Sister Hildegard Pleva, OSsR, a Redemptoristine nun whom you may have bumped into in the A Nun’s Life chat room, was just featured in The Poughkeepsie Journal (December 26, 2010). Here are some selections from the article “Many find solace in prayer beads” by Lauren Yanks. In addition to the Catholic practice of praying with the Rosary, the article includes interviews with people who use prayer beads within the Islamic, Hindu, and Tibetan Buddhist traditions.
“There is a tradition of using beads or knots to aid in a prayer of repetition, like a mantra, to assist a person in their effort to touch the power beyond themselves,” said Sister Hildegard Pleva….
“It’s a prayer practice to help make one more receptive and open,” Sister Hildegard said. “For those who are used to praying, it brings great comfort.”
“Another aspect of the rosary for me is that our lives today are so busy and distracted because we have so many stimuli in our environment,” she said.”Many people find this kind of prayer as a way of simmering down. It helps quiet all that noise that goes on inside them, so they can move to a more meditative prayer.”
Read the whole article from The Poughkeepsie Journal. And be sure to check out Sister Hildegard’s blog, Contemplative Horizon and her community’s website The Redemptoristines.
Archived Comments
- December 27, 2010 at 3:56 pm
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A rosary is an archetypal digital computer. It lets you focus on the prayers, rather than on the counting of prayers. And the repetition IS like a mantra. My mother had a “Seven Dolors” rosary, with seven sets of beads (not sure how many in a set), interspersed with medals commemorating the “Seven Sorrows of Mary.” Does anyone have any information about “Seven Dolor beads”?
- December 27, 2010 at 8:39 pm
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Julie, if it weren’t for you and another friend Prof. Margaret Susan Thompson, I would not even have known that the article was published. Thanks for mentioning it. We don’t get the local papers every day and the reporter did not follow through. It is quite and experience to explain this to some one not of the faith! But it is an interesting article as it highlights the universal use of such prayers and beads as aids to prayer. Much obliged. Sr. Hildegard
- December 27, 2010 at 9:11 pm
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Yes, I use the rosary called “The Seven Dolor Beads” or the “Seven Sorrows of Mary.” It is a tradition of the Providence sisters, and a friend who is in that order gave me my beads. There are seven sections, with seven beads apiece. Here’s the “Chaplet of the Seven Dolors” as I pray it:
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love.V. Send forth your Spirit
R. And you shall renew the face of the earth.V. Remember, O God, your people.
R. We look to you for justice and peace.V. O Lord, hear our prayer.
R. And let our cries come to you.LET US PRAY: Illumine our minds, we ask you, God, with the light of your wisdom that we may discern the means and find the strength to be your compassion in the world.
THE FIRST DOLAR: THE PROPHECY OF SIMEON: “And you yourself shall be pierced with a sword – so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:15)
One Our Father, 7 Hail Mary’s, and one Glory be. . . ”THE SECOND DOLAR: THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT: “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt.” (Matt. 2:13) One Our Father, 7 Hail Mary’s, and one Glory be. . . ”
One Our Father, 7 Hail Mary’s, and one Glory be. . . ”THE THIRD DOLAR: JESUS LEFT IN THE TEMPLE: “Why did you search for me? Did you not know that I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49)
One Our Father, 7 Hail Mary’s, and one Glory be. . . ”THE FOURTH DOLAR: MEETING JESUS BEARING HIS CROSS “. . . the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all” (Isaiah 53:6) [and] “Christ suffered for sins once . . . that he might lead you to God.” (1 Peter 3:13)
One Our Father, 7 Hail Mary’s, and one Glory be. . . ”THE FIFTH DOLAR: CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS: “Near the cross of Jesus there stood his Mother.” (John 19:25)
One Our Father, 7 Hail Mary’s, and one Glory be. . . ”THE SIXTH DOLAR: MARY RECEIVES JESUS DEAD IN HER ARMS: Come, all you who pass by the way. Look and see whether there is any suffering like my suffering.” (Lamentations 1:12)
One Our Father, 7 Hail Mary’s, and one Glory be. . . ”THE SEVENTH DOLOR: BURIAL OF JESUS: “If we have died with him we shall live with him.” (2 Timothy 2:11)
One Our Father, 7 Hail Mary’s, and one Glory be. . . ”Closing prayer: Lord God, our Father, from the passion and death of Jesus, shared by the compassion of his Mother, you brought healing to fallen mankind. Grant that we, your people, may experience this healing and rise from the power of sin to a wholeness of life promised by Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. AMEN
Three Hail Mary’s (an added petition for true sorrow and a desire to model our lives on the example of the life and the faith of Mary).
I find it a meaningful devotion and generally pray it whenever I am at Adoration.
- December 28, 2010 at 5:42 pm
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Thank you, Marsha! I never had the whole rubric before. My mother would be pleased. Much obliged!
