Parish and school promote greater devotion to the rosary

Our Lady of Lourdes parishioner Linda Abner of Indianapolis prays the rosary at the Marian grotto adjacent to Our Lady of Lourdes Church last fall. Members of the parish Spiritual Life and Worship Commission and rosary group organize regular rosary times for parishioners and Our Lady of Lourdes School students. (Photo by Mary Ann Wyand)

By Mary Ann Wyand

“Pray the rosary” often tops the list of New Year’s resolutions for many Catholics.

Members of a rosary group at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Indianapolis want to encourage Catholics to do just that.

After celebrating the centennial anniversary of their parish on Nov. 8, 2009, these Lourdes parishioners decided to foster greater devotion to Jesus and Mary through the rosary as well as offer prayerful thanks for blessings received by parishioners during the past century.

They promote family rosary time in the church before Mass each Saturday throughout the year.

They also organized a daily rosary at 6:45 p.m. at the Marian grotto adjacent to the church from May through October, and plan to continue that tradition this spring.

And they worked with Cara Swinefurth, the principal of Our Lady of Lourdes School, and faculty members to teach the students the importance of the Marian devotion by arranging an annual “Living Rosary” on Oct. 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, in the church.

Other parish Marian devotions include a “May Crowning” ceremony in the church to honor the Mother of God.

“Our annual ‘Living Rosary’ began with our 100th anniversary year,” said Father Nicholas Dant, the pastor of the east side parish. “The [parish] Spiritual Life and Worship Commission thought it would be a good idea—since our parish was designated to honor Mary under the title of Our Lady of Lourdes—to begin an annual tradition of praying the rosary with the students.”

Children representing each grade hold carnations to symbolize the rosary beads as they stand along interior walls of the historic church and pray the decades.

All of the 261 students also place their written prayer petitions in a basket at the base of the altar before they pray the “Living Rosary.”

“I think our staff and our teachers do a good job of trying to hand on the faith,” Father Dant said. “I’m proud of the tradition that we have here of teaching the faith at Our Lady of Lourdes School.”

Students also pray the rosary after the school Mass every Friday during October, the month of the holy rosary.

Lourdes parishioner Tim Arvin, a member of the Spiritual Life and Worship Commission who helps organize the “Living Rosary,” said “it brings tears to your eyes and melts your heart to hear these little voices” in prayer.

Lourdes parishioner Linda Abner, who also helps coordinate the “Living Rosary,” said “it just does my heart such good” to see the children praying together.

“I think it’s beautiful in the sight of God,” she said. “I imagine Mary and the Lord seeing them, and I think they must be smiling. I think it’s a gift for these kids that their parents care enough to teach them the faith and encourage them to pray. In our world, we need that.

“I appreciate having a prayer that I can always turn to,” Abner said. “It allows you to meditate on a deeper level, and to lift your heart up for the Lord to see, to take care of, to comfort, to lead and to guide. It’s a beautiful way to pray. And what better things can we think about than the lives of Jesus and his mother?”

After the students pray the “Living Rosary,” they present their carnations to Mary by placing the flowers in vases at the base of the altar next to their prayer petitions.

“The rosary is taught in some way in each grade level,” Swinefurth said. “It makes me feel proud of the students, and I think underscores our mission to build children in their faith and encourage their spiritual growth. We do that through all kinds of experiences, including praying the rosary in an active and engaging way.

“All of the students and the visitors who joined us for the ‘Living Rosary’ were able to put a prayer intention in the basket,” the principal said. “Every student—from our preschoolers who drew pictures to our older students who wrote heartfelt intentions—offered those prayers as we said the rosary.”

As a Marian parish, Swinefurth said, “we have focused on the rosary, and we encourage the students to pray the rosary with their families before Mass on Saturdays.”

Parishioner Mary Ann Hacker grew up in St. Bernadette Parish just west of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish.

“I started praying the rosary in the first grade, and I’ve prayed the rosary my whole life,” Hacker said. “It means a lot to me. The ‘Hail Mary’ is very close to my heart. Every day, there is always something that comes up that I want to pray for. It makes life easier. It’s really nice to have the Marian grotto, and to remember the story of St. Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes.”

Lourdes parishioner Marianne Markovich also learned how to pray the rosary as a child.

“It’s been there all the time for me,” Markovich said. “My father had a hand-carved statue of Our Lady, … and we would sit around it and pray when we were little girls. I was lucky enough to go to Marian College, and I prayed the rosary in the beautiful chapel there.”

She was happy when the Marian grotto was dedicated on Sept. 30, 1984, to mark the 75th anniversary of Lourdes Parish.

A plaque at the grotto explains that it was “a gift of the parish for 75 years of countless blessings from our beloved patroness.”

“Mary will always be there to intercede with our Savior,” Markovich said. “She is the Lord’s mother, and she understands when we bring our life problems to her. She is there all the time for us. All we have to do is give Mary and Jesus our time in prayer.”

Lourdes parishioner Bernice Verlage likes to pray the rosary and spend time meditating on the life of Jesus.

“Even if I don’t have the words [to pray] and the situation is difficult, I can always pray the mysteries of the rosary,” she said. “It strengthens your prayer life. It’s another avenue to speak to God.” †