Frat Man

Yes, I am now a frat man. I have my certificate of membership dated May 13, 2006.

Well, actually I'm a conFRATernity man... that's the Confraternity of the Rosary.

It's interestingly different from the usual college "Greek-letter" organizations - oh, yes, I know about them, having been initiated into one (no, I'm not going to say which) and I even had some - uh - literary involvement - with it as well. But that was long ago, when colleges still had something to do with what Cardinal Newman called "the cultivation of the intellect". (Oy, talk about a forbidden book! One of these days I'll review it.)

You see, the Confraternity to which I now belong is a much older thing, and has a far more profound purpose than such merely human organizations, even the best and most honorable - for it is about God as well as Man.

It's about prayer. And about dedication to prayer. And making a difference for the world by means of prayer.

Pope St. Pius V credited the victory in 1571 over the Turks at Lepanto to the praying of the Rosary - which was in particular the job of the Confraternity of the Rosary. I am not enough of a historian to compare today's situation with that era - but it's fairly clear that there are LOTS of things for us to be concerned about, not just in our families and local areas, but in the world.

So - don't you want to stop worrying and do something about it? And incidentally, there are no dues, no initiation, and very little in the way of duties - except for praying 15 (or 20) mysteries of the Rosary every week - so what are you waiting for?

Here is the link: http://www.rosary-center.org. You can even sign up on-line! That's what I did. You don't even need a code number or secret handshake... Go for it! We need your help!

(Note: the Confraternity is for both men and women; my allusion to college Greek societies was just in the nature of a pun.)