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What is Golden Rose?
An apostolate for those consecrated to Our Lady which seeks to hasten the Triumph of Her Immaculate Heart with concrete efforts by undertaking specific initiatives and offering them to Jesus through Mary.
What do you mean by initiatives?
The charism of Golden Rose has four main aspects: Growth in Prayer, Growth in Virtue, Intellectual Faith Formation and Evangelisation. The initiatives will be tasks or missions in these areas, for our own personal sanctification and that of others.
Does Golden Rose have membership?
No, not formally. The only prerequisite for participation is to have undertaken a personal consecration to Our Lady (we can provide guidance for how to go about this if you haven’t) and to desire to make specific ongoing efforts to live out that consecration by offering Her tokens of your love. That said, it will require some level of commitment to participate.
What does participation in Golden Rose look like?
There are two main forms of participation, you can undertake either or both, so we will examine each separately. They are:
- Joining a weekly meeting
- Presenting a Spiritual Rose Crown to Our Lady on a monthly basis
What is involved in the weekly meeting?
Meetings will generally not exceed 75 minutes from start to finish. The format consists of prayer (to the Holy Spirit and then reflection on the Gospel for that day), followed by an opportunity for members to discuss a Seed Rose they have undertaken to cultivate (explained later), closing with a community Rosary. As mentioned previously, the meeting doesn’t involve enrolled ‘membership’ as such, as for example the Legion of Mary does, but attendance at the meeting implies the acceptance of certain roles and duties, including: Intentional participation for the duration of one’s involvement (including regular attendance and generally attempting the weekly task) and a careful observance of respect and confidentiality.
What is involved in the monthly Spiritual Rose Crown?
This is a personal chance to offer spiritual ‘roses’ (again, discussed later) to Mary through the website. It is done though a simple anonymous form on which you choose a title under which you would like to honour Her and enter your number of roses. The form is made available between the First Saturday and the 13th of each month. Further details and examples of past rose crowns are available on the website.
So what do you mean when you talk about Spiritual Roses?
A Rose in this context is a specific, stipulated effort that we give time and effort to for love of Jesus and Mary. The specific types of roses one can cultivate and how to do so are given on the website. As a general rule of thumb, a given rose will not be cultivated without at least an hour’s worth of dedicated effort, so the offerings have to be quite intentional and every rose counts! Roses are divided into two main types:
- Seed Roses
- Perennial Roses
Again, we will explore each of these separately.
What are Seed Roses?
Seed Roses are the ones we discuss at our weekly meetings. The concept with a Seed Rose is this: You look through the blog posts on the website and pick out something in a given area that you believe will effectively challenge you to grow in holiness or service of God. In the blog post, there will be content either given or linked to help you to consider this area a little more deeply. Following on from having watched, read or listened to this content, there will be a task or mission in the area assigned. In order to take the content – that is the ‘seed’ – and grow it into a Rose for Our Lady, it is necessary to complete this task.
What are Perennial Roses?
The total number we tally in our Monthly Rose Crowns include the Seed Roses that we have completed. However, there are many other ways in which one can seek to love and serve Jesus and Mary! Perennial Roses provide a framework by which to gather and offer certain other efforts we have made during the month – e.g. prayers, sacrifices, commitments to other movements etc. Full details as to what options are available for seeking to cultivate perennial roses on a regular basis are found on the website – and always subject to amendment or addition, so worth checking monthly before you begin to tally. Often these roses, in place of the substantial initial input given with a seed rose, will involve (alongside the regular practice) engaging with some short complimentary input known as a ‘refresher’ to try to maintain or rekindle fervour in regular devotions.
If you have read this far, you have been given all the basic details of what Golden Rose is and involves. If you have read carefully and have questions or are confused, don’t worry! Often the best way to come to a fuller understanding is to make contact and/or get started. What is summarised in this starter guide is explained in greater depth on the website, and we are always available to help you! Everyone had a first meeting or a crown where they were still learning the ropes. Noli timere, duc in altum!
Golden Rose 