I had a parishioner who was "cared for in the community" whose hobby was to wander around London and kiss crosses at the time when it was fashionable for women to wear large plain sparkly crosses. Her favourite hunting area was Sloane Square. I used to tell her she would get sectioned, she used to tell me her score. Her best was 38. Most of her life she was perfectly ordinary civil servant but for a couple of years she had this mania to discomfort the comfortable.
6 comments:
oh, Father Blake, in some ways she's the sanest of the lot.
She was sectionable, but she joined the civil service where she was able to blend in.
Hmmm!
I used to find the sight of youths with Rosries round their necks quite offensive, especially when this was obviously associated with gang culture.
My attitude changed, however, when, while praying the Rosary, I reflected on the prayer (given by Our Lady Herself at Fatima) "Oh My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls into Heaven, especially those who have most need of Thy mercy." Very often the youngsters in question may be these very souls in need, and so now when I see someone with a Rosary round their neck I say a short, silent prayer, commending their soul to Our Lady's protection.
This blog reminds me of the young women in a shop who asked a customer whether she wanted an ordinary cross or one "with a little man on it"?
In 1965 I had been a novice in a Trappist monastery and one of the simple professed brothers whom I had looked up to had worn a rosary around his neck. So a few years later when I was a prisoner in the stockade at Ft. Riley, Kansas- the Army and I had a controversy about Viet Nam- I wore a rosary around my neck. And then one of my friends there did the same. Within about a month practically the whole stockade had rosaries around their necks.
Now there was one prisoner there who had escaped several times and been re-captured, and whose case was dragging on forever…probably in retribution. He was known for lying on his bunk, head propped up on one hand, with a great smile on his face. I thought of him as The Chesire Cat.
One day he said to me, “Lee, I’ve been wearing this thing around my neck for about two weeks now. How does it work?” So I explained. The next day I came upon him devoutly saying the rosary. The very following day his case was called. This made an impression on him, you could say, and on all of the lower east cell block.
So there is something to be said for wearing the rosary around one’s neck, and for explaining to gang members (or anyone) how to say it…if you happen to be a policeman, a priest, or an ordinary Catholic. If someone is wearing it for jewelry, great! It is a great conversation starter, and it gives one the opportunity to explain its possibilities and “how it works.”
Would that everyone would wear a rosary around his neck!
I like seeing St George's cross fluttering from every other vehicle (at the moment; 26th June). I regret that most of them have a quite superfluous "England" printed on them (St George's flag MEANS England). Although I'm being very picky, I'd be glad to see the flag flying - all year round, ideally.
Similarly, with the wearing of Rosaries. Perhaps that's the first, tiny step to actually acknowledging it's importance, power and Truth. And Rosaries have crosses on them, too, don't they? The more they are worn in public the better.
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