Nazareth House Apostolate Blog: The NHA Remnant Rosary and the Pilgrimage

St. Simeon Skete, Taylorsville Kentucky USA

With St. Simeon, the God receiver, as our patron, the skete seeks to practice the ideals found in our Rule, The Thousand Day Nazareth. In simplicity and poverty, the skete embraces the struggle of inner life through the practice of the Prayer Rope.

See our website at www.nazarethhouseap.org

Donations should be addressed to: Nazareth House Apostolate, 185 Captains Cove Drive, Taylorsville, Kentucky 40071.

Important Notice: All writings, posts, graphics & photographs in this blog are the copyrighted property of (unless otherwise indicated) Nazareth House Media, a division of Nazareth House Apostolate and cannot be copied, printed or used without written permission from NHA Media, Taylorsville, KY.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

The NHA Remnant Rosary and the Pilgrimage

“If you want to get back to the source of the Rosary, to its origins we would need to open the Scriptures. That is why I like to bring together the Bible and the Beads, the two together.” -Fr. Gabriel Harty, O.P

“If you want to understand the Rosary its praying the Life of Jesus. If you want to understand Mary its saying yes to that Life. Therefore the Rosary is praying the Life of Jesus in union with Mary who said yes to that Life.” - Seraphim

“The Rosary (as vocation) is four prayers orchestrated by four sets of Mysteries celebrated in four Rosaries combating the four evils of our day* in the Hour that our Lord asks for.” (Could you not watch with me one hour?”) (Mat. 26:40) - Seraphim

The Mysteries of the Rosary...	...combating the four evils of the day*
Joyful	An aversion to the simple, mundane ordinariness of life
Luminous	Fear and hatred of being exposed
Sorrowful	Unwillingness to deal with pain and hardship
Glorious	Apathetic lack of concern for the future

The schedule at the skete opens the day with vigils followed by the rosary and morning prayer office. A full rosary is said in the morning (All 4 Mysteries) prior to the Mass. The Chaplet of the Day is said at 5 PM with the Evening Office. Mixed in with the 11 Offices said daily here, Seraphim says 3 more complete Rosaries. He had committed himself to saying 2 full rosaries a day for many years but has added two more rosaries to that practice since coming to the skete. With minimal distractions, that's four hours a day saying the rosary plus the Chaplet of the day. As you can see, the rosary is extremely significant to the skete and has a profound effect on our lives.

Therefore, the celebration of the Rosary, the praying the Life of Christ, is a joyous occasion to us. The NHA Rosary Convocation is very special and dear to our hearts.

On Saturday, May 10th we made the annual pilgrimage from St. Simeon Skete to the Ohio River, crossing to Indiana and saying the first set of Mysteries at St. Augustine Parish in Leopold, Indiana.

It is here that the candle is lit and we begin the Mysteries.

The Joyful Mysteries - about the Mysteries of being human

In the first joy of the Rosary we offer ourselves to the Mystery of The Coming (Incarnation). Lk. 1:26-38

In the second joy of the Rosary we offer ourselves to the Visitation: Lk. 1:39-56; The third joy - the Birth: Lk.2:1-20; Mt. 2:1-18, 2Cor 5:17; Acts 17:28. The fourth joy of the rosary: The Presentation - Lk. 2:21-22; 24-39; Mt. 2-13-15 and the fifth Joy of the rosary we pray the mystery of the Finding: Lk. 2:41-52

Just prior to our arrival at St. Augustine, the storm had damaged the church's cemetery.