Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer

Over the last couple of years, I have come to really appreciate what a powerful prayer the Holy Rosary can be.  Growing up Catholic, I’ve always had Rosaries, and I know that I learned the basics of praying it over the years from my parents and in my religious education classes.  But praying the Rosary wasn’t ever really a part of my prayer life until a couple of years ago.

Each year, at my parish, we have a weekend long retreat for our students who are preparing for Confirmation, and two years ago I suggested that we make rope knotted Rosaries to give to the Confirmation students at the retreat, without realizing just how much work I was suggesting.  That year we had around 85 kids making their Confirmation, so that was a lot of knots to tie!  I spent several months working on the Rosaries with the help of some of the other students and adults, but I probably ended up making over half of them myself.  Talk about a new appreciation for the Rosary!

Around this same time, I began carrying a rope Rosary in my pocket at all times.  My brother made me this particular Rosary, and for some reason I just decided to start carrying it around with me.  Since I have started carrying this Rosary around with me, I can’t even describe what a benefit it has been to my life.  It serves as a constant reminder of Christ’s presence in my life, and of the great example of discipleship that Mary is for us.  Being able to slip my hand into my pocket throughout the day, feel those beads, and pray a quick Hail Mary or Our Father has helped me through many difficult days, and helped me immensely to grow in my spiritual life.

Some people might not be sure what the Rosary is all about – why do we repeat the Hail Mary 53 times, and the Our Father and Glory Be 6 times each?  What benefit can this seemingly mindless repetition have?  

I think that, at some level, I once shared these reservations about praying the Rosary.  But I have come to understand that the Rosary is a profoundly Christ-centered prayer, and is so, so much more that just repeating these well-known prayers.  Praying the Rosary is to deeply contemplate the message of the Gospels, and, therefore, Christ.

“The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer. In the sobriety of its elements, it has all the depth of the Gospel message in its entirety, of which it can be said to be a compendium. It is an echo of the prayer of Mary, her perennial Magnificat for the work of the redemptive Incarnation which began in her virginal womb. With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love. Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer.”  ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE, Apostolic Letter, Pope John Paul II, ¶1 (2002).

[You can see the full text of the Apostolic Letter here - I strongly encourage you to read this in its entirety, as Pope John Paul II lays out very clearly why the Rosary is so important.  I want to specifically point you to ¶33 if you have ever had any uneasiness regarding praying the Hail Mary.]

The four sets of Mysteries – Joyful, Sorrowful, Luminous and Glorious – provide us with what is key to praying the Rosary, that is our contemplation of these mysteries during each decade of the Rosary.  If you think that praying the Rosary is merely reciting a bunch of prayers, you’re missing the point.  Pope John Paul II speaks to this point in his Apostolic Letter: 

“Without this contemplative dimension, it would lose its meaning, as Pope Paul VI clearly pointed out: ‘Without contemplation, the Rosary is a body without a soul, and its recitation runs the risk of becoming a mechanical repetition of formulas, in violation of the admonition of Christ: 'In praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think they will be heard for their many words' (Mt 6:7). By its nature the recitation of the Rosary calls for a quiet rhythm and a lingering pace, helping the individual to meditate on the mysteries of the Lord's life as seen through the eyes of her who was closest to the Lord. In this way the unfathomable riches of these mysteries are disclosed’.”  ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE, Apostolic Letter, Pope John Paul II, ¶18 (2002).

If you have never prayed the Rosary, or perhaps never truly prayed it as it is intended to be prayed, I invite you to give it a fair chance.  (For an easy to follow "How to Pray the Rosary", click here).  I am completely confident that you, like I did, will discover what a truly powerful prayer the Rosary can be in your life, and how it will continually draw you closer to Christ. 

Let us follow closely the words of Blessed Pope John Paul II: “I look to all of you, brothers and sisters of every state of life, to you, Christian families, to you, the sick and elderly, and to you, young people: confidently take up the Rosary once again. Rediscover the Rosary in the light of Scripture, in harmony with the Liturgy, and in the context of your daily lives.”  ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE, Apostolic Letter, Pope John Paul II, ¶43 (2002).