The times in which Mother Franziska lived seem, from our perspective, to have been simple and calmer. Her own life, however, was filled with a hectic parade of activities as she attempted to meet the needs of the poor of her time and environment. As we read her biography we become breathless as we see her travel by coach and train throughout the vast and diverse Austro-Hungarian Empire and spending the time at home with visitors, sisters and candidates. Let us just say that she would understand our tensions and conflicts.
We know from the constant teaching of the Church that we are all called to holiness. How can we achieve that beautiful goal in the daily stress of our day? In October our thoughts turn quickly to the Rosary. Many people of our time discarded this devotion as ‘boring’. Perhaps it is the ‘boring’, the mantra-like repetition of the Hail Marys that is the precise vehicle that can center us on God in all the activities that seem to militate against recollection. Those that pay huge sums to learn secular meditation techniques often buy music CDs to provide a background of calm for “emptying” their thoughts. The Hail Marys, punctuated by the Lord’s Prayer and the Doxology of praise to the Trinity, can have the same effect. Instead of an empty silence we fill our mind and heart with the story of our salvation. We follow the life of Jesus and Mary and learn to live in our secular world according their example. We also experience the supernatural strength that is the fruit of prayer. Slowly we become more patient, we begin to judge according to the standards of the Gospel. The Rosary was again proposed in Fatima as the chief weapon for world peace. The daily headlines should be enough motivation for a continued devotion to this exercise. There are many ways of praying the Rosary and Pope John Paul II with the addition of the Luminous Mysteries has rounded out the Life of Christ. Taking another look at this devotion can truly transform our world.
We know from the constant teaching of the Church that we are all called to holiness. How can we achieve that beautiful goal in the daily stress of our day? In October our thoughts turn quickly to the Rosary. Many people of our time discarded this devotion as ‘boring’. Perhaps it is the ‘boring’, the mantra-like repetition of the Hail Marys that is the precise vehicle that can center us on God in all the activities that seem to militate against recollection. Those that pay huge sums to learn secular meditation techniques often buy music CDs to provide a background of calm for “emptying” their thoughts. The Hail Marys, punctuated by the Lord’s Prayer and the Doxology of praise to the Trinity, can have the same effect. Instead of an empty silence we fill our mind and heart with the story of our salvation. We follow the life of Jesus and Mary and learn to live in our secular world according their example. We also experience the supernatural strength that is the fruit of prayer. Slowly we become more patient, we begin to judge according to the standards of the Gospel. The Rosary was again proposed in Fatima as the chief weapon for world peace. The daily headlines should be enough motivation for a continued devotion to this exercise. There are many ways of praying the Rosary and Pope John Paul II with the addition of the Luminous Mysteries has rounded out the Life of Christ. Taking another look at this devotion can truly transform our world.
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