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Show Non-Catholic Devotion to Holy Rosary. It may be a surprise to most of our readers to learn that the devotion of the Rosary is practiced by many devout de-vout Anglicans. Several manuals explaining ex-plaining the different methods of reciting re-citing it are in use among them; and from time to time periodicals published pub-lished by this denomination contain practical articles on the devotion exhortations ex-hortations to fervor and regularity in its use, suggestions as to the philosophy philos-ophy of the Rosary, etc. The current number of the Holy Cross Maeazine, the organ of an Anglican community in this country calleid ' the Order of the Holy Cross, answers the question, How should the Rosary be used? In the course of his introductory remarks the editor declares that "probably no devotion has done so much to familiarize famil-iarize the minds and hearts of men with the mysteries of the gospel as the Rosary;" and, as proof that it has found a firm place "in the Catholic piety of the American church," he states that frequent applications come to him from all over the country for advice in regard to it. "Some have never used it, and have concluded that it would be -wrong to hold out longer against a devotion which has for centuries cen-turies had so prominent a place in the spiritual life of the' faithful." After a brief explanation of what is called "the body of the RosaryY the prayers, etc., of which it is composed our Anglican confrere proceeds to the consideration of what gives the devotion de-votion a spirit and life peculiar to itself, viz., the accompanying meditation medita-tion on the life of Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin. He says: "The meditations are as a general rule quite informal, and are made while saying the prayers. A simple help is to insert in the "Hail Mary," after the holy name of Jesus, the announcement an-nouncement of the particular mystery or of some circumstance connected with it. For example, if one is meditating medi-tating on the Nativity of Our Lord, after the Holy Name might be said, "Who was born of a Virgin for love of me." This could be varied for each "Hail Mary," as, "Who was laid in a manger of love of me," "Who received the worship of shepherds," etc. A more elaborate method, which has been adopted by many, is to repeat between the "Hail Marys" a verse of Scripture Illustrative of the mystery under consideration. con-sideration. Several manuals have been published in our Church giving a suitable suit-able text for each of the prayers throughout the entire fifteen mysteries." mys-teries." In concluding his remarks, which are nothing if not practical, the editor of the Holy Cross Magazine warns his readers against the spasmodic use of the Rosary as something tentative. He would have everyone who feels dls- posed to practice this devotion first decide de-cide just how often he can make use of it, and then take care to be regular: "Do not begin with the idea that you are testing it. The Rosary is not on trial: it was tested and its place as a Christian devotion assigned it many centuries ago by men and women immeasurably im-measurably holier and wiser than you. Let your thought be quite the reverse-namely, reverse-namely, that you are on trial: that God is giving you a new opportunity to realize the great mysteries of the faith with a vividness you never knew before, be-fore, and that to endure the test successfully suc-cessfully you have to improve this opportunity op-portunity with all the powers of your intellect, your affections, and your will. Be regular and humble, and your case will surely be exceptional if it does not prove a great spiritual blessing to you' As the practice of Catholic devotions has frequently led outsiders into the Church, we cannot but rejoice to see pious Anglicans invoking Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. Ave Maria. |