St. Martha Rosary </tile>  </head> <body bgcolor=gold> <h3 align=center>St. Martha Rosary</h3> <p align=center> [photo goes here] <p> It is not unusual for Catholics to own a rosary dedicated to a particular saint--usually this rosary either has the saint's medal attached with the crucifix or it has a Y piece with the saint's image on it. The rosary above has both a St. Martha's medal attached with the crucifix and a St. Martha Y piece. <p> Toni gave me this bit of information involving Brazilian devotion with St. Anthony and a standard Marian rosary. Toni has used this same devotion to petition the Archangel Haniel, but it could be used with St. Martha as a petition. <p> A person should take a rosary or make her/his own and at each bead along with the usual prayers, s/he recites the following on the Paters or Our Father beads: "Saint Martha asked, Saint Martha prayed, Saint Martha delivered." Then s/he recites on the Aves or Hail Mary beads: "I must ask, I must pray, I must receive." When s/he has finished the rosary, s/he should tell the saint exactly want s/he needs help with. <p> An appropriate prayer to St. Martha should be added as well. I have collected a bunch of prayers to St. Martha in the Useful Prayers page <add link> <p> Nevertheless, I'll add one more prayer to St. Martha here: <blockquote> St. Martha, I come for thy aid and protection. <br> Comfort me in all my difficulties, <br> and through the great favors thou didst enjoy <br> when the Savior was lodged in thy house, <br> intercede for my family <br> that we may be provided for with our necessities. <br> I ask thee, Blessed Martha, <br> to obtain for us the grace to overcome <br> all obstacles which confront us. </blockquote> Yes, this prayer is very similar to the "Novena to St. Martha of Bethany" and "Prayer to St. Martha with Oil Lamp." I found it in the "Golden Secret of Mystic Oils" by Anna Riva and it sounded like a prayer that could be recited with the rosary. (Anna Riva suggested it as a prayer to be used when anointing a written petition to St. Martha with "St. Martha oil" which I assume is either tarragon oil or hyssop oil.) <p> I should emphasize that it isn't necessary to perform these devotions on a Marian rosary which has been specifically dedicated to St. Martha. <p> The interesting thing about any sort of "folk religion" is those devotions, prayers, customs, and practices that the people, not theologians, develop on their own. Often these devotions, prayers, customs, and practices pass completely under the radar. No theologian pays them much mind. Nobody writes them down. It's like some Christian blessing her/his yogurt smoothy every morning with a special prayer. If asked why he does it. he might explain "Well, I started that when I gave up coffee. I was drinking a lot of coffee and the doctor said I needed to give it up or drink decaf. I don't like decaf. I was having trouble with digestion. So a friend suggested an energy smoothy. I just started saying a morning prayer over the smoothy. It's no big deal." As many Christians privately say grace over every meal, it really is "no big deal" to say it over breakfast or over a healthy breakfast smoothy. If his entire family takes up the practice of saying grace over a breakfast smoothy or some sort of healthful breakfast juice, it simply is a family custom adapted from a common Christian practice. <p> Sometimes practices of folk religion were recorded by folklorists collecting quaint and curious practices or journalists writing about an unusual local celebration or intriguing regional customs. <p> At other times, practices of folk religion are only noticed when someone identifies them as heresy. <blockquote> Thus Archbishop TORRES (<i>Ricordi di Confessori</i>, &c.; PITRÉ, <i>Bib</i>., vol. iv., p. 148) excommunicates "those who utter prayers which are not approved, or even disapproved of by the Holy Church, to bring about lascivious and dishonest love, and such are the prayers falsely attributed to Saint Daniel, Saint <i>Marta</i>, Saint Helena, and the like." Charles G. Leland, <i>Etruscan Magic and Occult Remedies</i>, 1892 (p.148). </blockquote> The above indicates that there were probably a number of folk prayers around, and some of these were considered heretical enough for excommunication. Alas, this passage quoted by Leland doen't indicate what was heretical or why. <p> copyright 2011 Myth Woodling <p align=center> <a href="notes3.html">Aradia Goddess home page</a> </body> </html>