Aug 02 2008
The Rosary: School of Contemplation
The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives a well-rounded definition of contemplation. Contemplation –
- is a close sharing between friends (no. 2709);
- arises from a determined will, revealing the secrets of the heart (no. 2710);
- turning our hearts back to the Lord (no. 2711);
- is the poor and humble surrender to the loving will of the Father (no. 2712);
- is a gift from, a covenant relationship established by, and a communion with God (no. 2713);
- is an intense time of prayer (no. 2714);
- is a gaze of faith fixed on Christ (no. 2715);
- is hearing the word of God so as to obey the Father’s will (no. 2716);
- is silent love, with few words (no. 2717);
- helps us know Christ so as to participate more deeply in the Eucharistic celebration (no. 2718);
- is the time when the Spirit brings life to prayer (no. 2719).
Now according to some of the great spiritual writers, the Rosary is the “school of contemplation,” which means that the CCC says about contemplation could also be applied to the Rosary. It would be more than redundant to rehash each point with regards to the Rosary. So instead, I’m going to cite at length a passage from The Mother of the Savior and Our Interior Life by Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange:
A more simple and still more elevated way of reciting the Rosary is, while saying it, to keep the eyes of faith fixed on the living Jesus Who is always making intercession for us and Who is acting upon us in accordance with the mysteries of His childhood, or His Passion, or His glory. He comes to use to make us like Himself. Let us fix our gaze on Jesus who is looking at us. His look is more than kind and understanding: it is the look of God, a look which purifies, which sanctifies, which gives peace. It is the look of our Judge and still more the look of our Savior, or Friend, the Spouse of our souls. A Rosary said in this way, in solitude and silence, is a most fruitful intercourse with Jesus. It is a conversation with Mary too which leads to intimacy with her Son.
We sometimes read in the lives of the saints that Our Blessed Lord reproduced in them first His childhood, then His hidden life, then His apostolic life, and finally His Passion, before allowing them to share in His glory. He comes to us in similar way in the Rosary and, well said, it is a prayer which gradually takes the form of an intimate conversation with Jesus and Mary. It is easy to see how saintly souls have found in it a school of contemplation.
Of course, the Rosary can’t be a school of contemplation if we pray it while driving to around town (guilty) or taking a stroll around the block (guilty). Sometimes I often wonder what my spiritual life would be like if I stopped looking for more prayers to say and started saying my daily prayers with more attention and devotion.
Actually, I’ve had some of my best times of contemplation saying the rosary while out walking. The key is, you can’t be in a hurry; you have to take your time. I find that adding a “clausula” to the middle of the Hail Mary is helpful here, e.g., during the second Sorrowful Mystery, “and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, by whose stripes we are healed. Holy Mary, Mother of God…” The clausula helps me to focus on the mystery at hand.
Hi Will,
I debated whether or not to include walking in my final paragraph. Fulton Sheen once said the Rosary was an ambulatory prayer, and one of my favorite pictures of Pope John Paul II is of him walking and praying the Rosary.
For me, it’s very difficult to stay focused on the Rosary in the sense of contemplation on the Rosary while walking. I don’t necessarily walk fast — but I like to “take in the sights,” so to speak. I can, however, use the Rosary as a tool for meditation and reflection on how I live — like an extended examination of conscience — while walking.
Though I’ve heard about the “clausula,” I’ve never incorporated it into my Rosary before. I can see where it’d be helpful.
In Christ.
I love praying the Rosary while walking! I have walked so often while praying the Rosary, that I cannot even begin a walk longer than 10 or so minutes with it.
I just found your blog. . .I love it. I am especially psyched about Tuesdays with St. Thomas—what a wonderful thing!
This post on how to say the Rosary is particularly helpful. When I was a child at home, our family said a nightly Rosary together—generally before those of us who were teenagers could go out. Too many times, my early experiences of the Rosary were simply focused on being present and getting through it. Good instruction on the Rosary and complementary spirituality is often very lacking in our mainstream catechesis.
And on a lighter note. . .the Rosary can not be school of contemplation when you are a mother of several young children and you wait until your bedtime to start it! In those cases, it functions more like a sleep aide!
Hi Franchelle,
Thanks for the comment.I’m glad you like the blog.
I found that mainstream catechesis almost entirely neglects the spiritual tradition of the Church. The three ways of the spiritual life, mortification, penance, the Rosary — almost all of these things are neglected. I think we’ve have forgotten that we need to be taught how to pray.
As to your “lighter note” — as an at-home dad who is homeschooling his four children, there is almost no time when the Rosary do not function like a sleep aide!
God bless.