Remembering Caryll Houselander

Since Holy Saturday I have been diving into the writings of Caryll Houselander. I was definitely led by God to read her writings again. I had the books all arranged in my bedroom for my next bit of evening reading with Compline during Eastertide. Little did I know I would be so ill that I would be confined to bedrest during Easter Day and through to the present moment as I type this ... admittedly slowly, and begging forgiveness for poor grammar and spellings. The first book I took up was Caryll's marvellous little book on the Holy Rosary containing Rosary prayers that she wrote in London in the bomb shelters during World War II -- The prayers were originally commissioned by Maisie Ward for her wonderful book The Splendour of the Rosary.

Here is an example of these prayers for the Second Glorious Mystery:

Christ,
ascended into Heaven,
You bear the wounds
of the whole world
in Your hands and feet
and in Your heart.

They plead for us,
shining like stars
before the secret face of God.

By Your five wounds
purify our five senses;
lift up our hearts into Heaven.

While You draw down
God's mercy to us,
showing our wounds
in Your glorified Body,
let us draw men up to You,
showing Your wounds to the world,
scored on our grey dust
in the bright crimson
of Your love.

--Caryll Houselander

Caryll Houselander, pray for us.

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The Power of the Rosary

A Sarum bow to English Catholic for posting this.

"Let us crown ourselves in emulation of the roses of heaven and pray the entire Rosary every day, the fifteen decades or three Rosaries of five decades each. There are two reasons for praying all fifteen every day.

The first reason is to honor the three crowns of Jesus and Mary - Jesus' crown of grace in His Incarnation, His crown of thorns in His Passion, and His crown of glory in heaven, and the three-fold crown of Mary received in heaven from the Most Blessed Trinity.

The second reason is to receive three crowns from Jesus and Mary - a crown of merit in our lifetime, a crown of peace at our death, and a crown of glory on heaven.

If you are faithful in praying the Rosary devoutly until death, believe me that despite the gravity of your sins "you will receive an unfading crown of glory" (1 Peter 5:4)

Even if you are on the verge of being damned, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do, even if you are a heretic as hardened and obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and saved, if - mark well my words - if you pray the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and forgiveness of your sins."

St Louis de Montfort, The Secret of the Rosary

(Translated by Rev. John A. Otto, published 2004 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp.)

Mysteries of Light? Luminous what?

An expansion of thoughts I posted on Fr. Z's blog.

I am one who loves the content of the Luminous Mysteries, but I loathe the name for these and their all too sudden inclusion within the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Clearly, the title within a Catholic context should refer to the Light of World Jesus Christ. But the title does not make that link clear, and sadly this devotion comes off with a title that is decidedly more New Age sounding than Catholic.

This then is a missed opportunity for the New Evangelisation to which our late Sovereign Pontiff called us --a New Evangelisation in which, by way of example, we must specifically articulate the Christian Truth over and against the New Age counterfeits. In the larger world there are plenty of people who chase after "the Light" and claim to be "embraced by the Light" and absolutely none of that has anything at all to do with Jesus Christ, the Light of the World.

What then should these Mysteries of Pope John Paul II be called? I offer that they should be called at the very least "The Evangelical Mysteries" because the content is centered on the three years of Our Lord Jesus Christ's preaching of His Evangelium. But more to the point, these mysteries should be a useful tool for the Church and not a point of needless contention. Rather these mysteries could form the heart of a specific devotion to compliment the New Evangelisation and to reach out to Evangelicals separated from us.

Far better for everyone if we called these Mysteries instead

"The Evangelical Chaplet of John Paul II"

and perhaps in time

"The Evangelical Chaplet of St. John Paul the Great"

I am not one who believes the Church is served well by Popes, Cardinals or Bishops changing devotions that have stood the test of time. If Pope John Paul II had said we would now say in place of the Hail Mary "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Amen." -- vast numbers of the faithful would have arisen to oppose it.

Oh yes, a few would have said that Pope John Paul II's every word was Gospel pure and heaven-sent. But this sort of pronouncement by our late Holy Father was not ex cathedra, and none are bound by it. Likewise, the offering of the Mysteries of Light by Pope John Paul II -- while an extraordinary gift for and counterpart to the New Evangelisation -- need not be driven into the time-honoured 15 decade Rosary of Our Lady's 150 Psalms of Angelic Salutations. Offerings and suggestions do not equal ex cathedra declarations or clearly stated articulations of the Magisterium.

I believe the Church should pray and meditate on the content of these mysteries because the content is from the very heart of the Church's own story, the very telling of the Evangelium of Jesus Christ. Yes, pray these mysteries on Thursday, or when travelling, or when especially interceding for the current Pontiff -- but please let us give them a strong and worthy name -- a solid title that both makes clear what these mysteries are all about and also gives credit to Pope John Paul II for his strong teaching of the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ:

The Evangelical Chaplet of Pope John Paul II

So Vincent, do you pray the Rosary?

Absolutely! It is one of the greatest gifts to us and a most powerful weapon in overcoming evil motions within one's heart as well as in the world. But chiefly it draws us to behold the Lord Jesus Christ through His Mother's eyes. There has never been a more perfect human vision of Jesus than through Mary's sinless eyes and with Mary's immaculate heart.
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My method in praying the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary is to pray the traditional fifteen mysteries. If I cannot do this at one time without interruption, I apportion them out through the course of the day. I often use the Rosary Meditations in the Anglo-Catholic St. Augustine's Prayer Book, a true treasure.

I pray the Luminous Mysteries of Pope John Paul II (followed by the Walsingham Litany of Our Lady) at various times and especially when travelling.

On days that are exceedingly busy, it is important to pray more not less.

I always use the Fatima Prayer and the traditional English versions of the prayers I learnt as an Anglo-Catholic child. Sometimes I pray the Rosary in Latin - especially when I feel distracted by my own stray thoughts. I continue to pray for the conversion of Russia through the Immaculate Heart of Mary when offering the Holy Rosary.

In seeking the Face of Christ whilst praying, I say the Jesus Prayer before each Hail Mary in this fashion: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour, have mercy upon me, a sinner.

I hope that answers my kind anonymous Reader's question. God bless.