(In light of The Atlantic attack on the Rosary I thought it was time to repost this post from 2008. Uncle Ralph went to his reward in 2010 still carrying his Rosary.)
I love praying the Rosary. It always has given me peace whenever I have recited it, and my family prays the Sorrowful Mysteries together each Lent. However, the person who has the greatest devotion to the Rosary in my family is my Protestant Uncle Ralph.
When I was growing up my family lived next door to Uncle Ralph and his family. Uncle Ralph was my favorite uncle. He always had a sense of fun, loved to shoot the breeze with kids and did a hilarious Donald Duck imitation. My Dad’s family were all Protestant; my brother and I were Catholic because my Dad had married my Catholic Mom, so I was surprised one day during my teen years when Uncle Ralph pulled out his Rosary and told me how he came to always carry it.
Ralph was a homesick 19 year old in 1951. His Army National Guard unit had been called up for duty in the Korean War. He was stationed in California waiting to be shipped out, when, one Sunday, he had dinner with a Catholic family under an Army sponsored program to give troops some home-cooked meals. Ralph enjoyed himself immensely. The family treated him like a long lost son and brother, and the meal was superb. Ralph was relaxing after the meal when the father of the family, a WWI vet, handed him a Rosary. “Here son, this got me safe back from France and I hope it does the same for you in Korea.” Ralph wasn’t sure what a Rosary was, but he was touched by the gesture and he took the Rosary.
Ralph fought in several bloody battles after he arrived in Korea. The Chinese would attempt to take hills and Uncle Ralph and his unit would do their best to hold on, or retake captured hills, and he did a fair amount of fighting and praying. When he prayed he would hold the Rosary in his hands and it became a source of hope for him.
Ralph made it back from Korea in one piece, raised a family and had a good life. More than half a century later, still a Protestant, he and the Rosary remain inseparable. I have no doubt he will be buried with it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if, one day, a Protestant is seen strolling the streets of Heaven with a Rosary in his hands.
Thank you for sharing this. I love it! May the Holy Rosary guide and protect you. I’m sure Our Lady looked fondly on Uncle Ralph and his love of her Holy Rosary.
My late grandmother who was illiterate would pray it morning and night. It was as natural to her to pray it as it was for her to drink and eat. And she had a good death. I’m sure it’s because of the many Rosary’s she prayed.
One time some years back I arrived at the last working abortion business in Corpus Christi, Texas. There were three others there-all protestant friends I knew only via being there and meeting them previously. I was kneeling down to pray and they asked if they could pray with me. I said I was going to say the rosary and they might not want to join in. They assured me they knew the rosary and the prayers – and we – all of us kneeling – said the rosary together. [due to the efforts of 100s of pray-ers over many years, and the indefatigable efforts of Bishop Rene Henry Gracida, this chamber of horrors closed]. Over these years, the rosary was said there almost every day. Guy, Texas
[…] UNCLE RALPH AND THE ROSARY […]