Touching Heaven and Earth: From Rose to Rosary
Essay one: A Rose for Body and Soul
Join us in reading a guest blog series by Sr. Orianne Dyck, a Novice with the Daughters of St. Paul, as she reflects upon the process of creating Rosary beads from rose petals.
Have you ever paused to consider everything that nature provides? Nourishment, shelter, medicine, tools, spaces, wonder, inspiration, beauty… creation provides us all of these things.
‘Providence.’
The word providence speaks of provision, of one who provides. Creation is an expression of God, and of who He is. Creation is His first tangible revelation of Himself to us, and one of the things we learn so powerfully from this revelation is that God provides for all our of needs.
Take a rose.
Roses have immense practical value in material creation. Roses have long been used medicinally to help ease stress, tension, skin irritations, or seasonal allergies. They are also an excellent source of nourishment for pollinators, through which we are provided with the food we so often take for granted.
At the same time as providing for the health and nourishment of our bodies, roses also provide for our souls. They have been a constant source of contemplation and awe throughout history because of their beauty, softness, and scent, turning our thoughts away from ourselves and towards the greater depths of life’s wonders. And, they have long been an aide to the contemplative prayer on the life of Christ.
Yes, you read that right. Roses have helped people pray the Mysteries of the Rosary since at least the 1500s. Have you ever wondered why Catholics call this string of beads a “Rosary” instead of simply calling them ‘prayer beads’? It is because, after this prayer had already been introduced and begun to change lives, some people began to create their beads not out of wood or glass or pearls, but out of roses. Hence, “Rosary.”
In the Rosary, heaven and earth meet. We hold in our hands – seeing, touching, and smelling – a precious piece of God’s creation, which nourishes and heals our bodies. And yet we hold it to contemplate the things above, for our spirits to encounter the Spirit, to be nourished in soul. Through a simple rose, God provides for all of who we are, body and soul.
My name is Sister Orianne, and I am a novice with the Daughters of St Paul. I am currently stationed in our community in the heart of downtown Chicago. In our Chicago community, Sister Helen Rita has been making rose-petal rosaries for our book center for a while, and she will be teaching me how! Now, I am teaming up with the Saint Kateri Conservation Center to share with you the process of making a rose-petal rosary, and exploring how creating or praying with one can nourish the earth, others, and yourself in ways that might surprise you.
So check in to follow our story, and find out how you can share in cultivating this providence of God!
