The topic alone has led my laptop from an improbable google straight to YAR, about which I am very happy.

“So, thoughts anyone? Am I completely out in left-field? Is it right on? Complete sacrilege?”
After much pruning, my full response to this is still too much long to post, but here I think we can rule out the extremes.

It’s not “right on” because it’s not complete without a bit more explanation of why and how Anabaptists might, in all seriousness, use it. Such an explanation could include something on how beads help prayer.

It’s not “out in left-field” to re-appropriate a medieval tradition from a Reformation perspective, even if that perspective happens to be Anabaptist. Christians of all convictions about that era have reconsidered some opinions and practices of their 16th C ancestors in the light of better knowledge, changed circumstances, and, of course, hindsight. There is no reason to think that the aforementioned ancestors would do it all again the same way, if they knew what we do.

It’s not quite “sacrilege.” Personally, I regard the texts of the creeds of the undivided Church as signs of Christian unity that are as far beyond revision as the text of the New Testament and for the same exact reasons. Whatever good we think to do by “improving” them to make them more satisfactory to our personal tastes is achieved at the expense of our general respect for the last signs of Christian unity. It’s not worth it.

The “Hail Mary” is not mariolatry because, in that prayer, taken from St Luke, she is venerated simply as the mother of her Son. The request for her prayers that follows is reasonable, if one believes in the communion of saints and the life of the world to come. However, the original Orthodox and medieval versions of the prayer do not have this petition (See, on this point– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Mary). The prayer is stronger without the addition.

So your Anabaptist Rosary is not yet what it could be, but it is surely a worthwhile project. I will pray for its progress.

Thanks!

Wes

One one hand - I agree with Leo and others here that the elimination of Mary is a troublesome elimination of an important female voice and tradition.

On the other hand - The actual Rosary elevates Mary above Jesus in a way that I’m still not comfortable with. For example, the “Haily Mary” is said over the the “Lord’s Prayer” by a ratio of 53 to 5. I guess my concern is that, yes Mary is important, but only because she points us to Jesus, who is of ultimate importance.

Again though, this is still a journey for me. As you can see, I’m trying new things out and adapting as I go along. This is just a stop on the road for my thinking and praying.

alan

p.s. here’s what I’m actually winding up doing for lent.

http://thewanderingroad.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/adding-and-letting-go/

Much of the Rosary prayers are taken directly from scripture…the Rosary is both a meditation on scripture, (particularly concerning Mary’s contribution to the narrative) and a prayer to God. I think an Anabaptist Rosary should find ways of incorporating Mary more fully into the picture while still including Anabaptist insights.

In skimming this article I see that you kept fairly close to the structure of the Catholic rosary, and I am eager to try it. The prayers/scriptures that I have been using deviate from the structure a little bit more.

Basically I follow the ACTS model (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication), where each decade corresponds to a different type of prayer. Since there are only four types in ACTS and there is a fifth decade, and because discipleship is such an important value to Anabaptists, I pray a discipleship prayer for the last decade.

Here are the prayers (following your picture):
1. Begin by making the sign of the cross or holding the cross close to your heart
2. Opening bead:
Lord open my lips and my mouth will proclaim your praise. (Ps 51.16)
3. For you alone my soul waits in silence; from you comes my salvation. (Ps 62.1)
4. Gloria/modified Glory be:
Glory to You, Source of All Being, Eternal Word, and Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

5. Announcing the first decade, Adoration:
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. (Ps 67.3)
6. Adoration Decade:
Lord, you are my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? You are the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? (Ps 27.1)
7. Gloria - See #4

8. Announcing the second decade, Confession:
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. (Ps 51.11)
Confession Decade:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner. (Eastern Orthodox prayer)
End with Gloria

Announcing the third decade, Thanksgiving:
I give you thanks, Lord, for you are good, your mercy endures forever. (Ps 107.1)
Thanksgiving decade:
You are my God, and I will thank you. You are my God; I will exalt you. (Ps 118.28)
End with Gloria

Announcing the fourth decade, Supplication:
Ask, and you will receive; Seek, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. (Mt 7.7)
Supplication decade:
If you believe you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer (Mt. 21.22)
End with Gloria

Announcing the fifth decade, Discipleship:
I will love the Lord my God with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my mind, and with all my strength; and my neighbor as myself. (Mt 12.30-31)
Discipleship decade:
Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. (Jn 6.68)
End with Gloria

9. Since my rosary does not have a medal on it, I just jump back down to the cross, and then say the Lord’s Prayer

I hope this gives you more ideas for praying the rosary. I personally like that it walks you through the ACTS model, especially because in between steps 6 and 7 (after the decade, before the gloria), I have a “free prayer time” where I pray my thanks to God, or I pray my confessions, or whatever that decade was.

I also want to affirm that prayer beads have nothing to do with worship of Mary, or prayer to Mary. And it is a shame that a discussion of Mary in this context can be labeled as idolatrous. Anababtists should have a discussion about Mary and how to communicate about Mary to our Catholic brothers and sisters.

I would still offer that anything that points to prayer or even hints of worship to any other than The Lord (triune) is idolatry.

Surely you can use prayer beads without reference to Mary? After all, some Anglicans use prayer beads as an aid to prayer without the reference to the Roman traditions doctrinal stances at all…

It just doesn’t sound awfully Anabaptist to me. Sorry.

Perhaps one could include the Magnificat as an Anabaptist-friendly homage to Mary’s contribution to our faith?

Posting the traditional rosary with your proposed revision made one thing stand out: the Hail Mary’s reflect the only presence of women in this holy ritual. Quakers in my Friends’ Meeting are so non-credal I have no idea whether the thought of a modern rosary / guided meditation connected with the rosary will resonate with anyone but me.

However, if I were to do anything further to think about this, I would look at some of the scriptural basis for Friends’ traditional testimony on (gender)equality and then think further about how to address that in such a meditation.