The Aristasia Forums Archive

[Sushuri Madonna]

Rayati darlings. Yesterday, when we got home from my dreaded blood test, I found a present waiting for me. My dear Guardian had sent for a Rosary for me and it arrived while we were out.

It is a very special Rosary indeed, for each of its beads are made from 70% rose-petal, and the scent makes that very clear. It is like going into a Rose-Garden (which praying the Rosary is supposed to be).

It must be kept in its special tupperware box with a deep screw-down lid in order to keep the scent preserved when it is not in use. So no wearing it (there was some discussion last night as to whether wearing a Rosary is proper anyway - we intend to ask honoured Raya).

The box had a Christian icon on it, but my Guardian has replaced this with the most lovely picture of Mother and Daughter (as Sai Marya and Sai Anna - though oddly Christians name them the other way round - Lady Mary as daughter and Saint Anne as Mother).

However that may be, this is the most perfect, near-Motherlandish Icon of the Mother-Creatrix and Her holy Daughter)



We have been saying a Rosary each weekend at the White Rose Room during Moura. The first two were led very beautifully by honoured Yu-chei and this week's will be led by honoured Miss Yatsenko, second-in-command of the White Rose Family. Next week's will be led by our Elder Sister honoured Fräulein Landgrebe.

You are very welcome to attend with or without a physical Rosary (this will be the first week I have had one.

The next will be today, Saturday the 17th of Moura (7th of March) at:

Pacific Time1 p.m.
Eastern Time 4 p.m.
GMT 9p.m.
Western/Central Europe 10 p.m.

Please come - and please be aware that honoured Miss Yatsenko will be starting sharply at the beginning-time!

[Mengxia Yu]

That is just BEAUTIFUL, Madonna-chei! Thank you for sharing it with us!!

If it ever begins to lose its scent, I believe you can rub rose oil into the beads to renew it.

[Chancandre Aquitaine]

I have been asked to comment on the practice of wearing the Rosary about one's neck. It seems that some Catholic teachers have discouraged this as disrespectful. Some girls are also interested in the practice shown in the animated kinema Maria-sama ga Miteru (Lady Mary is Watching over Us) of giving and wearing the Rosary in token of a bond between an older and a younger sister.

Wearing the Rosary (whether in the Western form or chanting-beads) is a traditional practice in both the Motherlands and Telluria, and was certainly not always discouraged by the Tellurian Catholic Church.

Why should it be so now? I think there are two conscious reasons in the minds of those who discourage it:

1) Rosaries and pseudo-rosaries are worn as "fashion items" by "goths" and other non-religious people.

2) They may be regarded as "fashion accessories" even by practising Catholics who also pray them. This may sometimes be seen as part of being a "cool Catholic" or some such thing: and while catholic teachers may even encourage this as a way of retaining "bongos" in the faith, they very rightly draw the line at playing with sacred items.

In a culture where the line between the sacred and profane wearing of a Rosary may be very fuzzy, it is probably better to tell people to avoid it altogether.

There is a third reason which is probably less conscious, but even more fundamental.

3) To give the most outward aspect of the matter: if a teacher says "yes" to the wearing of the Rosary, she must consider what it may be worn with. A tea-shirt bearing a foolish or vulgar slogan possibly. Deliberately torn or crumpled clothing. These things are considered unexceptionable and legitimate clothing in the Pit.

In order to wear a Rosary respectfully, there must be a certain base of dignity in one's dress and demeanour. This does not mean never being silly or having fun. But it does mean (in Aristasian terms) remembering at all times that maid is the princess regent for Dea on earth, and comporting oneself in ways that do not violate that.

This core dignity could be assumed in Telluria until relatively recently. It cannot now.

None of these considerations affect Aristasians. Therefore I see no objection to the wearing of the Rosary. But I would make the following point:

If the Rosary is worn visibly (not necessarily over one's outermost garment, but so that it can be clearly seen) - it is a mark of faith and devotion and one should comport oneself accordingly. Just as one would take care of one's bearing in a military uniform, so, if you choose to wear a Rosary you should behave in the light of that.

Unless you have a reason for wearing it at all times, you should choose on what occasions you will wear it and take the wearing of it and the discipline that goes with that as a minor spiritual exercise.

Currently I think no one here has a reason to wear her Rosary at all times. If one had, she would likely often wear it out of sight. It would be counsel of perfection to say that she should behave as well as the occasional wearer, who does it as a special exercise; but she should still be aware of it and try to live up to it.

On the Rosary as a bonding-token I can imagine that some Western Catholics might look askance at the practice. In Japan, however, such things as sister-mentoring do have Confucian roots and always have a certain quasi-spiritual dimension, if no more than that.

In Aristasia the situation is very similar. Bonds of obedience are bonds in thamë, and the social order is not one of the "things of Caesar", but part of the Saving Harmony of the Golden Chain.

If a bond is sealed with a Rosary, understand that the duty of care on the one side and obedience on the other takes on a more sacred quality even than would normally be the case. As with wearing one's rosary, one is undertaking a special obligation; and for the Little Sister wearing the Rosary, the duty of obedience becomes even more serious.

I hope these considerations and guidelines will prove helpful, and am happy to speak privately with anyone who would like to discuss wearing her Rosary.

[Sarah Lia Iridia]