As John Paul II explained, the repeated prayers in the rosary help us get more in touch with the deepest desires in our souls for God.
Many great popes, saints, and Christian leaders have exhorted us to pray the rosary. It’s a powerful prayer, they say, one that can change your life, strengthen the family, bring peace to the world, convert entire nations, and win the salvation of souls.
But does the average person experience the rosary this way?
Many Catholics, unfortunately, have the impression that the rosary is not relevant for them. It might be a sacred prayer for very religious people—priests, religious sisters, and exceptional Catholics—but not for “an ordinary lay person like me.” Even some devout Catholics admit that they are a bit intimidated by this prayer. They have tremendous respect for the rosary, know it’s important, but feel bad that they don’t love it more. Many view it as the marathon of Catholic devotions. “I know it’s an important prayer, but it takes fifteen to twenty minutes. I’m too busy. I don’t have time for that.” “It’s too hard to stay focused for that much time. I prefer shorter prayers.”
Some have questions about the rosary: Does all this attention to Mary distract us from a relationship with God? Why do we repeat the same prayers over and over? Are we supposed to concentrate on the prayers, the mysteries, or both? Still others think the rosary is just plain boring—a monotonous, dry, mechanical way of talking to God, not as personal and meaningful as other forms of prayer. “It’s like taking the garbage out for your wife. You know you should do it, but date night is more exciting.” “Sure, the rosary might be good for you—like flossing your teeth—but it’s not as interesting and meaningful to me as spiritual reading or adoration.”
Others wonder if all the repetition has any meaning. “I know the rosary is important, but it just seems like rote prayer,” one young adult said. “It’s like saying magical words and something good is supposed to happen. What’s the point? Is simply saying these words actually doing anything for me spiritually?”
But what if I were to show you that there is a lot more going on in the rosary than simply saying these words and counting them with beads? What if I were to tell you that the rosary is not beyond you—that you, wherever you may be in your relationship with God, can actually experience a profound, intimate, personal encounter with Jesus through this devotion? And what if you were to discover that there are many different ways to pray the rosary—indeed, some that can easily fit within your schedule and help you with whatever challenges you face right now in your life.
Think of the rosary as being like the ocean: There’s something in it for everyone, whether you consider yourself a veteran mystic longing to go deeper in prayer with our Lord, a novice struggling to learn how to pray, or someone seeking the Lord’s help, right now, with something going on in your life. The deep-sea explorer and the child making sand castles on the beach can fully enjoy the same ocean while playing at different levels. And this is true with the rosary.
Getting Your Feet Wet
If the rosary is not a part of your regular prayer life right now, it’s easy to get your feet wet with this devotion. Here are five key things you need to know to get started.
First, we don’t have to pray the rosary all at once. Sure, some people might sit down and quietly pray a whole rosary in one sitting. But we can also choose to divide it up, saying just a decade or two at a time at different points throughout the day: on the way to work, in between errands, in between meetings, while folding laundry or doing dishes. Many holy men and women and even popes have prayed the rosary this way and have found it manageable and fruitful for their busy lives.
Second, we can pray it anywhere! The rosary is like a portable chapel we can keep in our pocket and pull out anytime, anyplace. Whether we have a sudden, urgent situation to present to God in prayer or we just want to fill some of our day with thoughts of God, all we need to do is pull out our beads and turn to the Lord in this prayer. Indeed, the rosary is always accessible.
The rosary can slow us down,
calm our hearts,
and enable us to rest in
God’s presence.
We might pray it in a church, in our room, in our office. Or we might pray it in the car, on the exercise machine, in the grocery store line, or while cutting the grass or going for a walk. Bringing our hearts into the rhythm of the rosary is something we can do intermittently throughout the day.
Third, we can pray the rosary in different ways, customizing it to fit the needs of the moment. Sometimes we might focus on the words of the prayers, thinking, for example, of Gabriel’s greeting to Our Lady as we slowly say with great devotion, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.” At other times, we might reflect on the mysteries of Christ’s life, prayerfully contemplating scenes such as his birth in Bethlehem, his transfiguration, or his death on the cross, etching the Gospel on our hearts. At still other times, we might focus on the holy name of Jesus at the center of each Hail Mary, speaking his name tenderly with love as the pulse of our rosary.
Two and-a-Half Minutes That Can Change Your Day
Fourth, it’s easy to fit the rosary into your schedule. Do you have two and-a-half minutes in your day that you can give to God? This is the beauty of the rosary.
If I need a quick pause in my busy life—just a two-and-a-half-minute break—I can pull out my beads and pray a decade in order to regroup with the Lord and be nourished spiritually. That’s all a decade takes: one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, and one Glory Be. I can do that easily, pausing for a moment in between emails, in the car, in my office, in between meetings, in between errands. I don’t even have to stop some things I’m doing: I can pray a decade while cooking dinner, sweeping the floor, holding a baby, or walking to my next appointment.
If an urgent need comes up in the day—someone is in an accident, I’m about to begin a big project, my spouse is having a rough day, I have an important decision to make, I need to have a difficult conversation with someone, my child is taking an exam—I can say a quick decade right on the spot. In just two and-a-half minutes, I can offer a special gift to God—one decade of the rosary—for that particular intention.
Fifth, even if I’m not able to give the rosary my full attention, it’s still worth praying. I might not always be able to completely unplug mentally from the concerns of the day. I might be exhausted, too tired to pray well. I might be distracted and unable to reach the heights of contemplation. But still, the words themselves are biblical and holy. Offering God a decade or two in the midst of my daily life gives him something beautiful, even if I give it without my full, relaxed, undivided attention. I’m giving God some space in my day and filling it with words of praise for him.
Going Deeper
But the rosary can take us deeper—a lot deeper. When we pray the rosary in its ideal setting, doing a whole set of mysteries, the prayer can slow us down, calm our hearts, and enable us to rest in God’s presence. It draws out the deepest desires in our souls, desires for God and God alone.
The rhythm of the repetitious prayers can have a profound spiritual effect. In this, it is much like the traditional “Jesus Prayer” many early Christians recited: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” They would slowly repeat these words over and over again throughout the day, such that the rhythm of this prayer was linked to the rhythm of their breathing.
As John Paul II explained, this loving repetition “embodies the desire for Christ to become the breath, soul and all of one’s life” (RVM, 27). In the same way, the repeated prayers in the rosary help us get more in touch with the deepest desires in our souls for God.
We as human persons are made with infinite desires that only God can fulfill. But because we’re fallen, we tend to live at the level of our superficial desires—desires for comfort, fun, fame, wealth, pleasure, success. These desires are not bad, but the rosary helps us be more aware of the soul’s deepest desires, which are for God. As St. Catherine of Siena taught, the greatest gift we can give to God in prayer is not the finite work of saying the words but our “infinitely desirous love” for God that is expressed in those words and that is being drawn out of our souls in prayer.
How might this happen in the rosary? As we’ll see more in my book, when we pray the rosary, we can focus on the name of Jesus at the center of every Hail Mary. We can simply speak Jesus’s name with fervent, heartfelt love. We can gather all our desires into that one word, his beautiful, holy name. And with each Hail Mary, we can call out to him, like a lover speaking to the beloved: “Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus…Jesus…Jesus.”
13 thoughts on “Why Pray the Rosary?”
Read the Bible. There is NO purgatory. Only heaven and hell. Also, the Bible doesn’t tell us to pray to Mary for intercession! When Jesus ascended, the curtain was torn giving us full access to God. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the light, and the only way to the Father is through the SON (not the son’s mother). Pray directly to God in Jesus’ name. The Bible says so. Praying to Mary is idolatry and that’s a ticket straight to hell. Mindlessly repeating the same words over and over isn’t prayer. Prayer is talking to God. Having a conversation with Him. He wants us to read his Word every day and talk to him. I used to be Catholic so I i understand how you feel about the rosary. But God himself says he is a jealous God and you don’t pray to anyone but him. Catholic church is leading people straight to hell. Listen to yourself, say the rosary and a soul will be released from purgatory?! That’s ridiculous. Tell me where purgatory is mentioned in the Bible. If it’s not Biblical and you can’t back it up with scripture, it’s not the truth. I’m thankful I left the Catholic cult.
Thank you soooo much for your insight to the Rosary. I converted to the Catholic Church about 10 years ago after being in non-denoms most of my life, now 71. What drew my wife and I to the church was all the capitulations of ethics, morality, etc., that has been going on for the last 20 years. Now the Church has fallen, Rome has fallen, man is running out of road. God is a jealous God and the gate is narrow. Your post helped bring me back to what my spirt has been telling me for a long time.
Blessing to you.
Doug in Kingman, AZ
Read new testament,we have scientific proofs in catholic Church,the Eucharistic miracles where science is defeated,do you have any? you think you got the power to talk to God,then this is pride , the sin made angels fall,she was given as mother to St John,the only representative of church infront of cross,she is the mother of church and seperating her from you is work of devil.
Jealous of His ever Virgin Mother? Please get a clue!
Mindless repetition? Sounds like you’re doing it wrong!
Cult? Yes!
Not Biblical? See and read below!
Purgatory Not? Purging is in the Good Book!
Ezekiel 16:49 ESV / 4 helpful votes
Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.
I am very sorry for you. My mother was a convert to Catholicism. I was about 3 when she became Catholic. She told me that if I fell asleep saying the rosary, the angels would finish it for me. That thought often urges me to begin praying. It is enough.
The Bible is NOT the end of God’s desires for us to be closer to Him. This is where Protestants’ PRIDE and self-righteous attitude is not pleasing to God. He has given us more knowledge iIF ONLY we would understand the beautiful apparitions that have occurred after His Son’s death. This is a sadness you do not realize you have inside – lack of understanding for Christ AND His mother’s visits to many people after His Ascension into Heaven and her Assumption into Heaven IS THE WORK AND THE WILL OF GOD OUR HEAVENLY FATHER. These apparitions and visits from Jesus and Mary are directives from God because we are truly slow to learn and yet He has not given up on His flock.
One other thing – Psalms proves repetition is pleasing to God. And as for Purgatory, you will be shown your options when God is ready for you. Being Catholic is a blessing and one I thank God for giving me. I am not a perfect Catholic but so love our faith and all it offers. Many of us will be praying for you.
Only she who raised Christ can raise a real Christian….
Asking Mary for help to get closer to her Son Jesus Christ is not idolatry and it’s never wrong.
I wonder if you have a mom or if you really love your own mother because it seems that you cannot relate when your mother is being attacked and disrespected. Jesus honours and loves His mother so much, so, May God forgive you for disrespecting His mother.
What a horrible thing to say about Catholics. Jesus asked us not to Judge others, or His judement of you will be worse. I will pray for you RW, as you hide behind you initials.
Doubters always condemn prayer. If we have lived long enough, we will learn that we need each other even strangers who live on different continents where we will never travel. One great example of a doubter is in the movie, “The Rite”, a young future priest. No movie can show us the true moral terror of evil that exists now matter your choosing to believe.
There’s no “I” in the Rosary. We are praying for all mankind. There are about one million people who die every week around the world, I would hope that each person had had the Rosary prayed for them either before or after their death.
Amen.
I am sorry this beautiful post of yours seems to have attracted such nasty and self-righteous responses. It was informative and gave many great explanations and instructions for how and why to pray the rosary. People behave in such non-Christian ways by responding with such anger and ad hominem attacks – attacking not just you, but then each other! This is obviously not a forum for the ancient Protestant/Catholic debate. Even the one positive responder believes the Church has fallen…perhaps because of the sexual abuse scandal, or perhaps because he disagrees with our holy Pope. He doesn’t say. It’s like a pit of vipers. How discouraging.
Ours is a religion of hope. Christ has already conquered sin. I myself would simply like to thank you.
I am an Anglican priest and I found this article very helpful and encouraging as I prepared to introduce the rosary to some of my congregation. If the rosary can help some people to, literally, ‘feel’ their way deeper into prayer and into fellowship with Jesus, then I am glad.
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