As I noted, earlier, there are a number of groups in the U.S. where the rosary is falling out of general use. At a wild guess, (and I could easily be wrong), if you do not live near a Portuguese-American community, you may not have been to many Ethnic Catholic funerals. (Even the Irish in your newck of the woods tend (in my memory) to have become more “American” than “Irish-American.”) Thirty years ago, we did not recite the rosary at my Dad’s wake. There were a great many Protestants among our visitors and we felt a Scripture service would be more inclusive and appropriate.
It is also possible that there have been rosaries prayed for people whose wakes you attended, but that they were scheduled slightly off-time from the normal calling hours so that the recitation would not cause any discomfort to non-Catholics who were coming to pay their respects. (I have seen this done a couple of times, where the calling hours are 3:00 - 5:30 and 7:00 - 9:00 and it is “mentioned” among the Catholics that the rosary will be recited at 5:30 or 6:40.)
Actually, all the funerals have been in a Portuguese-Irish community: Taunton, MA. My mom’s family is entirely Portuguese and Irish. If it’s at the wake, however, I supose that makes the difference. I’ve only been to one wake (at age 7) and it was for an Irish relative, not a Portuguese one.
Yeah, there’s something that just gets in your skull about the prayers. I remember a Colbert Report where he launched into the Apostolic Creed and I just dropped into lockstep. I haven’t been to a mass in ages, but when you hear, “I believe in one God, the Father almighty…” it’s like you never left.
Pretty much. I have never been to a funeral where they recited the rosary. The morning of the burial they are already going to celebrate Mass and then have prayers at the gravesite (and they may have had a brief prayer service before the closing of the casket at the funeral home), so wedging in the rosary would be a bit much. When it is prayed, it is usually on a day prior to the funeral.
Thank you for this wonderful discussion. I haven’t been able to post in a few days and I was amazed to come back and find such a lively discussion. The information presented here has been enlightening. I, too, appreciate the utter absence of people wishing to criticize the practice of Catholicism or religion in general.
The Rosary that I attended was held on Thursday evening, two days after my friend died. The funeral was Friday morning, so these were two separate events. My schedule prevented my attending the Friday service, so I went to the Thursday Rosary. I didn’t know what to expect and I didn’t much understand what was happening even while I was there. The constant repetion didn’t make much sense. Now, I see that that repetition is an important part of the Rosary, and leads to the worshipper’s desired mental state. I actually kind of like that. In the churches that I may most familiar with, the minister, or whoever, leads the prayer by saying whatever is on his/her minds. Sometimes, I’m listening and I don’t necessarily wish to pray about what the leader is talking about. I kind of like how this Rosary takes that away.
Thank you also for the kinid words of condolensce. Belinda was a special lady who left us much, much too soon. She was a teacher’s aide at our school and she helped many young people. She worked with some of the most challenging kids in our school and helped straighten them out. She was wonderful to work with and would do anything to help. Her passing is a loss to our school and our community.
Catholics believe that the Rosary was given to Saint Dominic by the Virgin Mary. It is a way to contemplate the life of Jesus and Mary’s Place in it. Mary is believed to be an intersessor to Jesus. They believe (at least the one’s I know) that saying the prayers and the Meditations is pleasing to God,and honoring Mary as mother of Jesus.
The replies I read where about how to say the rosary. I think your question is about why were they doing this. Catholics believe that when we die we will be judged. We are saved by the Grace of God, but saved means we would go to Heaven and be in the presence of God. Catholics believe that there are 3 outcomes Heaven, Hell or Purgatory. Purgatory is only a temporary state, so in the long run there is Heaven or Hell. To put it simply I don’t think I’m perfect so we rely on the Lord to forgive our shortcomings and failures. While we are alive we can ask forgiveness and seek to make amends for our sin and failures. When we die we loose that ability since out life has ended. God’s grace will save us, but due to the imperfection in our soul we are not ready for God. Purgatory prepares those who die in a state of grace to meet the Lord.
Although we can no longer act others can pray for us. The Rosary for the deceased is for the repose of their soul. We believe the Church has 3 branches. The Church Militant (on Earth) the Church Suffering (those in Purgatory) and the Church Triumphant (those in Heaven. Those on Earth and in Heaven can pray for the living or the Dead. No need to pray for those in heaven, but we can ask for their prayers.
A funeral in the Catholic Church is a funeral Mass, the purpose of which is to commend the soul of the deceased to God. The rosary is not a part of the Catholic Mass. The rosary i*s[/I, however,] often a part of the visitation or wake, which may also include a rosary. I’ve been to visitations that have included rosaries that have not been at ethnic-majority churches; however, the tradition of the wake/visitation seems to be less common than it once was.
Just so you realize, you posted on a discussion thread that was created (and last posted in) in 2006. The person who asked the original question, Drum God, is still active on the board, but it’s a long-dormant topic.
Ah! they’re 2002’s style Death Prays!
(I hated posting that in this otherwise sensible thread, but I hope you will agree it was necessary, and I figure the passage of time makes it not indecent)
Since I don’t think anyone else has mentioned it, the Creed used in the Rosary is not the Nicene Creed, but the older and shorter Apostles’ Creed.
And any number of people can say a rosary, with or without advance planning. When one person is praying it themself, they just say both parts. But if another Catholic happens to be present and notices, that one person praying can very easily turn into a group prayer, with the original person leading and everyone else giving the responses.
The Rosary is not usually done at a funeral in the US; it’s something done at the wake or reviewal the day or evening before the funeral. (Though some recent immigrant cultures do include it as part of the Funeral Mass.)
At the wake for my father (Methodist), church friends of my mother (Catholic) did say a Rosary. It was interesting that you could identify the Protestants or Catholics based on how they ended the Lords Prayer.
In my family, the tradition was to end the rosary with a recitation of another prayer to Mary, the Memorare. It was prayed while holding the medal at the beginning and end of the loop of five decades. This variant was also common at the church and school we attended. I always liked this prayer, possibly because it was not repeated monotonously, perhaps because it was a relief that we had reached the end of the rosary.
“REMEMBER, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly to thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come; before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.”
Just a nitpick, but the Apostles’ Creed is newer than the Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed first appeared in 325, and the current form is from 381, and the Apostles’ Creed is first mentioned in 390 and its current form is from the 7th century.
Also, it is possible to count using other methods: I’ve had rosary rings (a ring with a cross and ten bars), I’ve seen rosary bracelets (ten small cross charms and a slightly larger one which was shaped like an image of a local favorite saint) or you can just count on your fingers (since we conveniently tend to have ten of those, thumbs included).
As you probably know, it was used as a religious test in Ireland in the 60’s. If you used the Anglican form, the RC kids would beat you up. If you used the RC form, the Anglican kids would beat you up. If you used one of the other variations, both groups would beat you up.
Luminous Mysteries? When I was a kid we had luminous BEADS! That’s right. Big, fat glow-in-the-dark rosary beads. The crucifix glowed, too but not the crucified body. I guess that would have been a little too creepy.
I would like to point out that the rosary is not restricted in any way to death. Many Roman Catholic churches have a time to come for a community rosary daily. During lent, our church actually had a rosary service twice a day, the normal early one (before work), and an evening one.