Story by EmmaLee Italia, Correspondent
The altar linens are laundered and ready for the next celebration of the Mass. Handcrafted rosaries find their way to a nook beside the statue of the Blessed Mother, and the Rosary prayers are lifted heavenward on a daily basis. Baked goods sales greet parishioners following Mass, and prayer shawls are presented to the sick and suffering.
These and other acts of charity go on quietly in parishes throughout the Diocese of Trenton, following a tradition that began more than 500 years ago. Whether behind the scenes or participating in parish fundraisers and social events, the Rosary Altar Society has been a vital presence in the Catholic Church since the 1470s.
Founded by Dominican friar Alan del la Roche as the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary, local chapters of the RAS support their parishes with various Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy, particularly centered on praying the Rosary and the intercession of the Blessed Mother. And through that intercession, the members themselves are given a very real purpose.
That was the case for Natalie Baranowski who, following a nursing career of more than 30 years, began looking for ways to repurpose her time. After helping in her parish of Our Lady of Sorrows-St. Anthony, Hamilton, she felt the Blessed Mother “tugging at my heartstrings.” She joined the parish’s RAS, serving as a member for four years before ultimately becoming the chapter’s president.
“Mother to mother, [Mary] has guided me many a time,” she said.
Importance of Belonging
Baranowski said oftentimes, women who have finished their careers may be thinking, “‘I’m not important.’ But they are.”
She said the ministry gives its members a sense of purpose in fulfilling an important role – praying for and helping others and truly making a difference to those they serve. The RAS, however, is by no means only for women of retirement age, she said.
“Our youngest member is about 22, and our oldest is maybe 100,” she said. “I’m always recruiting.”
In St. Gabriel Parish, Marlboro, RAS members call themselves “Sister Rosarians,” because as Mimma Finger, RAS corresponding secretary, explained, “We are all sisters in Christ.” She said the group’s monthly gatherings encourage fellowship and help form friendships.
“The Rosarians are all compassionate women who are very supportive of each other and of the whole community,” she said, adding that in providing assistance to those in need, whether through prayer or ministry, “a member of the society feels spiritually fulfilled.” [The society] has been instrumental in providing the member a means of serving the parish – and, more importantly, in serving God. I, personally, have been fulfilled spiritually, psychologically and intellectually.”
A life-changing experience many years ago prompted Finger to consider membership in the RAS.
“A priest told a congregation at Mass that I was still on earth because God has other plans for me,” Finger recalled. “I strongly feel this society has encouraged me to become more active in the parish community. I joined other ministries and formed many new, long-lasting friendships. I have learned a great deal more about my faith. The most important consequence … is the cognizance of how truly blessed and how loved I am by God.”
Prayerful Focus
Barbara Dohrenwend, a RAS member in Our Lady of Sorrows-St. Anthony Parish, developed a devotion to the Blessed Mother and the Rosary early in life. Taught by the Dominican Sisters of Amityville, Long Island, Dohrenwend “learned about our relationship to Our Lady through the Rosary, which was reinforced by my mother, who was a convert, and her love of the Rosary.”
The Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary website states that, according to a longstanding and well-known tradition, St. Dominic first received the Holy Rosary from Our Lady in the 13th century. Since then, the Dominican friars have zealously promoted this devotion to Christ and the Blessed Mother. As a spiritual association whose members pledge to say the 15 mysteries of the Rosary once every week, the primary focus of RAS is prayer.
On Oct. 2, 1898, Pope Leo XIII issued the apostolic constitution on the Most Holy Rosary (Ubi primum) containing the laws, rights, and privileges of the Confraternity. The constitution states that “the Confraternity was instituted so that the faithful, united in fraternal charity by the prayer of the Rosary, may praise and honor the Blessed Virgin and secure her patronage.”
Dohrenwend makes the prayer a very personal one, often choosing to space the decades throughout the day and week, turning it into a personal conversation with the Blessed Mother.
“The Rosary itself is a dynamic tool for praying,” she said. “You can pray one decade at a time and focus on the decades individually. While running errands or driving, I’ll converse with Mary about the decade, about the subject. … It offers me various opportunities, as mother, as woman, as wife, to ask, ‘Mary what would you do in this situation? Can you go to your son for me? So-and-so has a struggle – can you help?’”
Finger noted how the communal prayer of the Rosary at monthly meetings allows the members to share in each other’s spiritual struggles and personal lives.
“A prayer chain and special intentions are key elements of this society,” Finger said. “A Rosarian may ask all the other ladies to please pray for a loved one who may be ill or facing surgery. The passing of one of the ladies or one of her loved ones is shared with the society. The funeral details are also shared so that condolences may be expressed by attending the viewing or sending a prayer card to the family.”
Dorothy O’Reilly, president of the RAS in St. Peter Parish, Point Pleasant Beach, said her group enjoys the opportunity to pray the Rosary with the parish on special occasions. On the first Sunday after the New Year, the chapter invites the parish and Diocese to begin the year with the Blessed Mother: “We need that divine assistance to come together in prayer for our country and our world,” she said.
O’Reilly wants to do something special for the 100th anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima in October 2017. “I would like to get every RAS in New Jersey together to pray the Rosary,” she said.
Reaching Out
Accompanying prayer is the work of ministry. To further encourage devotion via the Rosary, most RAS chapters include making rosaries in their outreach. The Our Lady of Sorrows-St. Anthony RAS, with active members numbering more than 100, is able to make nearly 2,000 rosaries per year.
“We sent them to Father James [a former pastoral associate] in India, and all over the world, in fact,” Baranowski said. “We give several to anyone we know going overseas so that they can share them. And we leave them near the Blessed Mother statue in church; we also include cards on how to pray the Rosary.”
The group also has a prayer shawl ministry for the sick and various fundraisers to collect scholarship money for the parish school.
In St. Gabriel Parish, the Sister Rosarians have provided various additional good works.
“The society strives to meet the needs of the parish by hosting events that often are open to all,” Finger said, listing a comedy night, bake sales and a craft fair, to name a few. “The ladies also do light housekeeping in the church to keep it beautiful. The altar is wiped down; holy fonts are filled; glass windows and doors are cleaned.”
Additionally, members have helped with the parish religious education program, Respect Life and Lazarus ministries, serving as readers, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion and providing Eucharistic home visits.
The Rosarians of St. Peter Parish launder the altar linens and servers’ robes, and invite First Communicants to participate in a Rosary procession in May – “a great memory” O’Reilly remembers participating in herself as a child. They also host regular evenings of reflection and education for the parish and community at-large.
Expanding the Ministry
The RAS in Our Lady of Sorrows-St. Anthony Parish has a membership comprising women who have just joined, alongside some who have served more than 50 years.
“Our chapter is very active, I think because we never seclude ourselves,” Baranowski reflected. “We make it known that we are there. We support the parish in any way we can.”
O’Reill shared, “People don’t always respond to a bulletin announcement – they respond to a personal invitation. I don’t think I would have joined RAS if I hadn’t been invited.”
More information about the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary may be found at RosaryConfraternity.org. For information about a statewide recitation of the Rosary with the RAS in October 2017, contact Dorothy O’Reilly at 732-575-7913, dorothyoreilly@outlook.com.