Perpetual Angelus: As the Saints Pray the Rosary

by Romanus Cessario

To pray the rosary as it ought to be prayed means living out the mystery of Christ under the sign of the Blessed Mother. As Mother of the Church, she challenges each of us to become 'perpetual angelus." Such a bold undertaking in faith, however, requires the direction of experts, those whom we recognize as saints. Through their example and prayer, they lead us into a deeper understanding of the principal mysteries that we associate with the Lord. We learn much then from the witness, the prayer, and the exuberance of such saints as Therese of Lisieux, Elizabeth of Dijon, John Marie Vianney, Bernadette Soubirous, and Charles de Foucauld along with many others. While their thoughts have helped to develop these meditations, three saints in particular structure this thoughtful and prayerful St Benedict, St Francis, and St Dominic. Each in its own way offers us special insights into the joyful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries of the rosary. Their insistence on the importance of grayer, silence, and discipline as elements essential to cultivate the recollection required by our deepening relationship with the Lord permeates these reflections. In short, the author hopes that his text will enable prayerful readers to follow the exhortation of St 'Find everything in God, and then share it with others. " After completing his doctoral studies at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), Father Cessario served as Academic Dean at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, where he now teaches Christology and moral theology. Recently, he has written The Moral Virtues and Theological Ethics (Notre Dame/ University of Notre Dame Press, 1991) and Le Virtu ( Editorial Jaca Book, 1994), one of the volumes in the new Amateca Series in Theology. Illustrations for this work come from the pen of Sister Mary Grace, OP, an acclaimed artist from St Dominic's Monastery, Washington, DC. The calligraphy is the work of Dominic

Genres: Prayer

156 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1995

About the author

The Very Reverend Romanus Cessario, O.P., is a Dominican priest and professor of systematic theology at St. John's Seminary in Boston, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[7jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

(One has to note that this book doesn't have the Luminous Mysteries, because it was printed first in 1995, but it can be nice to think which saint would've been fitting for that part.)

This book talks each mystery in depth, choosing a particular saint for each group (Sts Benedict, Francis and Bonaventure); other saints, blesseds and venerables are also quoted sometimes. This book is pretty useful in finding more dimensions and things to ponder for us, and is thus worth reading and owning. It's not a heavy read and helped me find more holiness at each mystery - and kind of wish the Luminous Mysterious could've been there because I wanted more. The illustrations gave extra depth to each Mystery (though I think Jesus must've carred the shorter beam, not the long one in "The Carrying Of The Cross" mystery; but that's just my opinion).

This books is well worth adding to the books about the rosary.