The Rosary Light and Life - Current Announcements - January-February 2012

This past spring I once again accompanied members of the Order of Malta on their annual pilgrimage to Lourdes. Ours is part of an international gathering that takes place at the same time each year, and this year it was scheduled to begin on the Wednesday after Easter.

Because things need to be set up to welcome the infirm individuals and their care-givers, a few member of the Order of Malta always arrive early in Lourdes, and this year I volunteered to join them, which meant taking off my vestments after Easter morning Mass, and dashing to the airport for an early afternoon flight to Paris.

I was very sorry to miss Easter dinner with my Dominican brothers, of course, but I was altogether unprepared for the pleasure of having Lourdes pretty much to myself for two days before the crowds began to arrive from all over the world. Once our work was completed in the morning, we had the rest of the day to ourselves, so I was free to go to confession without waiting in line, and - best of all - to visit the baths, something I've never done, as I've never wanted to take the time or place that could be given to someone with a serious illness.

Everyone has heard of the waters of Lourdes - especially their chilliness - so I'll admit I sat there somewhat apprehensively, as I awaited my turn. I tried to collect my wits, and to think of all the individuals I knew who would gladly have been in my place. Needless to say, our ill friends from the Rosary Center were at the top of my list.

Before long, the attendant called me and I walked past the curtain into the small pool area, where I descended two or three steps to stand waist-deep in water that was just as cold as everyone had warned me. The attendants, who spoke no English, silently encouraged me to take my time, to pray, to consider my weakness, and to ponder the powerful presence of Mary's love in a place that has drawn her children for more than a century and a half. When I nodded, to indicate my readiness to leave, one of the attendants handed me a small picture of Mary so I could offer a farewell prayer.

The next day trains and buses began to unload the thousands of pilgrims who make up the annual Order of Malta event. I was delighted to stand with others in the welcoming committee to help the weaker folks into their wheelchairs, and point them toward the elevators that would take them to their rooms in the very simple hotel where we stayed.

The rest of the week unfolded as it always does, with Masses, processions, homilies and blessings by bishops from here and there in the United States. No one came away unmoved by the event, but I shall never forget the few moments I spent in that chilly water, praying for you, asking God's mother to intercede for you in all your needs, and to ask her Son to heal your illnesses and to mend your wounds.

By a wonderful coincidence, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is February 11th. The following day is the feast of Reginald of Orleans, a Dominican Blessed. This year my feast day falls on a Sunday, so it will not get much attention. That day we will be starting the second of our novenas of Masses to honor Mary as Our Lady of Lourdes, and I will be praying for you and your intentions. I hope you will offer a small prayer for me and mine.

In the introductory installments of this study, we learned how the Church Fathers used various allegorical methods of interpretation in their commentaries on the Song of Songs. To give you a direct feel for how the Fathers read this book, here are a couple of samples.

ORIGEN

The first is from Origen's commentary on the Song of Songs. Origen wrote in the third century. Although later enemies unfairly condemned and destroyed many of his works, he remained one of the most influential theologians and mystics of the eastern Church in those early centuries, and his influence continues to this day. He summarized his whole approach to the Song in the first sentences of his Prologue:

This book seems to me an epithalmium, that is, a wedding song, written by Solomon in the form of a play, which he recited in the character of a bride who was being married and burned with a heavenly love for her bridegroom, who is the Word of God. For whether she is the soul made after His image or the Church, she has fallen deeply in love with Him. Moreover, this book of Scripture instructs us in the words this marvelous and perfect bridegroom uses toward the soul or the Church that has been united with Him. (Origen, 217)

Origen read the Song primarily as an allegory of "the soul or the Church" united in love with Christ the Bridegroom. The Church in general has agreed with Origen in this, and when the Song is referenced in official documents it is usually read in the symbolic sense of relating to Christ as the Bridegroom of the Church.

GREGORY THE GREAT

The other example of patristic commentary comes three centuries later from the pen of Pope St. Gregory the Great in his Exposition of the Song of Songs:

May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. To her [the Old Testament Church] the Lord had sent angels, patriarchs and prophets, bringing gifts of the spirit; but she wishes to take those gifts not from the hands of the Bridegroom's servants but now from the Bridegroom himself. The whole human race, from the origins of the world to its end, that is to say, the whole Church, we now represent one single Bride, who in the Law had received a pledge of the spiritual gift; but now she seeks the presence of the Bridegroom himself and says, May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. For the holy Church, sighing for the coming of the Mediator between God and man, for the coming of its redeemer, addresses the words of its prayer to the Father, that he may send the Son, that he may illuminate her with his presence that he may speak to this same Church no longer through prophets, but by his own mouth.

Many patristic as well as later monastic commentators have a similar understanding of this first verse as referring to Israel's longing for the Messiah. From the perspective of the coming of Jesus, and in light of the Gospel, this is seen as yearning for a grasp of the full revelation of God's will after the partial gifts that were available before Christ.

Both A Servant and Free, by Fr. Brian Mullady. OP, offers a positive exposition of morality, and a clear refutation of the principle moral systems that contradict the Church's moral teaching. This latest work of Fr. Mullady's is now available from the Rosary Center, on our web site. The cost of the book is $19.95 plus shipping and handling.

Anyone who has ever wondered what goes into the education of a Catholic priest will be interested in Fr. Mullady's new CD, A Complete Study of Christ. Obviously, no academic course can exhaust the depths of Christ's nature and love, but this 15-CD series provides an excellent introduction to Catholic teaching on the person, life, and ministry of Our Savior. Although the series is intellectually challenging, it is accessible to anyone curious about the Church's long and beautiful Christological tradition.

The CD series is priced at $70.00, and may be ordered from the Classes, Retreats, and DVD section on our secure web order form.

WE ARE FREQUENTLY ASKED whether Confraternity members must pray twenty decades of the Rosary to fulfill the requirements for membership. The answer to this question is no. Pope John Paul II presented the Luminous Mysteries as a suggestion, which he hoped would contribute to the devotion of lovers of the Rosary. The present Holy Father has made no comment, so Confraternity members will continue to fulfill the requirements for membership by praying the traditional fifteen decades of the Rosary.

For those who wish to learn more about Pope John Paul's promoting the Luminous Mysteries, the Rosary Center offers a helpful new book, The Rosary, The John Paul II Method, by Robert Feeney. We offer it for $7.95 plus shipping & handling, and hope it will prove helpful to devotees of the Luminous Mysteries, as well as those who wish to learn more about them. To order please visit our secure web order page.

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