History
of the Sodality |
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| The word sodality derives from the Latin
"sodalitas" or fellowship and is utilized to describe our devotional society in
the Anglican Catholic Church. Members of all Faiths are invited to participate in
this devout prayer activity to the glory of our Lord.
The Sodality of the Most Holy Rosary is a spiritual association made up of clergy, laymen and women who meet on a regular basis within their own parishes/churches to recite the Rosary either in their home church or in member's homes. The members of the Sodality strive to pray the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary during the course of each month with a minimum of one decade of the Rosary each day on a personal basis. A secondary group of individuals who cannot make a commitment to meet on a regular basis but wish to commit to a regularized payer life with the rosary, as time permits shall participate in the Perpetual Rosary Society of the Sodality of the Most Holy Rosary. Direction for the Sodality emanates from the offices of the Religious Director authorized under the Bishop of the Diocese of the Eastern United States, Anglican Church in America. Varying programs of prayer are available Communion-wide and within a particular parish/church. The purpose of all prayers takes form in such intentions as described below:
The regular schedule of the Holy Rosary at the local parish or member's home or similar meeting places includes but is not limited to members praying at least on Holy Rosary indicative of the five mysteries at least once each month with special schedules during religious seasons. Novenas are scheduled six times a year at the Sodality Center, the home church of the Religious Director or at other locations coordinated through the Religious Director, with periodic retreats planned in conjunction with the seasons of the Church. Individual participation is encouraged from all Faiths. Such participation shall not be restricted through any form of entrance test, review, payment, fee or other formality. The Sodality has but one purpose, to increase the prayer life of all Christians through the Most Holy Rosary.
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Prayer is one of the tools we use to cope with
life. When life is difficult and we feel useless, when a situation frustrates us and
we have no place to turn we pray. When joy overwhelms us, our natural inclination is
to "Thank God." Prayer is a way for us to connect with the God who is our
Creator, our Redeemer and our Friend. After our Lord's Ascension, our Blessed Lady spent the rest of her life visiting the places that has been hallowed by His presence and on His terrible passion. Saint Mary Magdalene continually performed the same religious exercises during the last years of her life, when she lived as Sainte-Beaume. Saint Jerome tells us that this was the devotion of the faithful in the early centuries of the Church. It is a great mistake to think that only priests and religious and those who have withdrawn from the turmoil of the world are supposed to meditate upon the truths of our Faith and the mysteries of the life of Christ. If priest and religious have an obligation to meditate on the great truths of our holy religion in order to live up to their vocation worthily, the same obligation is just as much incumbent on the laity, as every day we meet with spiritual dangers which might cause us to lose our souls. Therefore we must arm ourselves with the frequent mediation on the life, virtues and sufferings of our Blessed Lord, which are presented to us in the fifteen mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary. Thirteen of the mysteries come from incidents in the New Testament. One, the Assumption of Mary into heaven, comes from tradition. The fifteenth, the crowning of Mary as Queen of heaven, is derived from images in the book of Revelation. Meditation is a form of prayer. It is a way to help us stay focused on God. There is more than one type of meditation. The type presented by the Rosary teaches us the process of connecting our lives with the life of Christ. All we need to do is allow the Holy Spirit to act within us. |
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