Started in February, the group was founded by Rachael Dillman, 23, as a way to bring young adults together in prayer and fellowship. Originally from Vancouver, Dillman started the group to familiarize herself with her new environment.
“I was new to Ottawa and I wanted to get involved in a community and meet people I can hang out and talk with,” she said.
Although St. Patrick’s Basilica offers many opportunities for praying the rosary, such as monthly all-night vigils where 33 consecutive rosaries are recited, there was a special need for a rosary group designed specifically for young adults.
One reason was the absence of any young adult-oriented groups at the parish, said Fr. Richard Siok, rector of St. Patrick’s Basilica. Based on his past experiences with other parishes, he noticed that young adults tend to feel isolated.
“There is this need, this strong need to be together, to discuss things, to reinforce each other’s faith and to take themselves out of the isolation,” he said.
So when Dillman approached him to start the Young Adults Rosary Group, Siok enthusiastically said that “this was a pretty (darn) good idea.”
Meetings are typically made up of eight to 12 members and about 70 young adults have participated since the group’s creation. The members, whose ages range from early 20s to late 30s, meet every Tuesday at St. Patrick’s Basilica to pray a scriptural rosary, followed by a meal at a local restaurant. The group also meets occasionally on weekends for other activities such as hiking, canoeing and biking.
Members of the group were attracted to both the spiritual and social aims of the meetings. For instance, when Julieta Uribe, 36, a lawyer for Health Canada, saw the advertisement for the group, she immediately knew this was what she was looking for.
“I’ve always wanted to pray the rosary in a group,” she said. “I saw the announcement and said it fits my needs perfectly.”
For Nisrine Haddad, 35, a biologist for Health Canada, praying the rosary alone can be difficult.
“It takes a lot of concentration,” she said. “But when you pray in a group, you’re much more relaxed. And it’s a good way to meet and make good friends.”
The scriptural rosary offers a unique reflective experience. As Steve Gonzalez, 37, an economist, explained, “Between each Hail Mary there’s a Scripture verse so that helps make it more meditative. It’s a little longer but that’s fine.”
Dillman, who had adopted the scriptural rosary from her experience with a university rosary group back in Vancouver, added that the method “helps you visualize what you’re praying.”
The group’s weekly routine is also very important for the members because as young professionals juggling their careers and personal lives, it makes it easier to schedule the prayer time.
“A lot of groups meet every two weeks or when there’s a talk so you can’t easily book it into your schedule,” Gonzalez said. “Whereas if you make it on every Tuesday night at the same time, it’s pretty easy. If you have free time then you just know, every Tuesday at 7 p.m., I’m there.”
For Uribe, these meetings give her strength when she needs it.
“We pray every week and that rosary helps you for all the week,” she said.
(Thien-An Nguyen, 18, is a history and political science student at the University of Ottawa. Read more about her at youthspeaknews.org.)