Message from an Old Rosary

As my regular readers know, I am a big collector of rosaries. About ten years ago I got on a big kick of ordering them from monks, so much so that the monks actually sent me a Christmas one to thank me for all my orders. Praying with new rosaries is fine, but I discovered that praying with the antique rosaries I have been collecting recently is pleasurable in a way no new rosary ever is. I chalked that up to feeling all the prayers of the previous owners... and then on Sunday I prayed with a very old rosary and felt an odd resistance. What was that? I decided to pray with it again last night at the adoration chapel, where in theory any evil influence would be weeded out. So this may sound crazy, but praying with it wasn't pleasurable like with other old rosaries, but I definitely got a vibe from it, unlike a new rosary. It was like it was trying to tell me something. I saw a field somewhere in the state, around this time of year, full of wildflowers. That was just confusing. As I was pondering what that meant, it seemed like the rosary suddenly told me, "God always stands with the oppressed. Make sure you aren't one of the oppressors!" Of course a rosary can't talk to you, but could it be a message from the previous owner?

I come from a line of oppressors and oppressed. Of course, most of my ancestors (per both genetic tests) were poor Irish immigrants, but I clearly have both slaves and slave owners in my ancestry. How else to explain that I am now so white? Maybe this is a call to pray for my slaveholder ancestors, and maybe it is a call to me personally to see where I am not doing enough for people who are currently oppressed. I am going to take it both ways, to pray for my ancestors and to examine my own behavior. I'll let you know if the rosary "tells" me anything else.

Famous Hat