To read Part 1 “OK…Can we talk about the Communion of the Saints?” click here. To read Part 2 “OK…Can we talk about Mary?” click here. For these posts it would be important to read the preceding parts.
A quick repeat disclaimer and confession as I go into this post (as I did for part 1 and 2). I have not done much formal research surrounding Mary, the rosary, or any other adjacent topic. This post is purely a reflection of the experiences that I’ve had firsthand.
So, without sugarcoating anything or trying to elude the differences, please allow me to process what I have learned and experienced in the Catholic Church as a relates to the Rosary. I’m going to go through this inductively not to avoid the hardest parts, but simply to show how I processed it and experienced it myself.
First of all I learned that the rosary refers to something you do not necessarily the beads that you hold when you do it. It’s probably fair to say that when people hold those beads, they call them their rosary beads. But there are countless numbers of prayers that you can pray while using the beads. Another great example is the chaplet of divine mercy. There are even Anglican versions of these beads for what’s known as the Jesus prayer.
As a fair clarification, the rosary is not touted as central doctrine or requirement for fellowship. I’ve read the Catholic catechism from cover-to-cover and the rosary is not even mentioned. There are perhaps a few pages that cover Mary in a total of over 800 pages.
Likely a huge hangup for Protestants would be practicing the rosary. Some might dismiss the honor given to Mary by Catholics. Some might be willing to close one eye so they don’t see a statue of Mary which is often places to left of the crucifix. But when they see and hear Catholics with a set of beads in hand saying the phrase “Hail Mary” it’s game over for most of my protestant friends. Many outside the Catholic Church would likely cringe at the very sound of these words and might look for the closest exit. I can empathize. But then I took a hard look at the Scriptures and saw that it was the angel Gabriel who actually said these words first. I’ll break it down myself here as I process it. But here’s a article that does it much better than I can.
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!
Luke 1:26-28 ESV
You’ll notice it doesn’t say exactly the phrase “Hail Mary” in this particular version. Other versions of the Bible have this particular phrase. I thought I would just be fair and honest, since I typically use the ESV to do the quotes from there. You can decide if the translations differ in meaning or the word choice is equivalent. All of this just makes me think about mothers that I know. Starting with my own mother, how would I greet her? How do I greet or treat mothers of my closest friends? How do I want my children to address my wife and their mother?
Then later, she goes in haste to meet with Elizabeth her cousin. This is where we get most of the rest of the phrases from the rosary. Here’s the verses from this part.
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you! And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.
Luke 1:26-28, 41-45 ESV
So let me just recite the rosary statement and look at it in light of the Scripture. “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus.” I went over this with a Protestant friend from Scotland, who is definitely not going to attend a Catholic mass anytime soon. Based on his family roots and his heritage, he readily acknowledges that almost the entire recitation from the rosary is directly from Scripture. He actually said he had no issue with most of the statements since it’s from reliable sources like angels, saints, and the Holy Spirit. He has only one issue with the last part says, “…pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.”
This is probably splitting hairs a bit. But I can honestly say that the rosary is not a prayer to Mary. It is not a prayer about Mary. It is a request for Mary to pray for us to her son Jesus. Intercession is widely excepted by Christians on both Protestant and Catholic communities. It’s quite simple. I can pray, and I should often. And I can ask for prayer, and I should often. Intercession examples are throughout the Scripture. The earliest one that comes to mind is the request by Abraham who interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah. The Israelites went to Moses often to request that he intercede for them in prayer. If I need intercessory prayer, I likely and unconsciously go to people who you think are strong in faith and close to God. When James and John wanted to ask a really hard question to Jesus, they sent their mother to intercede for them.
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom. Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?”
Matthew 20:20-21
Other places in Scripture give us much more universal instruction on intercession.
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
James 5:13-18 ESV
Another thing that I learned about the rosary is that it’s organized around what are called the “mysteries of Christ and the church.” Each day there are a separate set of five mysteries to meditate on starting with the Joyful mysteries of the birth narrative (announcement of his birth, birth in the manger, his dedication at the temple, etc.). As I listen to priests and other people provide reflections on these mysteries, I am often thinking that any Christian friends of mine would love to hear these. They are deep, biblical reflections that help us focus in our prayers. Then in the middle of each reflection on each mystery is a simple request for intercession from Mary.
Sometimes I chuckle to myself imagining myself practicing the rosary in college as an evangelical. After each mystery and reflection I would simply stop and pick up the phone and call a friend to pray for me. Sounds comical. But it’s essentially the same thing. The rosary is requesting someone to pray for us as we reflect on the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ.
Ok. Let’s get practical. What’s the worst case scenario for me? Mary can’t hear a thing and I’m wasting my breath? A Catholic gets upset because someone I bring to mass doesn’t participate in anything related to Mary? I can say without question that this has never been imposed on me or my family, nor is it a requirement of being in full fellowship of the church. But to play devil’s advocate on behalf of my Protestant friends I should mention other scenarios that they are concerned about. They are likely concerned that any mention of Mary or other saints is taking away from the glory of Jesus. They are concerned that any mention of other saints might distract unbelievers who need to trust in Christ alone. These are all fair concerns. I think a good person to ask would be the disciples, even Jesus.
How do disciples talk to Mary? How does Jesus talk to Mary? I said in the previous post that whatever we believe about her stems from what we believe about Jesus. Let me share how I break it down with my tiny little brain.
Jesus is fully God and fully Man. Jesus is in his resurrected body and will never die again. Prior to His ascension, He ate and met with the disciples, which likely included the women who were there, which likely included Mary who was with the only disciple at the foot of the cross. Did the apostle John ever ask Mary to pray for him? Seems likely. Continuing with the logic… Jesus, Mary, and the apostles are in heaven together. Scriptures are clear of that even Jesus Himself is praying for us along with Angels and Saints. We regularly ask each other here on earth to pray for each other. Why would we not ask the Saints? Why would we not ask Mary?
I’ve likely lost many in these series of posts. I’m often scattered in my thoughts and I’m sure it’s reflected here. So let me conclude with some simple and clear questions. If the Mother Mary, who is called by the Holy Spirit the “Mother of (my) Lord” entered your living room, what would I do? What would I say? How would I relate with her? How did the disciples?
Some reading this might not think Mary is alive. Some reading this might think this is just idolatry and hocus-pocus. Some reading this might not think that she can hear us or is praying to Jesus. Some reading this might rather call a friend than anyone of the saints to request intercession.
It’s not out of obligation or compulsion that I’ve learned these things and put many of them into practice. I’ve gone to the gravesides of my father-in-law and my mother-in-law. And though it was strange and uncomfortable at first, I do talk to them. To read what I said one time to my mother-in-law Sandy click here. To read what I said to and about my father-in-law Ed click here. Some may call this a fool‘s errand. I call it the communion of saints and requests for intercessory prayer. I was not a very good son-in-law to my mother-in-law or father-in-law. And even today I seek to restore those poor choices and honor them. And if I can honor them who have gone to glory with Jesus, I certainly can honor the mother of my Lord Jesus Christ. As I am literally writing this real time a well of emotion and clarity springs up. I’m convicted to just practice what I’m sharing right now, real- time. So here goes…(evangelicals brace yourselves)…
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Dear Mary,
Thank you for responding to the Angel Gabriel the way you did so many years ago. Thank you for caring for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in your womb for nine months. Thank you for enduring the unspeakable trials that must have come when people realized you were pregnant before you were married. Thank you for being with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ at His birth, at His dedication in the temple, for searching for Him when you lost him for 3 days, and for finding Him when He was back in Jerusalem, at the wedding in Cana, and most especially at the foot of the Cross.
It would be crazy to think of what it’s like to be your other son, the Apostle John. You are like a mother to him. I have a mother. I am married to a mother. And my daughter is a mother. I hope they’re all like you, especially when you said “may it be done it to me according to Your will.” You were the one who said, “my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
I’m sorry for ignoring you for so long Mary! And by doing this, I’m sorry for disrespecting you Jesus. Jesus, I’m sorry for disrespecting your mother. Thank you for your beautiful words as you hung on the cross!
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women. And blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.
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Many of my Protestant brothers and sisters might be wondering how I could be so careless and irresponsible as to say these words. Many of my Catholic brothers and sisters might be wondering why it’s taken me so long. To all my brothers and sisters in Christ I simply ask what would you like to say to Mary? Maybe I wrote this post just to test my own thinking. Maybe it’s to work out some of the embarrassment and tension that I feel as as an evangelical Catholic connected to so many social circles that are are at odds.
I set out in this post series perhaps to try to explain something to someone else. But in reality, it only helped clarify it for me.As I finish this post the tears in my eyes and the clarity in my heart are the only thing that I can offer to God and to you.
Thank you for reading!