speak Of such
ohaplet simply as "the Rosary And il takes no
more than ten minutes 10 reeite that Rosary well.
People who regard The Rosary as long and tedious
neople who seldom recite It. or people who have
never elocked their performance
Th rosarybeads great convenience. and
one may secure the riches Of great indulgence hy
using blessed beads Yet many pious and profit
able recitation of the Rosary has been done on the
fingers However, since rosarybeads readily
available and since their use brings added bless
inc # is usually only earelessness and neglect