Booth's visit to the Surratt Boarding House after the assassination

[Linda Anderson]

(10-24-2012 02:25 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(10-24-2012 01:33 PM)JMadonna Wrote:  Literally, it means I'm praying to God for special favors.

Could it mean she was asking God's forgiveness for harboring Booth's pistols while he assassinated the president?

Basically I am curious about her making this statement at this particular time...i.e. right after Booth departed the boardinghouse and headed to the theater to assassinate Lincoln. Isn't she admitting she's up to her neck in his plot?

Or am I misunderstanding what she is saying?

Weichmann writes that "she had a pair of prayer beads in her hands and once she asked me to pray for her intentions. I answered her by saying that I did not know what her intentions were. She then said to pray for them anyhow. This is a matter essentially Catholic and it is a common thing for Catholic persons to pray for one another's intentions."

Mary may have been praying the Rosary when she asked Weichmann to pray for her intentions. I don't think she was asking for forgiveness because I don't think she considered that helping Booth was a sin. I would guess she was praying for Booth's plan to succeed.

There's more information on praying the Rosary at: http://www.catholicity.com/prayer/rosary.html

"Practically everyone who prays the Rosary "offers" the Rosary to God and Our Lady for an intention. Some people offer particular intentions before each decade. You can ask God to grant you a favor, heal a sick person, or convert a sinner. Some people offer the same intention every day--sometimes for years on end--especially when asking the Father for the conversion of a particular person. Intentions are as varied as the people who pray."

Also, a "pair" of Rosary beads is only one set.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13184b.htm