More turn to rosary after attacks
Friday, October 19, 2001
Dennis M. Mahoney
Dispatch Religion Reporter
John Giaier and Bill Gildenstern have made careers of producing catchy jingles for the modern world.
But they also are reviving an ancient and much different way of getting the public's attention -- the Roman Catholic rosary, a method of contemplative prayer that until recently had been in decline.
As Gt TechnoTracks of Troy, Mich., Giaier and Gildenstern pay their bills by producing jingles for television stations. They recently were in Columbus to work on a jingle for WWHO (Channel 53).
They also are doing a healthy business selling the "Rosary Tapes," which they created nine years ago.
Interest in the tapes -- now also available as CDs -- has climbed since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, they said.
"It's a great feeling to be in a field where you can concentrate your resources, your ingenuity, to something that can be so beneficial to society," Giaier said.
A rosary is a group of repetitive prayers that Catholics recite while contemplating certain events, known as "mysteries," in the lives of Jesus or the Virgin Mary. Typically, a worshipper chooses one of three sets of five events each: the Joyful Mysteries (leading up to the birth of Jesus); the Sorrowful (surrounding Jesus' death); or the Glorious (the Resurrection and subsequent events).
While recalling each of the five events, a worshipper repeats the prayer known as the "Hail Mary" 10 times, then says the Lord's Prayer once. A string of beads usually is used to keep count.
The Catholic Church observes October as the month of the rosary.
Giaier, 49, has been writing jingles since high school, and in the 1970s and 1980s was one of the top jingle writers for the automotive industry. He created the popular "Have You Driven a Ford Lately?" jingle in the early 1980s.
Gildenstern, 55, worked as a disc jockey is Detroit and then owned an advertising company. He and Giaier, who had known each other for years, formed Gt TechnoTracks in 1989.
In 1992, Gildenstern was suffering from health problems and said the rosary regularly. He said he experienced what he believed was a directive from God that year to record the rosary on a cassette tape.
"I felt I had the need (and) other people might have the need, as well," he said.
Giaier, a Catholic who went to church but seldom said the rosary, was skeptical of the idea at first. But he became sold on it when he saw how people responded to it positively.
The rosary that is commonly said by American Roman Catholics was developed by St. Dominic in the 13th century, both as a meditative tool and to teach about the faith, said the Rev. William Fitzgerald, director of liturgy at the Pontifical College Josephinum on the Far North Side.
While it is often considered to be a devotion centered around Mary, the mother of Jesus, he said, "it's principally a meditation on the mystery of Christ."
In the years since the Vatican Council in the 1960s, it has become less popular with Catholics. Fitzgerald said its declining use reflects less discipline about prayer in general among members.
But he sees it as being a simple devotion that can be prayed anytime -- using anything from beads to fingers to count.
"I believe it's still valuable as a meditation on the mystery of Christ," Fitzgerald said. "It keeps the central events of salvation uppermost as a source that nourishes the Christian life, and nourishes our own belief in God."
For Sister Mary Francis Peters, a staff member at Holy Family Catholic Church in Franklinton, praying the rosary is an inspiration and "puts me personally very close to God the Father."
"It makes me very aware of what our Lord, the son of God and God himself, did for all of us," she said.
Peters gathers with 10-15 other residents of Jaycee Arms Apartments Downtown each Monday evening to say the rosary. She also occasionally joins a group of Holy Family parishioners on Sunday morning who say the rosary before Mass.
She, too, has seen increased interest in praying the rosary since the terrorist attacks, and she hopes it is not short-term.
"If those of us who are priests and religious work with them and show them the importance of it, I am hopeful, if it be the Lord's will, that these people . . . will be saying it for the rest of their lives," Peters said.
Giaier and Gildenstern said more people have been visiting their Web site since the attacks. Those going to the site can get the Joyful Mysteries recording free.
There have been more than 50,000 dowloads of the Joyful Mysteries, Giaier said, and about 45,000 sets of the Rosary Tapes have been sold.
Gildenstern said he and his partner see the Rosary Tapes as a way for them to contribute to society.
"Some people can make things better on a grand scale," he said. "Other guys, like us, maybe the scale in not so grand, but maybe we can help."
Whether people use the rosary or not, Gildenstern said, they need to pray.
"The Rosary Tapes are good for many people. But they may not be for everybody," he said. "My message would be, 'Don't be afraid to spend more time in prayer.'
"If it's the Rosary Tapes, that's great. If it's not, find a way that's comfortable for you. Spend time in prayer."
The Rosary Tapes can be ordered online at www.rosarytapes.com or by calling 800-876-7279.