Updates on “A Crown of Roses A Day”

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 29 Oct 2011)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

On 2 February this year, our parish’s 50^th anniversary, we started weaving “A Crown of Roses A Day”. It is our Golden Jubilee gift to Jesus and Mary; also a gift to our poor brethren who received the rosaries we have made with our very own hands. We have pledged to pray the Rosary to make at least a complete crown of 20 decades a day collectively, and ultimately, one little crown or 5 decades of the Rosary for each person who received our rosaries. Our main objective, besides soliciting prayers for the poor beneficiaries, our parish and priests, our nation, the Church and the world, is to encourage daily praying of the Rosary. Why so? Because it has been known to be the surest way to holiness. It fits into our Parish Priest’s call to renewal of holiness in this Jubilee Year of grace for our parish.

Coming to nine months now, it is high time for some updates on our prayer effort, and to answer questions asked.

When we started, we were still counting the number of rosaries to be given away. Now, we know that we have given away 3015 hand-made rosaries, to the genuinely poor, who certainly deserve our prayers. So too the makers and contributors, whose faith, perseverance and hard work, with God’s grace and help, saw the project through. More information on the project will be made available later.

So we are to weave 3015 little crowns of roses. We will pray for the special intentions until we have fulfilled our pledge but our intentions are not limited. We are free to pray for other intentions, especially for the Pope and his intentions, alongside the special intentions. This prayer effort will extend well beyond our Jubilee Year, but it does not matter. Why? Because our main aim is to pray the Rosary daily. This habit is not to end with the closing of our Jubilee Year, for holiness is our life-long call as Christians. Thus, praying the Rosary daily would be a life-long endeavour. This so-called project is only to provide a platform as a stepping stone for more people to start praying the Rosary daily, even if only to be part of our Golden Jubilee celebration. Hopefully, the habit will stick on. Hence, extending this endeavour beyond our Jubilee Year reflects our desire to continue striving for holiness by praying the Rosary daily.

As of yesterday, 28 Oct, we have weaved 1729 little crowns of roses. We want not only to fulfil our pledge, but also more parishioners to participate. So far, our prayer warriors have been faithful chapel-goers who have been valiantly helping us keep our pledge by completing a crown a day. Surely our parish is much larger than that. Therefore, brothers and sisters, do encourage your dear ones, especially those who have not done so, to pledge and pray for the special intentions of “A Crown of Roses A Day”. If you’re Internet-savvy, do help those who are not to register their pledges online.

No time for the Rosary? St. Louis De Montfort wrote that it is alright to pray while doing work that permits vocal prayer. (De Montfort, 1954, p. 111) Fathers Faroni and Crisostomo pointed out that even if we go to Mass everyday, praying the Rosary daily is still required, as it is the medicine advocated by our Mother to keep our faith strong and healthy (Faroni & Crisostomo, 2006, p. 22).

We also encourage group prayers, for where two or more are gathered in the Lord’s name, He will be there amongst them (cf. Matthew 18:20). Moreover, as St. Louis de Montfort wrote in The Secret of the Rosary (De Montfort, 1954, p.112), we give Almighty God the greatest glory, do the most for our souls and scare the devil the most when we say or chant the Rosary publicly in two groups or choirs. Although the Month of the Rosary is drawing to an end, you can still join our Rosary prayer in the church at 5.20 p.m. every Saturday, before the Novena. There are numerous Rosary prayer groups in our BECs, cell groups and amongst parishioners which you can also join.

Last but not least, this prayer effort comes from a firm believe in what the Rosary can do to and for those who pray it faithfully. Let us not waste time to start on or to firm up our steps on this sure path to holiness, especially in our Jubilee Year of grace.

References:

De Montfort. (1954). Forty-Fifth Rose in The Secret of the Rosary

Faroni & Crisostomo. (2006). The Five Warnings

A Crown of Roses A Day - A gift of prayer in conjunction with the SFX Golden Jubilee Year

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 22 January 2011)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Last week, we announced about “A Crown of Roses A Day”. Those of you who have been attending this Novena might have guessed what we meant. Yes, it is about the Rosary, which comes from the Latin word rosarium, meaning a garden or garland of roses. Recall what St. Louis de Montfort wrote in The Secret of the Rosary? Every five decades of the Rosary devoutly prayed is a little crown of heavenly roses which we place on the heads of Jesus and Mary. So the complete Rosary is a large crown of roses, which is the gift that we want to give to Jesus and Mary as our Parish Golden Jubilee gift.

For three months last year, we have shared on various aspects of the Rosary. We hope that all would be spurred to pray the Rosary daily. That, is the ultimate goal of proposing “A Crown of Roses A Day”.

Last year, our BECs and several non-parishioners started hand-making and sponsoring rosaries for the poor under the SFX Parish Assembly – May Group 2010 project. They made more than 2500 rosaries and are still counting. And so this year, we would like to invite you to spiritualise our gift to them. How? By praying the Rosary for each and every one of them. On its own, the rosary beads may be meaningless to a hungry stomach, but with prayers attached, it gives some hope of changing the situation. We place their needs in God’s hands. This proposal comes with a firm believe in what the Rosary can do to and for those who pray it faithfully.

Praying the Rosary daily would sanctify our Golden Jubilee Year. This is in line with our Parish Priest, Fr. Simon Yong’s call for a renewal of holiness in this year of grace.

At the same time, we pray for ourselves, our nation and the Church, thus rekindling the Christian hope that we are called to live and bear, especially in today’s climate of despair.

These three main objectives are encapsulated in the 5 special intentions of our prayer, one for each decade of the Rosary.

Let me explain now how we can weave “A Crown of Roses A Day” together. Everyday, at least four persons will pray the Rosary, each a different set of mysteries, to make a complete Rosary of 20 mysteries a day as a parish. We will start on our parish anniversary date, 2 February, and we will pray until every recipient of our rosaries is prayed for.

We hope that you, devotees of our Blessed Mother, would take the lead in this. To participate is simple. Check for empty slots in the roster on the SFX website, or outside the Santa Maria della Strada Chapel. Choose a set of mysteries and a date to pray. Register your name in the empty slots. You may register to pray only once a day, so that the complete crown would be a collective effort. However, you may register to pray for any number of days. You may pray anywhere and anytime of the day.

No reminders will be sent, as it is your own commitment to God, but please do keep your prayer appointments faithfully. You may use the cards available outside the chapel to remind yourselves of your respective slots.

In case of contingency empty slots, we would like to contact pray-ers to fill up the slots and pray them. If you are able to take up a slot at short notice, you may register to be a SOS Prayer Warrior. Leave your name and contact in the box outside the chapel, or register online.

If you happen to notice empty slots about a week before its actual date, we would encourage you to sign up for those slots if you can, so that our gift remains unbroken. You may also encourage others to pray, or initiate groups to pray “A Crown of Roses A Day” and register as a group or BEC. Please do also help those who have no Internet access, sick or elderly or home-bound to register as pray-ers.

More information is available on the SFX website or outside the chapel.

Together, let us realise this spiritual gift. It is a gift for our poor brethren and our gift to Our Lord and Our Lady. Ultimately, may it be a pleasing Parish Golden Jubilee gift to God our Heavenly Father.