Add Two More Prayers to the Rosary

You know how I have this love/hate relationship with the rosary.  I don't like rote prayers and the rosary is an example.  I have been praying it, however, because as a Lay Dominican it is part of our rule.  It is part of my life. I miss it when I don't pray it.  Well, today in Aleteia,in an article by Kathleen Kattrup, I read that the pope asks Catholics to add two more prayers to the rosary during the month of May, which is a month dedicated to Mary.  Of course, I will do it.  After all, Thomas Merton says it's worth more when you push yourself.

First Prayer

O Mary,
You shine continuously on our journey
as a sign of salvation and hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick,    who, at the foot of the cross,
were united with Jesus’ suffering,
and persevered in your faith.

“Protectress of the Roman people”,
you know our needs,
and we know that you will provide,
so that, as at Cana in Galilee,
joy and celebration may return
after this time of trial.

Help us, Mother of Divine Love,
to conform ourselves to the will of the Father
and to do what Jesus tells us.
For he took upon himself our suffering,
and burdened himself with our sorrows
to bring us, through the cross,
to the joy of the Resurrection.
Amen.

We fly to your protection,
O Holy Mother of God;
Do not despise our petitions
in our necessities,
but deliver us always
from every danger,
O Glorious and Blessed Virgin.

---

Second Prayer

“We fly to your protection, O Holy Mother of God”.

In the present tragic situation, when the whole world is prey to suffering and anxiety, we fly to you, Mother of God and our Mother, and seek refuge under your protection.

Virgin Mary, turn your merciful eyes towards us amid this coronavirus pandemic. Comfort those who are distraught and mourn their loved ones who have died, and at times are buried in a way that grieves them deeply. Be close to those who are concerned for their loved ones who are sick and who, in order to prevent the spread of the disease, cannot be close to them. Fill with hope those who are troubled by the uncertainty of the future and the consequences for the economy and employment.

Mother of God and our Mother, pray for us to God, the Father of mercies, that this great suffering may end and that hope and peace may dawn anew. Plead with your divine Son, as you did at Cana, so that the families of the sick and the victims be comforted, and their hearts be opened to confidence and trust.

Protect those doctors, nurses, health workers and volunteers who are on the frontline of this emergency, and are risking their lives to save others. Support their heroic effort and grant them strength, generosity and continued health.

Be close to those who assist the sick night and day, and to priests who, in their pastoral concern and fidelity to the Gospel, are trying to help and support everyone.

Blessed Virgin, illumine the minds of men and women engaged in scientific research, that they may find effective solutions to overcome this virus.

Support national leaders, that with wisdom, solicitude and generosity they may come to the aid of those lacking the basic necessities of life and may devise social and economic solutions inspired by farsightedness and solidarity.

Mary Most Holy, stir our consciences, so that the enormous funds invested in developing and stockpiling arms will instead be spent on promoting effective research on how to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.

Beloved Mother, help us realize that we are all members of one great family and to recognize the bond that unites us, so that, in a spirit of fraternity and solidarity, we can help to alleviate countless situations of poverty and need. Make us strong in faith, persevering in service, constant in prayer.

Mary, Consolation of the afflicted, embrace all your children in distress and pray that God will stretch out his all-powerful hand and free us from this terrible pandemic, so that life can serenely resume its normal course.

To you, who shine on our journey as a sign of salvation and hope, do we entrust ourselves, O Clement, O Loving, O Sweet Virgin Mary. Amen.

Force Yourself to Pray the Rosary

Many times I have heard and read that a deed that you force yourself to do is worth a lot more than one that you love to do.  Why?  Because the reason you are doing it is "love."  It proves your love.  Does anyone want to change dirty diapers?  No, we push ourselves to do it.

I was reminded of this as I read, "What Evelyn Waugh saw in America," by Joshua Hren, in America magazine.

from Jean's blog 
https://www.writewithjean.com/2015/07/28/evelyn-waugh-and-thomas-merton/

"During the same travels, while delivering a series of lectures on “Three Vital Writers: Chesterton, Knox, and Greene,” Waugh stopped at Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky to see Thomas Merton. Merton was indebted to Waugh, who provided extensive edits to the “long winded” Seven Storey Mountain. The book came out in England one-third shorter and with Waugh’s recommended title, Elected Silences. The younger Merton repaid his debt, in part, through spiritual friendship, advising Waugh to “say the Rosary every day. If you don’t like it, so much the better.” The monk hoped the beads would assist with Waugh’s anxiety over imperfect contrition. To Merton’s mind, Waugh was a man “with intellectual gifts” arguing himself “into a quandary that doesn’t exist.”

Instructing Waugh to pray the Rosary every day and if he didn't like it, "so much the better."

I wonder if Waugh took Merton's advice.

The Best Contemplation

An interesting definition, if not description,  of contemplation, is found in The Secular Journal of Thomas Merton, Farrar, Straus, & Cudahy, New York, 1959.

Merton is looking at the picture above.  This is Fra Angelico's "Temptation of St. Anthony."  This subject, St. Anthony of the Desert's temptation is a common theme, among artists, probably because it's so open to each person's interpretation of "temptation."  In Fra Angelico's, it's the world.  That's a lump of gold, in the lower right side.  I tend to think the temptation was everything (like all of us). However, since he was a consecrated hermit, the temptation was probably theological doubt.

When Merton looks at St. Anthony he notes the background.  The saint is in the middle of dry gullies, yet in the background are trees.  He's in a desert, yet we see a city.  Are you getting the idea?  Anyway, St. Anthony is surprised, look at the way his cape is draped.  His arms are in the "infant startle position."

In the back is a church on a hill.  (Go Anthony, go!)

"Just as prayer leads to stillness, and timelessness in contemplation, so the action of this picture leads to contemplation on an esthetic level.  Therefore looking at a picture demands penetration, understanding, meditation.  If people looked at good pictures more, they would learn more about meditation, and if they meditated more they would learn more about looking at pictures."

Merton goes on about that startle movement of St. Anthony's.  "By realizing what constitutes the action in a good picture, we can get some sort of analogical grasp of what the joys of the blessed are in heaven."  That's because of the joy we receive by looking at good art, listening to good music, reading good books, enjoying the company of good friends, and contemplating the good God.