The Chicago District hosted its fourth “Day of Recollection” with Fr. Timothy Guthridge, CPPS, on Saturday, March 22, 2014 at the Garden Chalet in Chicago Ridge, IL. Fr. Guthridge shared with the approximately 43 members from various senior branches within the District, the development and history of the rosary.
The day began with the group saying the rosary and reflecting on the Marian Mysteries. Fr. Tim then shared with the group the roots of the rosary that date back to the 8th Century Benedictine and Irish monasteries. The monks chanted in Latin all 150 Psalms during a two-week cycle and known as the choir monks. Father than gave the history of the lay monks who worked the fields of the monasteries who did not pray the Office but used pebbles or knotted chords to pray their “Our Fathers” and “Hail Mary’s” which are the root of the Rosary. Lay people who lived on the monastic property soon followed the prayer practices of the lay monks and began to pray the 150 praises of Jesus or Mary, which became the Rosaria (bouquet) with 50 praises of Mary. By 1365, Cathusian monastery monks, a community of hermits, prayed in a similar fashion and would gather to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. It was Henry of Kulkar who grouped the rosary as we know it today into the decades of the Hail Mary, broken by the Our Father. In 1470, Alan de Rupe founded the first Confraternity of the Rosary and attached thoughts about the life and death of Jesus. The 16th century attached a phrase to each Hail Mary and during the 18th century, St. Louis de Montfort invented the rosary as we know and pray it today. So from the 14th century and well into the 19th century, religious orders, groups and lay people used this as a form of prayer and were continuously reinventing it to make it more relevant to the folks who prayed it. Not until the 19th century did the rosary evolve around the parish and become the backbone of lay people’s spirituality. During the 19th century it became more popular to recite the rosary before mass and Fr. Tim recounted again how the rosary is rooted in the liturgy of hours with the purpose of the rosary being to place ourselves in the presence of God and to be open to the presence of God while praying the rosary with our heart open to the grace of God. He pointed out that when saying the rosary it is another way for us to be able to share and participate in the divine life of Jesus. The Our Fathers, Hail Mary’s and Glory Be’s help us to focus our hearts and minds on God and being in the presence of God. The rosary is not about getting it done, but about praying and meditating on the mysteries. He reminded us that praying and meditating on the rosary mysteries is God’s time not ours! Father ended by reminding the group that God is the creation of the universe and that there is more than one way to pray the rosary as long as the objective is to place oneself in the presence of God – which is the only way to pray the rosary! Afterwards, Fr. Tim answered questions from the group who were thankful and grateful for the insight into praying the rosary in a more meaningful way.
Fr. Tim also brought various forms of the rosary and showed the group the Hindus mantra that contains 108 beads, the Eastern Rite churches that pray the Jesus prayer and showed us examples of the Eastern and Western Orthodox rosaries, as well as the Islamic prayer or worry beads.
Fr. Tim is a native of the Chicago area having grown up in the areas of the Near North Side of Chicago, Chicago Ridge and finally Orland Park, Illinois. He is a Kansas City Province of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood having been ordained in 1997. Over the years he has had various parish assignments in Texas, Iowa, and Missouri. He specializes in giving retreats on Precious Blood Spirituality, Ignatian Spirituality and contemplative prayer. He is currently the Director of Formation for the Precious Blood Order in Chicago and is responsible for the Pre-Theology Precious Blood seminarians at Chicago Theological Union in Chicago.
The day ended with the celebration of a Marian Mass as the group began to head into the beginning of the Lenten Season.
To view photos from this event, check out the Photo Gallery on the Chicago District Web site.
