Tag: Africa

As a young girl growing up in Africa, there are some memories that I will always have so vividly.

One of those memories was that of my father summoning us to gather in prayer nightly.

Rain or shine , at each dusk, my father would began a call to gather our family and our house helps, to the living room in Aba where we all knelt down to begin reciting the rosary.

Come to think of it, his father , my grandfather did the same call whenever we all were together in the village. Grandpa had this giant bell that he would ring across the compound , so you had no excuse that you couldn’t hear the rosary call 🤪

In our home , my father typically began and led us through the decades of the rosary, at times calling each kid to lead the next decade. At times, an enthusiastic non sleepy head may volunteer before they were called out to lead the decade .

It seemed like tucked in at the end of those busy fun play days was the daunting rosary time. That prayer time somehow became the PERFECT lullaby for some of us children.

I don’t know what made the rosary so soporific but it was!. Perhaps it was the sing songy nature that made the repetitions of the rosary more entertaining but also sleep inducing. In any case, kneeling down in that old living room invited sleep like none other.

Later on in my adult life, I heard a friend joke that her mother would warn them not to allow the devil to give them sleeping pills during mass… that’s it! I thought, that ‘s EXACTLY it, the devil sure knew how to pass out sleepy candies during rosary time .

Some days I resisted the sleep and other times I have memories of my father calling out my name, or my sibling nudging me to wake up – especially when it was my turn to lead a decade of the rosary and instead they heard me snoring (?)… okay I never really snore right DH?😉

In any event, the five decade of the holy rosary would eventually come to an end , Ofcourse not before Dad added all the EXTRA prayers to the saints and holy ones.. finally it was done! Phew ( at least for that evening)

We all would have a sigh of relief or a feeling of accomplishment OR sometimes I would find myself fast asleep wayyy past the end of the rosary, lights turned out and all!

Now why would y’all just leave me here in a kneeling rosary position with my head on the couch , and the audacity to turn off lights?!

Plus now instead of sleeping in my tented bed I was now sleeping alone in a rosary kneeling uncomfortable position in the living room floor, at the mercy of those pesky Aba mosquitoes … ugh!

I wonder whether leaving the sleepy heads behind was some sort of punishment for them falling asleep during the holy rosary.

The truth is I have also witnessed how the rosary sleepyhead abandonment happens So I can relate to how the sleepyheads get to be left behind.

First the rosary ends , after multiple efforts to nudge them into compliance. Then the effort to tap and nudge them awake would commence, and then eventually folks just get tired of waking them up and split.

I must say the littler you are, the greater your chances at rosary rescue, since you could easily be carried to your bed. As you grew taller , bigger , heavier to lift … well goodluck!

Our family nightly rosary routine came to my mind as I was appreciating the last week that I spent with my father after his surgery in New Orleans.

Dad and I had a chance to spend the ist week of sept 2022 together in his hospital room. My mother , my sister and my three brothers all got a chance to visit Dad as well . One of the nights right before Dad and I tucked in for the night . Him in his first ever hospital bed that I knew, and me on those uncomfortable guest couches that is a sign hospitals REALLY don’t want folks spending the night . Anyways story for another day .

Dad and I prayed five decade of the holy rosary and yes plus him leading all the EXTRA Catholic prayers at the end – I listened . I marveled at his faith through all these years. I cherished his heart.

This 83 yr old father of mine had made it a daily habit to say his rosary nightly. Some he said with us as a family , and others you found him kneeling quietly at his bed praying , muttering his heart to God in prayers.

That night at the hospital, we muttered our hearts together to God, we prayers for so many things , especially healing. He prayed for others and prayed in thanksgiving for having survived his surgery… or so we thought.

My father died in less than two weeks after our last hospital rosary together. He was called home to God and now is one of my guardian angels from heaven .

Thank you Dad for being a wonderful father to me and for teaching me to rely on the Holy rosary ❤️🙏🏾

What are your early childhood memories

around prayers or other meaningful traditions ?

Please share with us if you care to.

As always, thank you for reading my blog and of course I welcome your comments and any shared experiences .

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