The Essential Rosary: Prayers

by Caryll Houselander

Book by Houselander, Caryll

Genres: Religion

96 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1996

About the author

Caryll Houselander (1901-1954) was a British Roman Catholic laywoman; a mystic, writer, artist, visionary and healer. Born in London in 1901, Caryll was the second of two daughters born to Willmott and Gertrude (nee Provis) Houselander. Her first book, This War is the Passion. written during World War II, launched her prolific writing career. Houselander's talents included painting and many woodcarvings.

Caryll's "divinely eccentric" life was principally a devotion to contemplating Christ in all and men and women and in all life circumstances. Maisie Ward (a friend of Caryll and author of her principal biography, Caryll Houselander: That Divine Eccentric (Sheed & Ward, 1962), states, "Her message can be summed in a single sentence; we must learn to see Christ in everyone." Msgr. Ronald Knox was quoted as saying about Caryll's writing style, " . . . she seemed to see everything for the first time and the driest of doctrinal considerations shone out like a restored picture when she finished it."

Though she remained a single woman throughout her life, Caryll was engaged for a time to Sidney Reilly, who was the model for Ian Fleming's character, "James Bond."

Caryll Houselander has been described as being a mystic in the tradition of Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Siena, and Teresa of Avila. She is best known for her works such as The Reed of God.

Caryll died of cancer on October 12th, 1954. Her bibliography consists of more than seven hundred written works including poems, short stories and articles, articles for juvenile publications and children's books (for some of these she did artwork for as well), articles for various Catholic publications, and, of course, her own books.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful prayers, all written as Germans bombs rained down on war-time London. This is excellent spiritual food for anyone who prays the Rosary regularly and anyone who's just a beginner. It includes a set of instructions, diagrams, all the regular prayers of the Rosary, and the main biblical passage for each Mystery, followed by reflective prayers by Houselander. (It does not include prayers or instructions for the Luminous Mysteries, but these were not added until 2002.)

All the prayers are quite good, but one of my favorites is the one Houselander wrote for the Third Sorrowful Mystery, The Crowning with Thorns:

"Christ crowned with thorns,
give us courage to think,
to sift and measure and weigh;
to wrestle with the angel,
and if needs be,
to enter into darkness,
disillusion, and doubt,
in the search for truth.

Illumine our minds,
though our eyes be blinded
by Your bright ray.

Crown us, Your servants,
with the only crown fitting
for vassals of the Lord of Light;
crown us, Lord,
with Your crown of thorns."

[Cara Rees · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant for a beginner. I am using this for Lent and have been very pleased so far. Tip - make sure you have a couple of book marks or index labels handy if you don’t know the prayers off by heart. Otherwise you will be forever flicking through the pages back and forth.

[Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and introductory. Written in the '50s. Its main value lies in Caryll Houselander's prayers, which were written in the '40s, to conclude each decade. Interestingly, given the time period, these prayers are addressed directly to God. If your attention wandered into Mariology or laundry during the decade, the concluding prayer brings it back to Christ.

Includes the Fatima prayer after each decade, but that can easily be dropped or abbreviated.