The King of Rock and the Queen of Heaven

A happy anniversary. How I met my husband. A story about Elvis and the rosary.

A recently found old picture.

One of the great things about having babies is that you can dress them up as Elvis for Halloween. Alas, our children have gotten their own ideas about costumes (our youngest being 9), and my suggestions have little bearing on what they choose to wear now.

October is a busy time in our home. Not only are we gearing up for Halloween parties and trick or treating, but Jeff and I also celebrate our anniversary this month. We have been together for 30 years — 24 of which have been as husband and wife. October is also the month of the rosary, which is appropriate considering that I first met Jeff’s mother at a rosary prayer group. To be clear, at 19 I was not a good example of the faith. Rather than being a devout Catholic, I was a “practicing Catholic” — a term I like because it suggests certain degree of failure.

One day, way back in the early 90’s, our university chaplain announced that if they didn’t find a leader for their rosary prayer group then it was going to disband. As a person who hates to see traditions die I volunteered to lead it and quickly saw why it was endangered. Hardly anyone showed. Every Thursday at noon I came to the chapel and often prayed alone. One day a woman came in looking for a Mass. I explained that there was none scheduled that day, but I was leading a rosary in the side room, for which she stayed. Afterward I asked her if she was a student. She said she was just dropping off her son and said his name.

“Oh, I think he is in my creative writing class.”

“That’s great. I will let him know that I met you.”

We parted ways, and she drove back home. Later she called her son and said, “I’ve met this lovely girl at a rosary prayer group. You should go out with her.”

He replied, “I’m never going out with a girl you’ve met at a rosary prayer group.”

Needless to say, despite his reasonable response, we ended up dating. Now we’ve been together for three decades and have five children. Perhaps we can chalk this up to one of the many miracles of the rosary? Our marriage may not be as significant as the Battle of Lepanto or the day the sun danced,¹ but I think it still counts.

Our actual marriage ceremony, celebrated at a regular Sunday Mass with a congregation that didn’t know they were going to witness a wedding, was a minor miracle considering that two years before that we almost ran off to Vegas. When I was a very young girl, I had a deep-seated infatuation with Elvis Presley. Once I knew it was possible to go to a place called The Chapel of Love and get married by Elvis this became my childhood dream wedding. I argue that Elvis officiating a marriage is not entirely un-Catholic given that he sang one of the most Catholic songs in the history of the recording industry: Miracle of the Rosary.

As the story goes, when Elvis was young his family attended a Pentecostal church. The minister’s teenaged son, Lee Denson, was the first person to teach him how to play chords on the guitar. Denson later married a young Catholic woman, converted to Roman Catholicism, and wrote “Miracle of the Rosary” which Elvis recorded for his 1972 album Elvis Now.

The details of the story — about Denson writing this song after he and his wife found her lost rosary on October 13, the anniversary of the last vision of Our Lady of Fatima — are interesting but unverified.² All I know is that you can’t get any more Catholic than these lyrics:

Oh blessed mother we pray to thee
Thanks for the miracle of your rosary
Only you can hold back
Your holy son's hand
Long enough for the whole world to understand

Hail, Mary full of grace
The Lord is with thee
Blessed are thou among women
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus
Oh holy Mary dear mother of God
Please pray for us sinners
Now and at the hour of our death
And give thanks once again
For the miracle of your rosary

Well, Jeff and I got married by a priest in a Catholic church — not by an Elvis impersonator out in the desert. Our union has survived many a disappointment (in this case, solely mine). I am still holding out hope that Jeff will agree to renew our vows next year at the Chapel of Love for our 25th wedding anniversary. Knowing him it will take a lot of rosaries before he agrees to make a trip out to Vegas, but I believe in the power of prayer.

Singing along to Elvis should count.

Do you have any good meet-cute stories?

Anyone else have a fascination with Elvis?

P.S. This post was suggested by my friend Al Basile. Musician and Powow River Poet. You can find his YouTube channel here.

1. In the Catholic church, October the month of the Rosary because October 7 is celebrates the victory of the Holy League at the Battle of Lepanto. October 13 is also the date of the last vision of Fatima, also known as the day the sun danced.

2. I found the Denson story here: https://www.scross.co.za/2017/08/elvis-presley-rosary/