The Rosary and Maronite Spirituality

Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.
Origin of the Rosary
The Rosary, the blessed beads that quietly slip between our fingers as we pray over the mysteries of Jesus’ redemptive life, has an ancient origin. Most likely it originated in the ancient East and not in the medieval West, perhaps in India. It was and still is a popular prayer device among the Muslims, who use the Arabic term masbahat , which means to give praise. Devout Muslims used the masbahat in repeating the attributes of God, just as it was used by the early Christian hermits. Following the Crusades the Rosary found its way to the West. The missionary who worked hardest to spread this devotion was Abed El-Ahad, Saint Dominic, and his Dominican companions.
The Rosary became a popular method of prayer and spread quickly in the West during the Middle Ages. For Christians it has always been “the Gospel strung on beads.” It is a simple and easy prayer that can be employed for vocal prayer or silent contemplation by individuals, families, and communities.
Papal Encouragement
Since the 16th century the popes have frequently encouraged the faithful of East and West to pray the Rosary. The first was a Dominican pope, Saint Pius V, who wrote a papal letter about the Rosary in 1569 shortly after the Council of Trent, and instituted the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.
In the late 19th century after the First Vatican Council the illustrious Pope Leo XIII wrote more than ten encyclicals and instructions promoting the use of the Rosary.
To make pastoral applications of the Marian teachings of the Second Vatican Council Pope Paul VI in 1974 authored the apostolic exhortation Devotion to Mary (Marialis Cultus). Paul VI discussed the Rosary at some length as a summary of the Gospel comprised of prayers based on Gospel texts. He urged the faithful to pray the Rosary, and especially recommended the family Rosary in these words:
“We would like now to join our voice to the voices of our predecessors and strongly recommend the prayer of the Rosary in the family…because the Christian family is a family church….If the family neglected this communal prayer, it would lose its character as a Christian family.”
“In addition to the prayer of the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours) …the Rosary of the Virgin Mary would be the most preferable communal prayer for the Christian family.”
Pope Paul VI concluded his recommendation by saying: “We would like to repeat that the Rosary is an excellent and magnificent prayer….”
In a pastoral letter about the 1987 Marian Year, our Patriarch, His Beatitude Nasrallah Peter Sfeir, encouraged all Maronites to honor the Mother of God by praying the Rosary.
Pope John Paul II, enthusiastic devotee of our Blessed Mother, in 2002 issued a pastoral letter entitled The Rosary of the Virgin Mary, in which he proclaimed October 2002 until October 2003 the Year of the Rosary, and put forth the Luminous Mysteries based on the public life of Jesus.
Our present Holy Father, Benedict XVI, values the prayer of the Rosary as a means of contemplating Jesus with Mary’s eyes. For him pondering the mysteries of the Rosary calms a “restless spirit, allows the soul to settle into tranquility…and grants a vision of God.” He associates the Rosary with consolation and healing, an inner refuge which enfolds us “in the rhythm of the prayer of the whole Church.” “I do it quite simply,” he said, “just as my parents used to pray.”
The Rosary Today
Unlike some Eastern Christians who erroneously consider the Rosary foreign to Eastern spirituality, Maronites have emphasized the prayer of the Rosary for centuries. On a visit to Maronites in Lebanon in 1580, Jesuit Father Eliano recorded that he brought them “about one thousand rosaries.”
Early on, the Rosary was a common method of prayer in the East among Christians and non-Christians. Even though it came to us through Western missionaries, it was and still is an easy and rich method of prayer to help the faithful fathom the mysteries of God along the journey of salvation. And we do so with a special companion, the Mother of God and our Mother. Praying the Rosary, particularly in the family, is an excellent method of bringing us together in the faith under the protection of her who always and everywhere intercedes for all people. Let us spare no effort to remain close to her.

(Brother John is a Lebanese American in the Congregation of the Marianist in Cupertino, California.)

During October, the month of the rosary this is a good video on the Rosary.

Mary in Maronite Liturgy and Devotions

by Sister Marla Marie

It is impossible for Maronites to hold a Liturgy or a devotion without a hymn, or prayers and petitions to the Virgin. Have you noticed how our Divine Liturgy is interwoven with prayers to Mary?
“…pure word without flesh I was sent from the Father.
Mary’s womb received me like good earth a grain of wheat…”.
This is not a imposed design, but a natural expression of the Divine plan for our salvation. This plan begins with creation and stretches to the end of time in Christ’s second coming. Every Sunday, as we gather for Divine Liturgy, we are entering into the God’s Divine plan for our salvation through Christ.
And naturally, this Divine plan places Mary in her rightful place as the Mother of God.
We see this clearly in the major feasts that we celebrate in honor of the Virgin: the Annunciation, the Visitation; the Praises of the Mother of God (the day after Christmas); also, her sharing in the Passion, Death, Resurrection, Pentecost, and her Assumption. Mary is inseparable from Christ. “She bore the One who set the universe in order.” (St. Ephrem). In addition to the feasts, there are many memorials we celebrate in Mary’s honor: her conception, her birthday, her presentation in the temple, memorials of planting, harvesting, grapes, the rosary, Our Lady of Lebanon, and others.
In the Maronite tradition every Wednesday is dedicated to Mary because it is considered to be the day of her Dormition. During the year, the months of May, August, and October hold special honor to the Mother of God.
Our Maronite Marian devotions are dear to us, especially the procession and blessing with the icon of Mary, litanies and hymns, and the rosary (a devotion from the West). What is your special devotion, hymn or prayer honoring the Mother of God?
A Maronite Marian prayer adapted from a hymn to Mary:
“O Mary, Queen of the Mountains and Seas, Queen of our beloved Lebanon, whose glory is given to you, and whom you wished to be your emblem. O Virgin, whose purity rivals the snow of Lebanon, …rise in glory like the cedars of Lebanon. We beg you to lay your motherly eyes on all your children and extend your pure arms to bless us. Amen.”

These photos were taken at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Washington NJ on the May 9, 2009 pilgrimage hosted by Our Lady of Lebanon parish in Easton, PA. I was invited by Abouna Paul Damien to join with his parish in a day of prayer in honor of the Mother of God. We had a rosary procession and blessing with the Icon of Our Lady of Ilige.

To Kneel or Not to Kneel

By Carrie Fortney

In a recent discussion with a Roman rite brother in the Lord the topic of kneeling came up. I am always excited and humbled when given the opportunity to share about the Maronite Church, as it is widely unknown to most American Catholics. Aside from living out our faith, I pray that God would provide all of us with organic opportunities to share the beauty of the Maronite Church with others. I know that different cultures have different traditions(with a small "t") with rich and profound meanings and that God draws His people unto Himself through them, so we are on holy ground here.
Back to the kneeling discussion, as many of you reading this may know, Maronite's don't kneel (except on rare occasions). We stand. And this tradition touches me to the very depths of my soul. Maronite's stand, because we are waiting for Jesus' return, and when He returns we are ready to RUN TO HIM! Isn't that beautiful?! Ready to run into the arms of our most loving, forgiving and merciful Lord! Are you ready?