How and Why I Pray the Rosary

I have struggled with the Rosary yet I have come back to it often at times of great need and seen the wonderful graces it brings. 

It’s a prayer I am trying to be more faithful to pray every day. It can be difficult to pray. It seems like there is a lot going on at the same time. There are prayers to remember and mysteries to meditate on. Sometimes I pray a rosary and it can be the most sublime experience. Other times it can feel difficult and even dry. The rosary, above all is an offering. It’s an offering of time and intention to God. 

The Grace isn’t in the feeling but in the giving. 

We must place ourselves before God and accept that prayer and the desire to pray comes from Him. We are to simply place ourselves before Him in faith.

You can offer the intentions of your rosary to anyone or ask God to take the intention and use it for wherever there is greatest need.

What is the rosary?

According to Catholic tradition, the rosary was instituted by the Blessed Virgin Mary herself. In the 13th century, she is said to have appeared to St. Dominic (founder of the Dominicans), given him a rosary, and asked that Christians pray the Hail Mary, Our Father and Glory Be prayers instead of the Psalms. The original rosary of St. Dominic had 15 decades.

The rosary is Not just vain repetitions.  The prayers are like scaffolding and support that hold or contain the meditations of Jesus’s life.

The mysteries of the rosary:

The Joyful Mysteries:

(Monday and Thursday; and the Sundays from 1st Sunday of Advent until Lent.)

1. The Annunciation to Mary

2. The Visitation of Mary

3. The Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ

4. The Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple

5. The Finding of Our Lord in the Temple

The Sorrowful Mysteries:

(Tuesday and Friday; and the Sundays of Lent.)

1. The Agony of Christ in the Garden

2. The Scourging at the Pillar

3. The Crowning with Thorns

4. The Carrying of the Cross

5. The Crucifixion and Death of Our Lord on the Cross

Glorious Mysteries:

(Wednesday and Saturday; and the Sundays from Easter until Advent.)

1. The Resurrection of Our Lord

2. The Ascension of Our Lord

3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles

4. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven

5. The Coronation of Our Lady as Queen of Heaven and Earth

 

Meditating on the Mysteries

We meditate on these mysteries as we pray each decade of Ave Marias or Hail Marys.

Our meditations on these mysteries don’t have to be Laborious and complex. Simply ask God to give you that which He wants you to contemplate, rest in that and be at peace.

As you pray, you may contemplate a single image, a scene of Jesus’s life or a phrase of the Hail Mary or Our Father. You may notice ways in which the mystery connects to your own life. 

Perhaps there has been a time when you had to say Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. As Jesus did in the garden of gethsemane when He knew He was about to be crucified.

 

We’ve all been through suffering we couldn’t explain at the time. Jesus understands our deepest pain because He too experienced it.

The Scriptural Rosary is a wonderful way of praying each part of the rosary with scripture. I find it really helps keep me focused and allows me to go deep into the prayer as each part of the mystery can be pondered slowly with the depth of a lectio divina meditation.

I often use the second, shorter method outlined by St. Louis de Montfort in his book The Secret of The Rosary. St. Louis writes this method (restrains our imagination and lessons distractions.)To do it, a word or two is added to after the name of Jesus is mentioned in each Ave Maria.

These are the additions.

The Rosary May help you experience the mysteries of Jesus’s life more deeply.

It may help you to join your suffering to Jesus’s. When we offer our suffering to Jesus as a gift with faith He transfigures it into redemption not just for ourselves but for the whole world.

It takes faith and perseverance to pray the rosary.

It shouldn’t be a battle or a chore though. If you are struggling, take a shirt break and return to it. Don’t have any expectations of what you will get out of it but do it as a beautiful gift of faith to Our Lord and Our Blessed Mother. 

Whatever we give of ourselves in faith, hope and love to God is always multiplied as Grace back to us.

Tips for praying the rosary

• Quality not quantity - a well prayed decade is better than a quickly rattled off full rosary.
• Split the rosary into decades throughout the day.
• Use a rosary that means something to you
• Pray an interactive rosary so you don’t have to worry about remembering everything. I use the Laudate app.
• Use pictures and scriptures to more deeply contemplate each of the mysteries.
• Simply meditate on Mary and Jesus, on their goodness, gentleness and mercy.
• Let The Holy Spirit lead you through your devotions. 
• Keep trying.
• Pray for a desire to pray the rosary.

Quotes about the rosary.

"The rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known; it is the book of the simple, which initiates them into mysteries and knowledge more satisfying than the education of other men; it is the book of the aged, whose eyes close upon the shadow of this world, and open on the substance of the next. The power of the rosary is beyond description."

—Venerable Fulton Sheen

"If you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I do assure you that, in spite of the gravity of your sins you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory. Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practise black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and will save your soul, if— and mark well what I say— if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your sins."

—St. Louis De Montfort

"If you persevere in reciting the Rosary, this will be a most probable sign of your eternal salvation."

—Blessed Alan de la Roche

“The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families…that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary.”

—Sr. Lucia dos Santos (Fatima seer)

Mary, in virtue of her perfect union with the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus, now reigns in heaven as Queen next to her Son, Christ the King. She has been given the privilege to bestow God's graces to her spiritual children, for whom she earnestly intercedes as the Mother of all Christians.

Although there is much suffering in this world, these promises from Our Lady ensure her assistance in the cares and worries of this life, and in interceding for us to obtain a holy death, eternal salvation, and everlasting happiness with the angels and saints in heaven.

Promises of the Rosary

A tradition held by the Order of Preachers (also known as Dominicans) holds that through Saint Dominic and Alan de Rupe, the Blessed Virgin Mary made fifteen specific promises to Christians who faithfully pray the Rosary.

1. Whosoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal graces.

[A signal grace may be a simple sign in daily life that answers a question made in prayer or points towards God’s will. For example, seeing a rose after finishing a novena to St. Therese of Lisieux could be considered a signal grace. Signal graces are often subtle or seemingly coincidental.]

2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.

 

3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin and defeat heresies.

 

4. It will cause good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for Eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means!

 

 5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish.

[In other words, anyone who faithfully prays the Rosary and asks for Mary’s intercession will be saved from hell.]

6. Whosoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries, shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of Eternal Life.

[An unprovided death means dying while not in a state of grace (that is, in dying with unconfessed mortal sin in the soul). The Blessed Mother promises that anyone who regularly prays the Rosary, and earnestly tries to live according to God's will, will be spiritually prepared when their time of death comes.]

7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.

[Our Lady ensures that the soul will receive sanctifying grace through the Sacraments prior to its departure from the body.]

8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the Light of God and the plenitude of His Graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the Merits of the Saints in Paradise.

 

9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.

 

10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of Glory in Heaven.

 

11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by recitation of the Rosary.

 

12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.

 

13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire Celestial Court during their life and at the hour of death.

 

14. All who recite the Rosary are my Sons, and brothers of my Only Son Jesus Christ.

 

15. Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

[By this the Blessed Mother means that a devotion to the Rosary is a good indication that the devotee is on the path to Heaven.]

How to pray the rosary.

The following are the steps for praying the rosary using rosary beads:

• On the crucifix, say the Apostles’ Creed.
• On the next large bead, pray the Our Father.
• On the next three small beads, pray three Hail Marys. One for Faith, one for Hope and one for Charity.
• On the chain, pray the Glory Be.
• On the large bead announce the first mystery then say the Our Father.
• On the next ten beads, pray ten Hail Marys while meditating on the Mystery/
• On the chain, pray the Glory Be, followed by the prayer of Fatima ‘ O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven especially those most in need of thy mercy Amen.’
• Repeat steps 5 through 8 for the next four decades.
• At the end of the rosary pray the Salve Regina.

Prayers:

Apostle’s Creed:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified; died, and was buried. He descended into Hell; the third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

Our Father:

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom comes; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail Mary:

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Glory Be:

Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Fatima prayer:

‘ O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven especially those most in need of thy mercy Amen.’

Salve Regina

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy!
Our life, our sweetness, and our hope!
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve, 
to thee do we send up our sighs, 
mourning and weeping in this valley, of tears.
Turn, then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us; 
and after this our exile show unto us the
blessed fruit of thy womb Jesus;
O clement, O loving, O sweet virgin Mary.

V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Prayer After The Rosary: 

O God, whose only-begotten Son, by His life, death and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life; grant, we beseech Thee, that, meditating upon these mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. 

 May the divine assistance remain always with us. 
R. And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.