This month is devoted to the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The rosary is widely recognised to be a Catholic prayer, and the beads themselves are a well known Catholic symbol. However, this powerful prayer can be prayed by anyone wishing to reflect on the life and kingship of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The rosary that we pray today came about in the 1400s, and it was in development for many hundreds of years before that, from monks praying the psalms in sets of 50 on their prayer beads in the 4th Century. Many believe that St Dominic was given the rosary in a very similar form to the rosary we pray today by an apparition of the Blessed Virgin in 1208.
The modern Rosary offers four sets of mysteries: Joyful, Sorrowful, Luminous, and Glorious. These mysteries lead the person praying to meditate on the life and person of Christ – even mysteries which seem like they are more about Mary at first glance, such as the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in reality point to Christ’s kingship and power! I find the rosary to be a rich way to meditate on the life of our Lord and the Gospel of our Salvation. I know it helps me to grow in holiness and I highly recommend it!
The Rosary is a very versatile prayer and can be prayed in many different ways. Today I’d like to share with you some of my favourite resources for praying the rosary.
To start, I really like Bishop Barron’s rosary series available on Spotify and other streaming services. I find his reflections to be deep and the music to be very fitting. These pray-along tracks inspire different thoughts in me pretty much every time I use them for my prayer. I often go back to these because they are so well-made. They are a little longer than a standard rosary, each being about half an hour long (you can normally get through a rosary in about 15 minutes), but if you can set aside the time, it is well worth it.
If you find the music to be distracting, or if you are more visual, Ineffabilis deus has a couple of rosary playlists on YouTube. These videos set sacred art to the mysteries, and there is one set with music and one without. Sacred art can inspire interesting reflections, and these are no exception! We are lucky enough to have the Joyful and Glorious mysteries painted on the ceiling of our church, and when our prayer group meets on Wednesdays, I love pointing out each mystery to my child as it is announced! Sacred art really is a wonderful way to teach our children about God!
And speaking of our local church prayer group, remember to check out your own local church! There is probably a prayer group there, or you could join with members of the Legion of Mary for their prayers. Praying the rosary with other people and aloud is powerful (and is also helpful if you’re still learning how to do it!).
Of course, you can always pray the rosary without all the bells and whistles. If you don’t know where to begin, those Pray the Rosary booklets are usually available in pretty much any piety store (if not with all the other leaflets at the back of the church!). There is also this guide from Hallow that I think is very helpful.
Do you pray the rosary? What are some of your experiences with this prayer? What is your favourite rosary story? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!
Mom Things Through Christ 