Vigils Reading – Our Lady of the Rosary

THE ROSARY IS NOT A ROAD, BUT A PLACE

From the writings of Fr Romano Guardini7

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To linger in the domain of Mary is something divinely great. One does not ask about the utility of truly noble things, because they have their meaning within themselves. So it is of infinite meaning to draw a deep breath of this purity, to be secure in the peace of this union with God.

With this we come back to what was said in the beginning. We need a place of holy tranquility that is pervaded by the breath of God and where we meet the great figures of the faith. This place is really the inaccessibility of God himself which is opened to us only through Christ. All prayer begins when we become silent, when we recollect our scattered thoughts and feel remorse at our trespasses, when we direct our thoughts toward God. If we do all this, the place is thrown open, not only as a domain of spiritual tranquility and mental concentration, but as something that comes from God.

We are always in need of this place, especially when the convulsions of the times make clear something that has always existed but which is sometimes hidden by outward well-being and a prevailing “peace of mind”: namely, the homelessness of our lives. In such times, a great courage is demanded from us: not only a readiness to dispense with more and to accomplish more than usual, but to persevere in a vacuum we do not otherwise notice. So, we require more than ever this place of which we speak, not to creep into to hide, but as a place to find the core of things, to become calm and confident once more. For this reason the Rosary is so important in times like ours — assuming, of course, that all slackness and exaggeration are done away with, and it is used in its clear and original forcefulness. This is all the more important because the Rosary does not require any special preparation. We do not need to generate thoughts of which we are not capable at the moment or at any other time. We step into a well- ordered world, meet familiar images and find roads that lead us to the essential.

The Rosary has the character of a sojourn. Its essence is the sheltering security of a quiet, holy world that envelops the person who is praying. This is particularly evident when we compare it with the Stations of the Cross, which have the character of a journey. We follow the Master from one “station” to another, and feel at the end that we have reached our goal. The Rosary is not a road, but a place, and it has no goal but a depth. To linger in it has great compensations