Mycah, who was parish volunteer with us 2015/16, writes about her ‘discovery’ of the rosary while at St Chrysostom’s, in the second of our blog posts for October, the month of the rosary. (The first post, ‘The Comfort of the Rosary’ is here).
My Discovery of the Rosary arose out of an interest to try fully the new Tradition (for me) that I found at St Chrysostom Church while there as a Parish Volunteer. Growing up Lutheran, there was never much emphasis put on Mary unless it was December and we mentioned her in the telling of the Christmas Story in Sunday school. We especially did not take part in having a statue or icon of her anywhere in the Sanctuary, or ever hear the rattling of Rosary beads around church.
The rosary in Mycah’s office at Muhlenberg Lutheran Church, Virginia
Prayer is a central part of my life as a Christian, and when we put up the notice for the St C’s Rosary group last year I put my name on it. This was another form of prayer for me to discover, and as the eight of us who were present my first night fell into a rhythm of repeating the familiar words I had sung during the Angelus on Sundays, I felt the grip of prayerful mystery take hold and a year later has yet to let go.
Right before ending my time with St C’s there was a large conference of clergy from around the UK hosted by the Manchester branch of the Society for Catholic Priests. During their regular worship schedule, they had a night prayer service which began with the Rosary led by someone from church.
Mysteriously, the Lutheran in the room was asked to lead the prayers.
So sat next to a Bishop in a church full of Anglican Priests, I recited the words of the Rosary with my fellow Christian believers. I was deeply moved by the experience, and further moved afterwards when several people whom I knew and did not know came up to me and thanked me leading them in prayer.
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