Florida Catholic | Hands-free Hail Marys

Hands–free Hail Marys

Recorded rosaries let drivers keep a hold of the wheel, but is multitasking a good idea?

DENISE O’TOOLE KELLY | FLORIDA CATHOLIC STAFF

Published: 10.09.08

ORLANDO | “ ... now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

As I finished saying the last Hail Mary of the first decade on the CD “Praying the Rosary with St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori,” the thought occurred that this – or any hour on Interstate 4 – could be the hour of my death. Pushing the unwelcome notion out of mind during the Glory Be, I then listened to the Redemptorist narrator read St. Alphonsus’ reflection on the second joyful mystery, Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth, keeping my eyes on road and my hands on the wheel.

Audio versions – many with music, Scripture readings or the writings of a saint with a special devotion to the Blessed Mother – allow praying the rosary to be a hands-free activity that can be performed while walking for exercise, washing the dishes or driving.

But should it be? Opinions on that are as diverse as the selection of audio rosaries available on CD and on the Internet for download to your MP3 player.

“A lot of people say their car is their second chapel,” said John Morris, station manager for Spirit FM, the Diocese of St. Petersburg’s radio station, which broadcasts the rosary regularly and also distributes a CD version free for the asking. “The typical commute is 20 minutes, that is about how long it takes to pray a rosary.”

Dan Rudden, president and founder of the Rosary Foundation, a Deerfield Beach-based nonprofit organization, sees a danger when people “squeeze their rosary in while they’re driving” – they’re not giving either activity the concentration it merits.

“What makes the rosary such a special devotion is it has a combination of prayer and meditation,” said Rudden, whose four-year-old foundation spreads awareness of the rosary and miracles associated with it, primarily through the Web site, erosary.com.

Praying the rosary while driving could reduce it to rote repetition, he said.

“It can be done, but you’re not putting your full attention to those mysteries” or to the road, he said. “It’s more of a safety risk.”

ROSARIES FOR THE ROAD

Neither the controversy nor the pursuit of ways to keep track of rosary prayers without holding beads in otherwise-occupied hands is new. At three least U.S. patents have been issued for devices for praying the rosary behind the wheel, such as mini-rosaries that clip on in a manner that won’t interfere with steering, and a steering-wheel cover with beads and a crucifix built in. One Web site offers detailed instructions for counting prayers on fingers by keeping some wrapped around the wheel and extending others as you go along. Another suggests using a rosary ring on your finger to keep your hands fully available for driving.

The Vatican reignited the debate last year when its Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People issued “Guidelines for Pastoral Care of the Road,” which included not only the widely reported “Ten Commandments of Driving,” but also the statement: “During a journey it is also beneficial to pray vocally, especially taking turns with our fellow travellers in reciting the prayers, as when reciting the rosary which, due to its rhythm and gentle repetition, does not distract the driver’s attention.”

Many Catholics and non-Catholics in the media and on the Internet begged to differ.

But Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington had expressed a similar sentiment years before the Vatican document, while serving as bishop of Pittsburgh.

He wrote for the July 1998 issue of Columbia magazine: “I find, as do so many others, that reciting the rosary while driving not only converts a time-consuming activity into a moment of communion with God, but also helps reduce the frustrations and temptations to impatience and anger that are increasingly a part of driving in urban settings.”

AUDIO ROSARIES ABOUND

Though neither the Vatican nor the archbishop mentioned audio recordings as aids for praying the rosary on the road, entities that produce and sell them are not shy about making suggestions. “CDs and cassettes are also a great way to say or hear the rosary while driving,” touts the Web site of the Rosary CD Store based in Orlando, for example.

Those seeking a recording of the rosary with which to pray along have dozens, perhaps hundreds, of options. While some are sold for profit, many, like the Redemptorists of the Denver Province recording in my CD player, are fundraisers for ministries. Others are distributed free as a public service.

Even among those who would rather you didn’t use them in the car, many see the proliferation of such recordings as a good thing.

“An audio rosary itself I think is a great thing. I think it’s a great tool for learning the rosary, a great tutorial,” said the Rosary Foundation’s Rudden. “Most people who do this, its not even commercial, they just enjoy helping people out.”

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