14th August 2007

More than just a fashion accessory – what’s the real story behind the beads?

They’re a favourite of top footballers, supermodels and celebrities, but what’s the true meaning behind Rosary beads?  This year to coincide with one of the most important religious feasts in the Catholic calendar, a national agency of the Catholic Church is offering people the chance to discover the “mysteries” of the Rosary for themselves.  A free Rosary giveaway will begin on 15th August - The Feast of the Assumption – a day which celebrates Mary, the Mother of God, being taken bodily to Heaven after her time on earth had ended. This teaching was proclaimed a dogma of the Church, which means that it is one of the essential beliefs of the Catholic faith, in 1950, though it is based on the ancient teaching traditions of both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches (1)

Director of the Catholic Enquiry Office (CEO), Mgr Keith Barltrop, explained: “We really welcome people’s enthusiasm for religious signs and symbols and invite them to discover the meaning behind the Christian one’s that they might wear or have on display. The Rosary is a wonderful way to help develop personal spirituality and your relationship with Jesus Christ.  It’s essentially a Bible-focussed prayer. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you’d like to know more.”

The CEO will send out an explanation card with every Rosary which will show people how to say the prayer, focussing on the mysteries of Jesus’ life, his family and followers. In this way, the beads have been used for generations by millions to help them find direction, make sense of the events of life and draw close to Jesus.

Initiative co-ordinator, Clare Ward said: “One of beautiful uses of the Rosary is to remind us in a special way that each of us has a spiritual mother in Mary, who is ready and waiting to pray for our loved ones and all of our needs. Catholics do not worship Mary. They only worship God, but they do, and encourage others, to turn to Mary as a powerful intercessor (spiritual helper) in heaven.”

The Rosary was a favoured prayer of the late Pope John Paul II who introduced five new mysteries of the Rosary to the existing fifteen, called the ‘Mysteries of Light’. In one of his last encyclicals he wrote: “The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric (2) prayer. In the sobriety of its elements, it has all the depth of the Gospel message in its entirety, of which it can be said to be a compendium. It is an echo of the prayer of Mary, her perennial Magnificat for the work of the redemptive Incarnation which began in her virginal womb. With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love.” ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE 1

For more information about the giveaway and for general enquiries about Catholic life and beliefs please see: www.life4seekers.co.uk For a free Rosary pack please tel: 020 8458 3316. E-mail: questions@life4seekers.co.uk (Please include your postal address.)

Ends

For Journalists

For more information and interviews please telephone Clare Ward on tel: 0770 939 1998. Email: Clare.Ward@caseresources.org.uk

Alternatively, contact the Catholic Communications Network on tel:   020 7901 4800

Email: ccn@cbcew.org.uk

NOTES

(1) Assumption Fact File

• 1)      Along with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8), the Assumption is a principal feast of the Blessed Virgin and a Holy Day of Obligation -- one of the most important feasts of the Church year.
• 2)      Though it was almost universally believed for more than a thousand years, the Bible contains no mention of the assumption of Mary into heaven. It is part of Catholic and Orthodox tradition.
• 3)      The first Church writer to speak of Mary being taken up into heaven by God is Saint Gregory of Tours (594). Other early sermons on the Feast of Mary's entry into heaven are those of Ps.-Modestus of Jerusalem (ca. 700).
• 4)      On May 1, 1946, Pope Pius XII, asked all bishops in the world whether they thought this belief in the assumption of Mary into heaven should be defined as a proposition of faith, and whether they with their clergy and people desired the definition. Almost all the bishops replied in the affirmative.
• 5)      We have no real knowledge of the day, year, and manner of Mary’s assumption. The dates which have been assigned vary between three and fifteen years after Christ's Ascension.
• 6)      Both Jerusalem and Ephesus claim to be the place where she spent her last days on earth. (By tradition, Mary lived at Ephesus after the death of Jesus.)
• 7)      Saint Gregory of Tour provided a rationale for the tradition, which is related to her having been preserved from original sin. He said that it is inconceivable to think Mary's sinless body, likened to the Ark of the Covenant which was made of incorruptible wood, should decay in the grave. The text, 'Rise thou and the ark of thy strength' (Ps 132/1:8) was understood to mean that it was God's will that, as Christ had ascended, so too Mary would be received into heaven.
• 8)      There is an important difference, of course, between the ascension of Jesus into Heaven after His Resurrection, and the assumption of Mary. To ascend is to rise up under one's own power; while to be assumed means something that is done to one. Jesus, being the Second Person of the Trinity, had no need of assistance; whereas Mary did not have this power.
• 9)      In Catholic countries the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the most popular festivals of the year.

Fact File Source: this text was adapted from http://www.wf-f.org/Assumption.html

Voices copyright © 1999-2007 Women for Faith & Family. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer: The Catholic Enquiry Office does not take responsibility for the content of external sites.

(2) “Christocentric” means centred in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

(3) A full version of Pope John Paul II’s encyclical on the Rosary can be found at: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20021016_rosarium-virginis-mariae_en.html

(4) The origins of the Rosary: a young man, who lived in the Middle Ages and who became Saint Dominic, supernaturally spoke to Mary, the Mother of God. He is believed to have been taught how to use the beads by her, and since then, their usage has spread throughout the world.

(5) The Catholic Enquiry Office is an agency of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference which offers a free question and answer service to enquirers. It runs a website which can be found at: www.life4seekers.co.uk

(6) "Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death."508 The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians.”

Catechism of the Catholic Church 966

Links

Catholic Encyclopedia - The Assumption

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02006b.htm

All About The Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary

http://www.churchyear.net/assumption.html

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
http://www.wf-f.org/Assumption.html

The Rosary

http://www.catholic-ew.org.uk/faith/celebrating/rosary.htm

Catholic Encyclopedia - The Rosary

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13184b.htm

The Rosary

http://therosary.home.comcast.net/index.html

Disclaimer: Life4seekers does not take responsibility for the content of external sites.

Image: purchased from www.istockphoto.co.uk