Contemplate with Mary the face of Christ

Fr Timothy Finigan on the Rosary, a form of Christian meditation

My bank frequently sends me promotional emails. It usually tries to persuade me to pay some money for a special account, or to take out a credit card. Recently, it has offered me a new benefit: free access to a selection of meditations. I clicked on the first one and closed it quite soon; the meaningful encouragement to breathe in and out reminded me of some of the dafter activities that formed part of “human formation” for the priesthood.

We need to be on our guard when looking at secular forms of meditation. There are many practices known as meditation which have nothing to do with Christian prayer, and some which actually work against it. Christian meditation is not simply stillness or “mindfulness”, it does not consist of emptying our minds of everything, it does not teach us focus on ourselves, and the purpose is not relaxation and freedom from stress. We should especially avoid anything that aims to merge our spiritual nature as creatures with any kind of one world “soul” or universal consciousness.

In Christian meditation, which is simple and accessible to all, we focus on God, often on the person of Jesus Christ. If we try to empty our minds of other preoccupations, it is not in order to achieve an artificial psychological state, it is to allow God to fill our minds and hearts which are usually distracted by worldly cares and concerns. We only focus on ourselves in order to repent of our sins and give thanks to God for His gifts of grace. We seek above all these things, to give praise and adoration to God and to thank Him, for His great glory.

Pope John Paul II gave the best summary description of the Rosary when he said, “To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ.” (Rosarium Virginis Mariae n.3) This captures the centrality of the place of Christ in our prayer and at the same time perfectly encapsulates the place of Our Blessed Lady in assisting us in our prayer as our Auxiliatrix, Advocatrix and Mediatrix of all graces. As Co-Redemptrix, she also actively co-operates with Our Lord in His work of redemption.

Our Lady encourages us to say the Rosary because it is suitable for all kinds of people. A brilliant academic, a simple labourer, an active pro-life campaigner, a conscientious mother who teaches her children to pray, or a self-employed business owner, can all benefit from the Rosary according to their own character, temperament, and intellect.

For those who celebrate and assist at the traditional form of the Church’s Liturgy, participation is not limited to following every word of the text. We certainly receive sound nourishment from the texts; the Liturgical Year of the great Abbé Guéranger is but one example of an explanation which has fed the spiritual lives of saints such as St Thérèse of Lisieux and her family. However, it is also legitimate to use the mysteries of the Rosary to engage with the mysteries that are made present at the altar. When he was ill during his later years, and could no longer celebrate the Pontifical ceremonies, Pope John Paul was seen to move his Rosary in his hand while attending Mass celebrated by one of the Cardinals. Leading by example, the Pope removed any plausible excuse for disparaging the recitation of the Rosary at Mass as though it were a second-rate form of participation.

Outside of Mass too, the Rosary aids our liturgical life because either in preparation or in thanksgiving, or simply as part of our daily life of faith, it takes us to the heart of making our own offerings in union with the ends for which Our Lord offered Himself on the cross and offers Himself daily on our altars through the liturgy of the Church. These ends are: adoration, thanksgiving, propitiation, and impetration. In our offerings, the propitiation and impetration of the Redeemer are mirrored by our sorrow and supplication. If we train ourselves to make our own offering in this way, worthily, attentively, and devoutly we will steadily deepen in our union with Christ who offers Himself on our altars.