Saying the rosary aloud enhances the experience of fall season

By Peggy Weber

I am sure I looked very peculiar to anyone who could see inside my minivan.

In a parking lot, on a rainy fall afternoon, I sat and appeared to be talking to myself. I guess it was a good thing that the lot was not busy because I must have looked like a very eccentric person.

Of course, in this age of cell phones and headsets, a passerby might have thought I was carrying on a conversation. But I was not on my phone. No, I was “on my beads.” I was saying the rosary out loud.

Saying it aloud, was necessary, I realized, because I tend to mumble, drift off and not even remember what I am saying if “pray in my head.”
I decided to pray the rosary while waiting to pick up my daughter, Elizabeth, who was taking her GREs (Graduate Record Exam) at a test center.

I knew Elizabeth was a little nervous going into the test. We joked together when I dropped her off. “No matter what, we will celebrate,” I said. “We are going shopping for a winter coat and out to eat,” I added with a smile. Yet, as I sat in the car I wished I could do more than take her to Kohl’s and Olive Garden.

I realized that when our children are small we can guide and protect them in very concrete ways. We can cover electrical outlets, hold their
hand crossing the street and quiz them on their spelling words. Now, as I sat and waited for Elizabeth, I felt like I wanted to support her with more than encouraging words. (I gave her plenty of those.)

I reached in my giant purse and pulled out my plastic case of religious items.

In it are a few medals, a rosary I got at the Vatican last March (Blessed By Pope Benedict XVI), a small, circular Dominican rosary that Elizabeth brought to me from Oxford, England this past summer and a Padre Pio prayer card. My co-worker Bill Pacocha gave it to me upon his return from Italy where he did some great filming for “Real to Reel.”
The prayer card has a “relic” from Padre Pio. It looks like a tiny piece of cloth that was clipped from a habit.

I was touched to have this card and admit that I felt a special sense when I held it.

So there I sat praying.

I did not ask God to boost Elizabeth’s test scores. After all, she was practically done with the test and I know that is not how I should pray.
However, I told Elizabeth, after her test, that when I was holding my Padre Pio prayer card I did think, “Heck if you can bi-locate then you can go into a computer and change a few things.”

So at that time, not only was I praying aloud in my minivan, I was laughing out loud at my joke.

But I did find that saying my Hail Marys was comforting. I know I was supposed to meditate on the mysteries of the rosary. I did not.
Instead, I thought of my daughter, who is in her last year of college. I prayed for wisdom for her as she figures out what to do next year. I also prayed that, no matter what the results of the test, she would not worry.
My mind wandered to thoughts of the rest of my family. I prayed for them.

I also thought of my late mother who fingered her beads every day. She must be laughing at me a little because I was not a big fan of saying the rosary on family car rides or on my knees in front of a radio on Friday nights.

Now, I found the praying felt right and good. I was content in this parking lot.

I thought of Elizabeth telling me about a conversation she had at Providence College. She said a wise Dominican priest told her that the older he gets the more he values silence.

I think I am beginning in my very middle years to understand that.
So, as we enjoy the month of October with hay rides, cider donuts and beautiful foliage, let’s take the time to say a rosary aloud.

And for my thoughts on the Red Sox and a great book I just read, log onto my blog at www.spunfromtheweb.
wordpress.com.

(For a copy of Keeping the Faith: Prayer for College Students by Kerry Weber call 23rd Publications at 1-800-321-0411 or the Webers at 413-525-9046.)
For a video version of “Spun From the Web,” tune into “Real to Reel” on Saturday evenings at 7 on WWLP-22NEWS.