Those of us who attended Catholic grade schools became familiar with the rosary at an early age. Once we knew how to say the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be, which the religious sisters who taught us assumed we had learned at home, recitation of the rosary was the next step. While we did not typically gather as a family to pray the rosary, its recitation was a part of my parish and school life growing up, especially on Marian feasts and during October.
Once I finished parochial school, like many other teenagers I knew at that time, I tended to neglect the rosary. I am embarrassed now to say that it wasn’t a primary part of my prayer life. However, after attending some high school retreats and encountering some dynamic, charismatic priests and deacons, I started thinking about a vocation to the priesthood.
One day, I came across the First Communion book I had received more than a decade earlier. Snapped into the book was a leather case containing a rosary. I picked it up and made it a regular part of my prayer life as I continued to discern my vocation during my college years.
Throughout that process, I found praying the rosary soothing. It’s been that way for me ever since. Whenever I am uneasy, anxious, faced with a major decision, or confronted by something that came at me unexpectedly, the rosary provides solace. Finding the answers can still be difficult, but in praying the rosary, I have a sense of confidence that all will work out for the best.
Writing in 1974, St. Pope Paul VI said the “rosary is a body without a soul” if it is not accompanied by contemplation. He further notes that without contemplating what we pray, the rosary’s “recitation runs the risk of becoming a mechanical repetition of formulas” (Apostolic Exhortation “Marialis Cultus”).
How true! If our praying the rosary is a matter of just “trying to get it done,” we are missing the beauty of the opportunity for contemplation it offers. That contemplation is twofold.
First, we are reflecting upon the mysteries, i.e., Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious. We focus upon those events within the Gospels, from the Annunciation to the coronation of our Blessed Mother in heaven. Just as we are affected differently whenever we hear a particular Scripture passage, so, too, when we place ourselves within a particular moment of salvation history that is highlighted in the mysteries, we allow ourselves to be moved by that experience.
Secondly, when we pray the rosary, the steady rhythm invites us to intentionally visualize and pray for a particular person or matter of concern to us. This can occur when the rosary is prayed privately, but also during its recitation as a community when it is a powerful public witness of our faith.
We see this locally when we gather annually to pray the rosary for the protection of children and families, which is an initiative of our diocesan Office of Safe Environment. It is evident in the witness of Hope 4 Life and 40 Days for Life when Catholics pray at abortion clinics for women who are considering terminating the lives of their unborn children. It is a hallmark of some groups within our parishes, councils of the Knights of Columbus and conferences of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul that regularly pray the rosary.
During an international or national crisis, the Catholic community is often called upon to pray the rosary. In May, Pope Francis asked us to pray the rosary daily for the Ukraine. Throughout the year, he will ask us to pray the rosary for victims of natural and manmade disasters. This common prayer is another reflection of our Church’s universality.
Somewhere in your home is probably a rosary you forgot you had. Maybe it’s one you received for your First Communion or that belonged to a deceased parent or other relative. Find it, quietly hold it, press the beads between your fingertips, then let your heart be open to praying it — maybe just a decade at first. If you don’t recall how to pray the rosary, that’s OK. There are so many helps available to you, including https://www.usccb.org/how-to-praythe- rosary.
Pope Francis has referred to the rosary as “spiritual medicine” — a prayer that is “good for the heart” (Nov. 17, 2013). During this month dedicated to the rosary, take time to discover or rediscover this prayer. If you regularly pray the rosary, consider introducing someone to its beauty and its power.
Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.