26th week in ordinary time, Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, Oct. 7.2006

Scripture: Acts of the Apostles 1:12-14. Luke 1:46-55 (Mary's Magnificat Song). Luke 1:26-38

Luke is the portrait painter of Mary and I was very happy to see that the selections from Scripture for this feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is all taken from the third Evangelist. Some marian scholars are of the opinion that Luke may have known and spoken with Mary personally, if so, then these readings are quite exciting even from a purely historical point of view. In thinking about this Evangelist, I went over all 20 mysteries of the rosary and am convinced that at least 15 of its mysteries have Luke's text as their source. The rosary is a biblical prayer and certainly a Lukan collection of events in her life. The rosary is a Catholic prayer that has also been adopted by several Protestant writers to my amazement. As for my own saying of it, I do it while walking in a nearby arboretum which is said to contain all the trees east of the Mississippi River. The arboretum is a little over two miles in circumference. I say all twenty of the mysteries easily within an hour and it makes the time go by rather quickly. The chimes of the university chapel bell also help me to keep track of the hour. While doing this the scenes from the Gospels come to mind and I let them perculate with my prayer. Nothing is forced and the walk becomes pleasant. The sounds and sights of nature help make the prayer experience even more enjoyable. Today happens to be one of those beautiful autumn days preceded by a full moon last night. The sky is a bright blue and the trees are in splendid colors.

I will hope to have an opportunity for a walk today. In saying the rosary I want to focus especially on the readings given above which fit the Joyous and Glorious Mysteries. I will start with the Annunciation which is probably the most Marian of texts withing the whole of Scripture. I thank God for the gift of our literary artist St. Luke who gave us these beautiful scenes about Mary and certainly was the one evangelists who inspired the rosary in later persons dedicated to the love of Jesus and Mary. Amen.