Letter V: The Rosary & The Scapular (Part II)
Letter V: The Rosary & The Scapular (Part II)
Most Catholics say the Rosary... or at least a few decades. So why is it that so few of them give up their sins and go forward in the spiritual life?
My Dear Children,
After extolling the virtues and graces of the Rosary, Saint Louis de Montfort asks a very reasonable question:
Most Catholics say the Rosary... or at least a few decades. So why is it that so few of them give up their sins and go forward in the spiritual life?
His answer is simple:
Surely it must be because they are not saying them as they should. It is a good thing to think over how we should pray if we really want to please God and become more holy.
The purpose of this letter is to help you do just that; not just for the Rosary only, but for all prayer. So I will go over three important points from St. Louis de Montfort on how to pray well, so that we can please God and become more holy. Then I will conclude this letter with a few remarks about the Brown Scapular.
Purity of Intention
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
— Matthew 23:27
To benefit from the Rosary, it is essential to have purity of intention. By purity of intention I mean that you are praying the Rosary with the intention of worshipping God, honoring Mary, and giving up your sins. In “Secret of the Rosary” St. Louis de Montfort rails against “false devotees” who pray the Rosary for either appearances or superstitiously, without the slightest intention of giving up sin.
Really, St. Louis de Montfort is just emphasizing the words of our Lord about being hypocritical. “Hypocrite” is a word you will hear thrown around a lot by people who really don’t know what it means. The word itself comes from the Greek word for “actor.” A hypocrite is someone who is playing a part, like an actor, but doesn’t really believe in what they are doing. Essentially, they have ulterior motives. To apply it to the Rosary, if you are acting very reverent and zealous as you pray, but you are doing so not to please God but because of how you believe it will make others think well of you, that is hypocritical: you do not actually have fear of the Lord or zeal for Him, you are acting. A sure test for this is whether or not you behave the same way when you are in secret, and no one but God sees you.
Don’t be thrown off if someone accuses you of being a hypocrite, when you are really being sincere. The presence of the righteous is a thorn in the side of the wicked, and often times when people feel convicted by your acts of piety they will lash out at you with accusations of hypocrisy (especially if you have fallen short in some virtue). Don’t be troubled by this. A hypocrite is NOT someone who falls short of his ideals—we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Just because someone has some imperfection or committed some sin (even a grave sin), that does not make them a hypocrite. A hypocrite is someone who does not actually believe in the standards that they are seeking to uphold. If you preach against stealing because you believe it is wrong, but in a moment of weakness you steal, then you have sinned (all the worse since you taught against it) but that does not make you a hypocrite. However, if you preach against stealing because of how you want others to think of you, and not out of love or fear of the Lord, then you are acting hypocritically.
The other temptation to avoid is superstition. Some people will wear the scapular or even pray the Rosary because they have heard of Mary’s promises and want to enjoy them. But they think that these promises are magic, rather than a the assurances of a Mother and friend. They think that if they just perform these external actions, regardless of their intention or interior disposition, they will receive these benefits. This is how Saint Louis de Montfort describes them:
These presumptuous and impenitent devotees, hiding under her mantle, wearing the scapular with rosary in hand, cry out “Blessed Virgin, good Mother—Hail Mary!…” And yet at the same time, by their sins, they are crucifying our Lord Jesus Christ and tearing His flesh anew. It is a great tragedy, but from the very ranks of Our Lady’s most holy Confraternities souls are falling into the fires of Hell.
In short, approach the Lord in the Rosary with the desire to please Him and to give up your sins. Don’t do it for the sake of appearances. If you are friends with someone for the sake of appearances only, then you are not really friends with them at all. Pray the Rosary with purity of intention, and if you are ever feeling tempted in this way, combat it by meditating on our Lord’s words in the Gospels on hypocrisy, and by taking extra time to pray the Rosary in secret—as reverently and consistently as you can, without giving anyone the slightest hint you are doing so—and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
With Attention
A prayer in which a person is not aware of Whom he is speaking to, what he is asking, who it is who is asking and of Whom, I do not call prayer however much the lips move.
— Saint Teresa of Avila
I wont belabor the point on praying with attention here, because I already wrote some about fighting distractions in my last letter. But let me say a few words about attention in light of one of my favorite Saint Teresa of Avila quotes.
This very basic advice is absolutely essential and will quickly transform what is commonly called “vocal prayer” into “mental prayer.” It’s amazing how many people go through the motions of saying all the prayers at Mass, in the Rosary, and on any number of occasions, but couldn’t tell you a word of what they said or meant! In fact, many of them would probably refuse to say them at all if they really understood what they meant, seeing how they live their lives.
An important rule is that any time you are at a liturgy or praying any vocal prayer, be sure to listen and understand the words that are being said, and then make them your own as you address them to the God who loves you.
There are exceptions to this general rule as you progress in prayer. For example, during the Rosary you wont be able to intentionally pronounce each word of each prayer while also meditating on the mysteries. That is okay! But you should at least know what the prayers you are saying mean and have made them your own before. And if you are having trouble meditating, then simply trying to own the words of each prayer as an act of praise to God and reverence to Mary is a very good fallback.
Finally, let me give you a quick cautionary tale from Saint Louis de Montfort on praying with attention:
The life of Blessed Hermann tells us that at one time when he used to say the Rosary attentively and devoutly while meditating upon the mysteries Our Lady used to appear to him resplendent in breathtaking majesty and beauty. But as time went on his fervor cooled and he fell into the way of saying his Rosary hurriedly and without giving it his full attention. Then one day, Our Lady appeared to him again—only this time she was far from beautiful and her face was furrowed and drawn with sadness. Blessed Hermann was appalled at the change in her, and then Our Lady explained:
“This is how I look to you, Hermann, because this is how you are treating me; as a woman to be despised and of no importance. Why do you no longer greet me with respect and attention meditating on my mysteries and praising my privileges?”
Even the Saints lapse into periods of inattention. The important thing is to always keep trying to give our loving attention to God. The effects of doing so are usually imperceptible in this life, but they are very real and we will enjoy their benefits for all eternity, if only we persevere.
With Reverence
When you give a young child an task, and you explain to them that it is a very special and important task, they will often quiet down, and move very slowly and deliberately to accomplish this task with their full attention. They have a sense of reverence for this special and important responsibility—I have seen each of you do this many times.
From the mouths of babes, this is the perfect example of how we should behave when worshipping God, and testimony to the fact that reverence is not contrived, but soul deep. Prayer, especially the Rosary, is a very special and important task we are given. We should approach God deliberately and with awe. Silence paired with steady, intentional movements are not some contrived, man-made ritual. Rather, they are an expression of something deep in our hearts that even a child understands without being taught. Approach the Lord with Reverence and Awe when you pray the Rosary, for you are doing something very special.
One of the best, paradigm-shifting, pieces of advice I ever received about prayer came from Father Nathan during a retreat in the desert. Every day we would spend at least an hour and forty-five minutes in Eucharistic Adoration. This was wonderful, but it was also very difficult. It was usually too cold or too hot, the ground we were kneeling on was rocky, and we were often tired. On top of all that, two hours is a very long time to sit quietly for a young adult, even in the most comfortable of circumstances.
His advice was to remember that I’m not here for me. I’m here for Jesus. Hitherto, I had, at least subconsciously, thought of prayer as something that I do for myself—something I do to make myself holier, or to save my soul, or to make petitions or receive graces I needed, or just generally improve my life. I didn’t fully grasp the profundity of Father Nathan’s words at the time, but my understanding of them unfolded over the course of years. As I continued reading the lives and writings of the Saints, I realized that this same attitude that Father had described was consistently present in their writings as well. All of the Saints seem to be in prayer for the sake of Jesus, not for themselves.
When we pray, we are in the presence of Almighty God, with Mary, Our Queen. We are speaking to a Real Persons, totally distinct from ourselves, and to Whom we owe reverence and devotion. When we pray, we should first and foremost be there to worship God and reverence Mary, regardless of anything we get out of it. Slaves and peasants may approach a glorious King or a beautiful Queen to beg something of them, and these show their magnanimity by granting those requests. But friends and servants of the King and Queen approach them not to be served, but to serve. We ought to approach them with respect, attention, and above all love, desiring to serve them in whatever way they see fit. Regardless of whether we approach as slaves or friends, we ought to do so with reverence and respect.
It is an obligation of justice and our very special duty to give thanks and praise the Lord. When we approach the Lord in the Rosary, or any other prayer, let’s first do so with the attitude of being there for His sake, to praise Him. He is our King, it is only right and just. And after all, love is not self-seeking. Let us love God, and forget ourselves,
The Brown Scapular
Those who say the Rosary daily and wear the Brown Scapular and who do a little more, will go straight to Heaven.
— St. Alphonsus Ligouri1
The Brown Scapular is a very special devotion that has many promises associated with it. But, most importantly, it is something that Mary has asked us to wear, so we ought to do it for love of her, trusting that it will help us love Jesus better, even if our reason doesn’t immediately comprehend how this can be.
In order to receive the promises of the Scapular, you need to be formally enrolled in the Confraternity of the Brown Scapular by a special rite that only a priest can do. Thankfully, it is a simple rite and any priest can do it. If you have not already been enrolled in the Confraternity of the Brown Scapular, simply ask a priest you trust to enroll you and he can do it after mass some day. I recommend marking the day with some special devotion, such as preparing by fasting and bringing some flowers to Mary in thanksgiving.
The two symbols I like most about the scapular is that of Mary’s mantle and of “putting on Christ.”
When you are enrolled, you will hear the verse “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh” (Romans 13:14) and “For as many of you as have been baptized have put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal 3:27). Let the scapular be a constant reminder that it is no longer you who live, but Christ, and that you should strive to imitate Him always and make Him present to all those you encounter.
Finally, take comfort in the fact that it is a symbol of Mary’s mantle, wrapped lovingly around you. She promises to take you to Heaven if you stay wrapped in her mantle—be of good cheer! Any time you make some little fault or sin, kiss your scapular in reparation, as a pledge to do better next time, and as a plea for the grace to actually do so.
I have much more to say about the scapular, but I will do so in a future letter. For now, please trust me when I ask you to be enrolled in the confraternity and wear it every day with devotion. It will certainly help you on your way to Heaven.
Always strive to pray the Rosary, and all your prayers, with purity of intention, reverence, and attention. You will sometimes fall short of this, but never give up.
With all my love in Christ,
Dad
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At the time of writing, I have not been able to find the primary source of this quote, so I share it with a footnote. I believe the content of the quote is true, but I cannot confirm 100% that Alphonsus Liguori wrote or spoke it. If anyone can send me the source, or if I find it later, I will remove the footnote.