rosary

I pray the rosary. There's a rosary on the rearview mirror of my car.

Typical Pinoy.

My own rosary is courtesy of a very good friend who frequents Europe to visit a sister in Paris.

The rosary was one of her pasalubong when she came back. She also handed a tiny statue of St Bernadette praying before the Blessed Mother. It has a sticker underneath it so I can stick it on my dashboard (which I decided not to do, yet). The other gift was holy water in a plastic bottle formed in the image of a standing Blessed Mother.

I love the rosary she gave because it smells like a rose. It is in a round plastic container that helps preserve the scent. The floral smell whiffs inside the car the moment I open the casing. There's a writing on the casing that reads:

Santo Rosario, Petalo di rosa.

I am pray the rosary while driving. When my special gurl is with me in the car, we pray it together.

Sometimes after working out at the gym in Banaue, I'd join the high noon mass at the nearby Sto. Domingo Church. When I'm there early, before the mass starts, I take the rosary with me and pray.

The rosary, meanwhile, that hangs on my rearview mirror, is pretty much made of inferior quality. I don't even remember who gave it to me or where it came from. But I suspect it must be from SM's cousin, Charlie, who is on leave from the San Carlos Seminary.

The other day, when I went to hear mass at Sto. Domingo, I decided to bring the rosary with me. While I held it, I discovered that the string was worn out like an over-used rubberband. Very carefully, I rolled the beads. I imagined that if the string breaks, I'd be on my knees to gather and retrieve the beads on the floor of the church.

That'd be quite an embarassing scene.

Now I am not the religious type but I do know my prayers and, most often, I say my own and they come from my childlike heart.

The rosary is my daily dose of meditation that helps me harness positive vibes. If other people have their mantra, I have my 5 mysteries.

I grew up saying the rosary but it wasn't really an absolute everyday habit. There were months when I wouldn't. I'd be busy or lazy, I suppose. But once I get started again, I'd do it for a couple of months. And then, I'd lay low again.

Yea, it's like dieting.

I didn't even need beads. Fingers were good enough.

There was even a time when I'd say it while watching TV. One time I went to confession at the Redemptorist Church in Baclaran and told the priest about it. I asked him if it was bad to say the rosary while my eyes were glued to the television. The priest chuckled and asked me, "Naiintindihan mo pa ba yung pinapanood mo?"

Anyway, he said it was okay. Now, to the conservatives, that'd be an awful display of laxity. Well, I don't remember his explanation. That was way back in highschool.

Oh what do we really know of being holy!

Even Mother Theresa of Calcutta says the rosary while she's listening to her guests or feeding the poor. How different is that from watching TV?

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kids should know that...

The Rosary came to replace the popular devotional practice that consisted of reciting the 150 Psalms of the Bible in thirds or 50 at a time. Instead of the Psalms, 150 Our Fathers were recited. Over the course of the middle ages, the Lord's Prayer was replaced with the Angelic Salutation, commonly called the Hail Mary. The prayers of the Rosary were set by the late 16th century. From the 16th to the early 20th century, there were no changes in the Rosary until the mid-20th century when the addition of the Fatima Prayer became popular. There were no other changes until 2002 when John Paul II proposed five new Luminous Mysteries as an option. (wikipedia)