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I Pray the Rosary

Praying the Franciscan Crown
The Franciscan friars have a special rosary that they recite. You can see them wearing this rosary on their cord belts. It consists of seven decades instead of the usual five, but the introductions are usually eliminated, so this rosary cuts right to the chase and starts with the first decade.
Each decade is dedicated to an event in the intertwined lives of the Virgin Mary and her son Jesus. Basically it's really the five Joyful Mysteries, with the first and fourth Glorious Mystery tacked onto the end. Each decade consists of one Our Father and ten Hail Mary's, as in the regular rosary. You do not have to recite the Glory Be, but you can if you wish.
To say the Franciscan Crown you make the Sign of the Cross with the crucifix, then go right into the decades, contemplating on each Mystery, or "Joy" as they are properly called, because they represent some of the happier times in the life of the Virgin Mary. They are:
1. The Annunciation.
2. The Visitation.
3. The Birth of Jesus and Adoration of the Magi.
4. The Presentation in the Temple.
5. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple.
6. The Resurrection of Jesus.
7. The Assumption of Mary into Heaven.
At the end of the final decade are several extra beads of a special pattern. The first two beads represent the life of the Virgin Mary, and a Hail Mary is said on each of them. Then there are two more beads. These are designed for prayers for the intentions of the Pope, and they are one Our Father, and one Hail Mary. To gain the indulgences attached to the Franciscan Crown you must pray for the Pope, and these prayers are actually built into the rosary beads so you can't miss them.
You may end the crown with a recitation of Hail Holy Queen. but that is optional.
The Franciscan Crown takes about twenty minutes to recite, about the same time as it takes to recite the regular Rosary.
I have a wooden Franciscan Crown that I bought, appropriately enough, in Assisi. I recite it as a variation to my regular recitation of the Rosary. Saying these prayers is very relaxing. Doctors have discovered that it actually lowers the blood pressure and calms the nerves.
By the way, the Rosary is not only for Catholics. I possess an Anglican Rosary as well, which is a bit more complicated to recite. Moreover, devout Muslims have a Rosary as well, called a "Tasbeeh," which consists of ninety-nine beads that honor the name of Allah. I have a few of those.
So different forms of the Rosary are beneficial for the body as well as for the soul.
Try it sometime!

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BadPam · 61-69, F

Abrienda--Bo, I did not write that Islam is superior to Christianity, nor express doubt that Christianity is superior to Islam. I said that the two religions need to dialog without fighting each other over religion. By "out-religioning" each other, I'll give an example. A Christian and Muslim were about to dialog on the Holy trinity. Every time the Christian referred
to Jesus as the Son of God, the Muslim became furious and yelled "Blasphemy!" because they do not believe God can have a son. So the Christian yelled "Blasphemy" because the Muslim denied that Jesus was the Son of God. Finally both of them left in a rage.
I believe that Christians and Muslims need to dialog more, and with mutual respect for each other's faith.
Pope Francis encourages "evangelization," that is the informational telling to others about the Christian (Catholic) faith. What is needed is mutual understanding.
No, I never lived in a predominantly Muslim country, although I had a chance to be an exchange student to Jordan, but it fell through and all I had to show for it was two years of college Arabic, during which time we read passages from the Q'uran in Arabic.
Yes, I know what "taqiyya" means--it is lying to a non-Muslim in order to promote the good of Islam. That's much different from "Thou shalt not bear false witness," which is no lying, period.
As a Chritian, of course I believe that my religion is the right one, or I would be searching for another. But I also believe that we should have respect for the beliefs of others.

Abrienda · 26-30, F

So...you "respect" the view that Christ is not the Son of God and his death on the cross a fraud perpetrated by God? There are many things people belief quite firmly...Nazis. Communists, Satanists...I am not impressed by the fervor of their belief but by WHAT they fervently believe in. And no, I respect none of these. I might point out Mein Kampf is one of the strongest selling books in the Moslem world...

Your position is completely compromised. 1) You say you know the Koran, 2) You thus know the suras where Allah forbids Moslems from having friends or even treating fairly with Jews and Christians, yet 3) wish to "dialogue" with them. What dialogue you intend to have? Beg them to stop killing us in Nigeria, Philippines, all Western Europe, Syria, Iraq, CAR, USA...the list is nearly endless. Of course they will agree...if we pay the tax (again as demanded by the Koran)to let us live as second class citizens the rest of our lives.

There is really no point to carry this discussion further. You grant all my points but always there is "But...but..." Islam is and always has been an existential danger to Christianity, most particularly Roman Catholicism. Either you accept, like with Nazism and Communism there can be no compromise with Islam, or accept the dhimmitude it seems as if you are willing to live with and promote for others.

I hope enlightenment comes for you much sooner than later.

oberpa · 80-89, M

There is a website, www.CMRI.org which explains sedevacantism quite thoroughly and understandably. If you are really interested in learning what the objections are to what came out of Vat2, you should read it. It will open your eyes which it did for me. The question of sedevacantism troubled me until I read the articles published on the website by a traditional Catholic priest. He, also, explains why the Novus Ordo Missae is an invalid Mass. You don't have to believe it, but it will explain what that position is and why it is, and why all of the "popes" since Pius XII are not popes.

DallasCowboysFan · 61-69, M

Prayer candles are popular with Hispanic Catholics. The ones you buy in Target and WM that have a prayer on one side and the image of a saint on the other. Are you suppose to say the prayer every time you light the candle, just the first time or never......perhaps they are just for ambiance.

I bought one the other day and now I am curious. It was cheap, it smells nice and I like the Christian association.

View 10 more replies »

BadPam · 61-69, F

@DallasCowboysFan: Was this a real experience, or were they dreams? I know a lot of people would ask that question.
Funny about the brunette angel, because when we had our Christmas plays at school I was always an angel because of my red haor. The girl playing the Virgin Mary was always a brunette!

DallasCowboysFan · 61-69, M

@BadPam: No, they were real. No dreams. I have actually had 3 if you count the time I drowned in the bathtub at age 5. I did not see the other side or hear anything but I did see my mother screaming and I saw myself floating face down in the tub.

I was one of the wise men at our church play....age 4 or 5 ...

BadPam · 61-69, F

@DallasCowboysFan: That's all very interesting! Even when I was having my heart attacks I didn't see myself floating. I was just trying to breathe!

oberpa · 80-89, M

Ahh, good old modernity. Nineteenth century popes warned about modernity creeping into the church. In fact, Pope St. Pius X had all priests make a vow against modernity, which most promptly forgot when vat2 came into vogue. However there were enough priests who did not go along with the wholesale changes, which are not over yet it seems, and courageously went out on their own. However, the trad church is growing, slowly I admit, but it is growing. And I for one do not mind being told that I am rushing headlong into the thirteenth century. Modernism is not all it is cracked up to be, although I admit it may be more fun. Going to Mass in the vat2 churches had become an exercise of averting the eyes or exposing oneself to the scandalous dress of girls and young women. Although I have to admit that I did not mind the relaxed dress code for men also, such as wearing shorts and short-sleeved shirts to Mass. I am a minimal dresser during warm weather, and might even have gone shirtless on the hotter days. Never did go that far though, and never saw anyone else do so either. BTW, I was a vat2 Catholic until 2009 or so.

oberpa · 80-89, M

So, you have decided to not even look. I am truly surprised. Yes, the Holy Ghost does guide the selection oh the popes, but when you turn away from the Church, is that really true. I think not, and since the results of vat2 were heretical, the Holy Ghost will not guide those who exercise power. Vat2 ushered in modernism and false ecumenism. You should check out the website just to satisfy that you are correct in your beliefs. There is no mention of the Pius X group.

Abrienda · 26-30, F

Hi Pam. Swahili is not spoken in Northern Nigeria. There is no word for book apparently in the language spoken by the Moslem Fulani (what does that tell us about them?)so "Boko" is borrowed from English. Thus Books Are Forbidden By Islam" Boko Haram burn Christians alive in their churches...and "Pope" Francis says ..what? When did he visit the site of these burned churches? No...let's host a conference on climate change...says the Vicar of Christ! And on the Resurrection of the Messiah he washed the feet of 12 people who do not believe in His divinity. I live in Israel. You know how that photo was receives throughout the Moslem world? "Pope Summits To Islam." Washing your feet is part of the Moslem prayer ritual "Pope washes Feet of Moslems Going To Prayer!" Those were some of the local headlines in Palestine. So...does the pope have an obligation not to discourage or endanger those who actually believe in Christ? Or are we...as Francis says.."all brothers"? Do I even need to be a Christian anymore in Pope Francis' world? I guess not.

Abrienda · 26-30, F

I know what a sedevacantist is. And we are not talking about "changes" such as lowering the age of communion. We are talking about someone who washes the feet of 12 people who deny Jesus Christ is the Son of God instead of those who do. In one moment he mocks Christ, the apostles and every Catholics alive or dead.
you think a Pope should receive a "blessing" from a non-Christian religious figure, such as an American Indian shaman? I do not but apparently soon-to-be-sainted John Paul II did.

Do you think a religion that denies Christ died on the cross but was really secretly spirited away by God and another man put in his place and thinks the Trinity is made up of God the Father, Christ the Son...and Mother Mary is "a noble religion"? Pope Benedict did and does.

No we are not talking trivial things here such as lowering the age of communion.

We are well beyond that.

BadPam · 61-69, F

Oberpa, I didn't say I wouldn't look. All I meant was that I have read many treatises on this subject, especially when I was dabbling in Traditional vs. New Order Catholicism. But after reading a number of those explanations I decided to go with Novus Ordo.
I'm amazed that this little essay has generated so many varied responses!

Abrienda · 26-30, F

Pam my friend in Christ, please read the Koran. The Koran is accepted not just by "fanatics" but by run-of-the-mill Moslems as the direct word of Allah as told to Mohammed via the Archangel Gabriel. Find the suras (there are many) where Moslems are ordered to have no Jew or Christian as their friend. Then ask you run-of-the-mill Moslems if they believe what is written in the Koran is the direct, uninterpretable, unalterable word of Allah. Then after you have your answer, ask if they know what "taqiyya" (tah kee ahh) means. This permits Moslems to lie to non-Moslems without punishment from Allah. Finally ask if it came down to killing a Koran-believing member of ISIS or YOU, whom would they kill? Watch their reaction carefully.

Afterwards be prepared to delete your last post.

Good luck and God's speed.

BadPam · 61-69, F

Abrienda, you're absolutely right. There should be more attention paid to the plight of Christians in those countries. But keep in mind that these crazy fanatics are the ones who want to wipe out Christianity. I know a number of run-of-the-mill Muslims who want to live a simple prayer life and have no affiliation with Jihadists. In fact there is a mosque right down the road from me, and the attendants really mind their own business and try to keep a low profile, because they know what hatred Jihadists sow. I don't think that's the goal of the Syrian refugees, who were trying to escape such nonsense (Unless they are ISIS infiltrators).
I often wondered about the name Boko Haram, because the Swahili word for book is "kitabu," from the Arabic "Kitaab." But then I'm not well-versed in Swahili or its dialects.
Thanks again for your input!
Pamela Ann

Abrienda · 26-30, F

I love you Pam but these are not unbelievers. They are Believers...believers that Christ was not the Son of God and are dedicated to the destruction of Christianity itself. Instead of washing the feet of 12 Moslem "refugees" why not 12 Syrian Christians driven out of their homes by Moslems? Christianity is not photo ops and bien passant pronouncements...it is burned churches and cruxified women in Syria and Iraq, Coptic girls being kidnapped and raped so they can be shamed into adopting Islam in Egypt and school children burned alive in Nigeria by Boko Haram..."Boko" meaning "Book", "Haram" meaning "Forbidden by Allah".

Would Christ or his chosen successor Peter be more worried about "climate change" or these things? From Francis we hear a lot about the former and absolutely nothing about some of the latter.

BadPam · 61-69, F

Oberpa, from what I hear by traditional Catholics, you consider false Popes everyone after Pius XII, because he kept things as they were, supposedly since the Council of Trent. There was a joke that "The Catholic Church is rushing headlong into the Thirteenth Century." What John XXIII tried to do was, as he put it, "let in a little fresh air," but it knocked the whole building down.
As for the Franciscan Crown, yes it deviates slightly from the traditional Rosary, but as I said in my article, the basic idea of the Rosary is to meditate on the Mysteries and the lessons they teach, rather than reciting formulated prayers by rote. By the same token, the Crown can also be used for meditating on the Seven Sorrows of Mary, although the Seven Joys are more appropriate, given the joyous nature of St. Francis.
Pamela Ann

oberpa · 80-89, M

Pam, I did a search and Wikipedia has a good answer for the Franciscan Crown which is said to have started in the fifteenth century. So, you are correct about that. Pope St. Pius V standardized the rosary to the 15 decades we now know. In fact, he standardized many things including the Holy Mass because of many abuses that had entered Catholic worship. It is more than interesting to note that this Pope also attached an anethema to anyone who changed the Mass. But that is another subject. However, the Franciscan Crown is a devotion of theirs which uses part of the mysteries of the rosary, so, I guess anyone could come up with a combination of mysteries which they particularly like and use for their sanctification. Just for your information, traditional Catholics consider JP2 a heretic and therefore a false pope.

BadPam · 61-69, F

Greywlf, that is a misunderstanding. The Pope is considered "infallible" only when he speaks "Ex Cathedra," that is, when pronouncing a new dogms for the Church. That only happens maybe once a century, and he has plenty of advisement from his staff before coming to a conclusion. The reason for Infallibility is that someone has to have the final word--otherwise we would have many more splits in the Church than we have. Other than that, the Pope can suggest matters of faith without being infallible. That is only his opinion. Also, he is susceptible to failing a math test if he didn't study for it.

BadPam · 61-69, F

Youza, thanks--I'm glad somebody does! Lack of understanding is why we have terrorism. I will never forget that a Muslim doctor saved my life in 2013, so I can't regard all of them as evil.

BadPam · 61-69, F

Oh yes, that. Well I do admit that Pope Frank is a tad more liberal (and shall we say, unorthodox) in some of his approaches. But the point of that special foot-washing is to show true humility, by washing the feet of non-believers. It's stretching the point, I know, but in that sense it is showing true ecumenism.
Of course you know what a sedevacantist is--or you would not have used it in a sentence. I wonder how many other readers of this little dialogue know what it is? Well, you have your convictions, and I'm sure they were well thought out.
Pamela Ann

BadPam · 61-69, F

I really don't. I discovered it when I taught Latin at our local monastery, when I saw that all the friars had Franciscan rosaries on their belts. They taught me how to say it, and claimed that it is easier to say than the traditional Rosary because you don't have to keep track of mysteries or even meditate on them. Sometimes the seven joys are accompanied by consideration of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost.
The Franciscan Crown is the way Franciscans say their Rosary, and I suspect it's been around for centuries.

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Abrienda · 26-30, F

Pam...did you just write that you do not believe Christianity is "superior' to Islam?

Do you believe we should promote the Truth of Christianity over the falsehood of Islam? Or is doing that what you meant by trying to "out religion" the other?

Have you ever lived in a Moslem majority country/

And if you have read the Koran "in Arabic", do you know what the Arabic word taqiyya means?

I am very interested in your reply and my thanks.

BadPam · 61-69, F

Oberpa, I know these were believed by the Church since the early days, so it was not difficult to turn them into dogmas so they became "official" beliefs. My point is that many people are under the impression that these were simply "made up" by the Pope, in the same way that he might say, "Okay, today I want all Catholics to wear your underwear on your heads." That's not how things work.

BadPam · 61-69, F

Yes it would. Perhaps when they install the chat mode here.
I'm glad they relaxed the dress code, but I still wear a skirt when attending mass. Come to think of it, I wear a skirt most of the time anyway, so I'm always set.
But yes, I've seen guys and girls in church wearing picnic clothes, so the dress code has gone downhill.
Happy Pentecost Sunday. I'm wearing my red skirt for the occasion.

BadPam · 61-69, F

Oberpa, you forget the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854, or the Assumption in 1950. Before that they were commonly believed by the Church, but they became dogmas because the Pope was speaking Ex Cathedra, which as I said was rare, and when he speaks Ex Cathedra he speaks infallibly. There have been no new dogmas after 1950, and there probably won't be for a long time.

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BadPam · 61-69, F

Abrienda--I did read the Q'uran, in both English and Arabic, so I know what you mean. However, I still feel that Christians and Muslims can live in harmony without trying to "out-religion" each other. I have Muslim friends and we have no problem--as long as we discuss our religions as informational teaching tools and not whose is better.

BadPam · 61-69, F

Abrienda, the Sedevacantists fail to remember that the dogmas have not changed, only some of the the trappings. Which are more important? Remember too that pope Pius X, for whom the breakaway church is named, also made changes. He lowered the age of First Communion from 12 down to 7. Does that make him a false pope too?

oberpa · 80-89, M

The pope is infallible when he speaks on faith and morals. There is no new dogma, only further explanations of known dogma to reinforce the faith. And if a pope is a heretic, he is no longer a pope even though he retains all the facets of office. If he is not booted out by the bishops, he will keep his place until he dies.

BadPam · 61-69, F

I've seen similar sites that explained the beef of Pius X Catholics, and they have some points. But on the whole I have to believe that the Holy Spirit guides the elections of Popes, and who am I to argue with the Third Person of the Trinity?
But thanks for the info.

oberpa · 80-89, M

and a Happy Pentecost Sunday to you. I will be attending a high Mass this afternoon where I sing in the choir. Our priest says two Masses on Sundays, the first in one parish in the morning and then my parish in the PM. Does your presider wear red on this Sunday?

Youza75 · 46-50, M

Pamela: thanks a lot for your reply. As you know I' m an atheist since 1989, but I have a BIG respect of other views!
Me too I have differents friends here who are muslims and they are VERY lovely.
Have a nice day my friend!

BadPam · 61-69, F

All this shows is that even Christians can't dialog without fighting.
I have a number of Muslim friends who seem to be ok with being friends with a Catholic, despite what the Q'uran says.

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oberpa · 80-89, M

The dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and of the Assumption were always believed beginning in Apostolic times. You need to read what the popes said when promulgating these dogmas.

BadPam · 61-69, F

Oh sure he wears red on Pentecost, as do a good many parishioners. I don't usually wear a red blouse because it clashes with the color of my hair, but my red skirt does the trick.

oberpa · 80-89, M

That's a new one on me. I will have to look into that. It seems to be a truncated version of the rosary at first glance. Do you know when this version started?

BadPam · 61-69, F

Greywlf, helping the poor has always been a priority in the Church, and now more than ever.

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BadPam · 61-69, F

I don't think there is such a rule, as shown by some of the rapid canonizations. St. Francis was canonized within two years after his death in 1226, and John Paul II made it to the ranks of canonized saints six years after he died in 2005.
Some saints take ages to be canonized. Joan of Arc was martyred in 1431 and wasn't canonized until 1926. Venerable Bede is still waiting.

Abrienda · 26-30, F

You are being what the Jesuits call "intentionally stupid". Enjoy your dhimmitude.

Abrienda · 26-30, F

Very interesting. I have been forced to become sedevacantist by 'pope" Francis.

oberpa · 80-89, M

It would be nice to take this conversation offline or PM mode.

oberpa · 80-89, M

You have to say it has been interesting.

Youza75 · 46-50, M

Pam: I' m totally agree with you

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