Christine Haapala loves the rosary — and also recognizes that it can be easily misunderstood.
“It’s more than just a mantra of Hail Marys over and over again,” counted out on rosary beads. “The piece that’s important is the meditation piece,” said Haapala, referring to the mental reflection that goes along with the rosary’s vocal prayers.
A longtime parishioner of Holy Spirit Church in Annandale, Haapala is the author of 12 scriptural prayer books, many focused on the rosary.
Her latest book, “Priest, Prophet, King,” is especially timely now because as she was pondering how to illustrate it in 2017, the church celebrated the 100th anniversary of the appearance of Mary to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, where she spoke about praying for the conversion of Russia. Haapala discovered the Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton, Mass., which gave her permission to illustrate the book with icons from its permanent collection.
“In a small way, this prayer book responds to the 100-year-old message of our Blessed Mother, ‘to pray the rosary for the conversion of Russia,’ ” Haapala writes in the author’s note of the book, published late last year.
When she wrote those words, she had no way of knowing how urgent that message would become today, with the advent of the Russia-Ukraine war.
But icons were not on her mind when she began working on “Priest, Prophet, King” — Haapala was initially more focused on the words.
Her specialty is what she calls “scriptural rosaries,” which include additional Scripture verses to enrich meditation while praying the rosary prayers.
For those less familiar with the rosary, Haapala explains that while it involves counting and reciting Hail Marys and other prayers on beads, it’s really about meditating on 20 key events from the lives of Jesus and Mary, as described in Scripture. These events, ranging from the Annunciation (Lk 1:28,31,38) to the Institution of the Eucharist (Mt 26:26-29) are known as the Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and Luminous Mysteries — the last set was added in 2002 by Pope John Paul II.
While the rosary meditations are innately scriptural, in that they point back to the passages where the events are described, Haapala’s scriptural rosary books take the meditations a step further, with hundreds of additional Scripture references interspersed between the Hail Marys for further reflection.
This simplifies the meditative aspect of rosary prayer — and also kicks it up a notch, said Haapala, who wrote her first scriptural rosary years ago while teaching religious education at her parish, thinking the additional Scripture passages would provide more context for children reflecting on the mysteries. But they’re not just for children.
A scriptural rosary, Haapala said, “is a conversation with God. He speaks to us through his Word, and we respond” with the Our Father, the Hail Mary or other rosary prayers. She quotes St. John Paul II, who said the rosary is “a prayer so easy and yet so rich (that it) deserves to be rediscovered … Rediscover the rosary in light of Scripture.”
A scriptural rosary, she said, “is a conversation with God. He speaks to us through his Word, and we respond” with the Our Father, the Hail Mary or other rosary prayers. She quotes St. John Paul II, who said the rosary is “a prayer so easy and yet so rich (that it) deserves to be rediscovered … Rediscover the rosary in light of Scripture.”
“Priest, Prophet, King,” presents three scriptural rosaries featuring Scripture citations for meditation on the themes of Jesus as priest, prophet and king, to go along with each mystery. It’s an important topic for personal prayer, because “we also are called to be priests, prophets and kings through our baptism,” she said.
While all of her books aim to bring Scripture and art together, the latest book’s inclusion of icons is more than illustration — it offers yet another way of meditating on the Gospel. In the Eastern church, these prayerfully copied images, often picturing Jesus and Mary, are considered to be a form of the Gospel in paint.
Echoing the words of Our Lady of Fatima, her author’s note concludes, “Please pray that the rosaries prayed through this book bring about the conversion of Russia and peace on earth.”
Find out more
- Find Christine Haapala’s books at the Suffering Servant Scriptorium, her Fairfax-based publishing company.
- Read: Bishop Burbidge joins Pope Francis in act of consecration of Russia, Ukraine
- See the text of the prayer of consecration for Russia and Ukraine.
