Are there any statistics on how often the average person loses things? Particularly small things? Because I’m pretty sure I’m double that. Just ask my mom. (Just kidding, Mom!)
Speaking of, I don’t think I told her that I had lost my Rosary. Ok, I admit I have several rosaries (and more than enough twine for making about 100 more). But, I only have one Rosary-with-a-capital-R; the one rosary that has the most meaning, most beauty, and sometimes I even think the most sanctity.
My mother bought it for me when I was in elementary school. I asked her for one on a sort of compulsion and, on an ordinary day of no particular significance, she gave me a pearl and gold rosary with a photocopy of a Knights of Columbus devotional [pdf]. I wasn’t in CCD as a child, so the one-worded mysteries such as Annunciation and Assumption escaped me. I recited them anyway.
As I grew older, it grew to be less used. Even after I completed RCIA, reciting the rosary often seemed more like a chore than a gift.
And then last fall, I lost it. Sure, it was over decade and a half before I inevitably misplaced my Rosary (and I always dreaded the day I would) but I was frantic. I scoured my apartment for days, asked around, made a post on Facebook, and prayed fervently. It was only costume jewelery, but the emotional value was high. So much meaning is contained within those 59 beads and chain; my mother’s love (pearls are our birthstone), years of prayer, and the grace that guided me. I felt lost.
My Infamous Rosary
Fast-forward six months later and I’m in a friend’s convertible and hanging from the rear-view mirror is the Rosary that’s almost as old as I am. I was speechless. Just when I had forgotten it and right when I least expected it, it was literally hanging in front of my face. My friend said she couldn’t remember when or where she found it and so much time had passed, I couldn’t even remember when or where I’d lost it. I’m thinking divine intervention.
What’s fascinating is that I didn’t just find the Rosary, I found my devotion too. I find myself carrying it around with me, just happy to have it. I’ve learned how to pray the rosary in Latin and my day feels incomplete without at least reciting a decade with those soft pearls running through my fingers. Most importantly, I feel closer to Mary than I ever have before.
I find myself wondering if this had been planned all along. Did God know this was the the way to bring me closer to Him? How many other ways has He subtly guided me? Others? How about you?
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