I Stole the Rosary from The Catholics
October is the Month of the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary
I stole the rosary from the Catholics.
Thankfully for me, the rosary doesn’t care if I’m Catholic or not — and neither does Mother Mary.
With October being the Month of the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I thought it a good time to talk about the rosary. I have a special devotion to Mother Mary, she has been there to lead me to Jesus.
I was introduced to the rosary by an Episcopal priest who knew I would connect deeply with both the rosary and with Mary. She introduced me to it, and taught me how to pray it.
One thing that bugs me is when people talk about “saying the rosary.” The rosary is meant to be prayed, not merely recited.
I pray the rosary almost every day, because I love it so much and it has influenced my spirituality in ways nothing else ever has.
The rosary is not a quick prayer, it takes a minimum of twenty minutes to pray properly, but I’ve had it take anywhere from twenty minutes to three hours, because I was deep in meditation.
If you want to try the rosary, be sure to set aside 20–30 minutes to do so.
I don’t just pray the rosary, I make them, and teach people how to pray it. It’s something I promised Mary I would do when I made vows to her in my Marian consecration, and it’s something I took on as a penance.
I make no secret of the fact that my coming to Jesus was difficult, and painful, for me. I’ve seen and been involved in a lot of darkness in my time, and encountering the Light of the World was not an easy task. The light exposes things hidden in the darkness.
I struggled along, determined to keep walking in the light and with the Light. Mary told me the story of her son via the rosary. The rosary is a living spiritual tool, there is always something new to discover about Jesus in it’s mysteries.
I once asked why the rosary was so important to people since it is about Mary. I was told that it wasn’t necessarily about Mary, it was Mary showing us her son. While this is true, I have a great relationship with Mary too, and so I don’t mind when things are also about her. I started connecting deeply with Jesus through the rosary.
I understand that a lot of people are uncomfortable with praying the Hail Mary, but it’s something that’s worth a try if you’re up for it. Hail Mary is a huge part of the rosary.
Rosary means “crown of roses,” and it’s a devotion that the Blessed Virgin Mary gave to St. Dominic, hence why it’s also called a Dominican rosary. It has a specific structure to it.
This might be a good time to mention that seeing as the rosary is a Catholic devotion, and I am not Catholic, it’s not something I have the right to change.
I won’t change up the prayers, or the mysteries, because those aren’t mine to change.
I believe the rosary is amazing as it is, but since one of the biggest questions I’m asked when teaching someone to pray the rosary is about if they can change up the prayers, my answer is always no, with an explaination of why.
There are little things that can be changed, as far as one of the prayers at the end of each decade, the Fatima Prayer being optional (I use it, but since it mentions hell and there are differing views on hell, some may not be comfortable with it).
I also generally add the Serenity Prayer at the end of each decade after the Glory Be and the Fatima Prayer, and before the next mystery. These are small things that can be changed if they are helpful.
The structure and repetition really help with the meditation, and the beads are a tactile experience. They also help keep track of where you are at in the prayer cycle.
The lingo (the language of what things are called) of the rosary
The rosary contains either a cross or a crucifix, a stem with a single bead called a Pater bead, which is Latin for “Our Father,” then three beads close together called “Hail Mary” beads, then another Pater bead. On top of that Pater bead, which is the end of the stem of the rosary, is a medal.
The rosaries I make most commonly have a miraculous medal on them, but there are so many different medals that can be used. Sometimes people have a rosary that has a medal of their patron saint. Some popular ones are Saint Michael, Saint Patrick, Saint Francis, the medal of Saint Benedict, and several others.
The medal is an opportunity to set an intention for the prayers, and I also generally pray an act of contrition (a prayer that is a general confession of sin) on the medal also. The intention can be a particular person, situation, or just to sit with Mary and Jesus.
The groups containing ten “Hail Mary” beads are called a decade (because there are ten beads). There are five decades in the rosary which correlate to the five mysteries prayed at a time.
Christianity is full of holy mysteries, and the rosary has us contemplate some of these mysteries in prayer.
There are five specific events from the life of Jesus or Mary that are meditated on every time the rosary is prayed. These are called mysteries.
There are four sets of these meditations, and they are assigned to different days, although there are times I’ve prayed all the mysteries in one sitting. Plenty of resources are available for aiding in meditating on the mysteries.
There are books of meditations, books with pictures of the mysteries, and of course whatever comes to your own mind when thinking about each one.
These four sets of mysteries have their own names.
The Joyful Mysteries — prayed on Monday and Saturday
with the five individual mysteries (meditations) being:
The Annunciation
The Visitation
The Nativity of Jesus
The Presenting of Jesus in the Temple
The Finding of Jesus in the Temple
The Luminous Mysteries — prayed on Thursday
with the five individual mysteries (meditations) being:
The Baptism of Jesus
The Wedding at Cana
The Proclamation of the Kingdom
The Transfiguration
The Institution of the Eucharist
The Sorrowful Mysteries — prayed on Tuesday and Friday
with the five individual mysteries (meditations) being:
The Agony in the Garden
The Scourging at the Pillar
The Crowning with Thorns
The Carrying of the Cross
The Crucifixion
The Glorious Mysteries — prayed on Sunday and Wednesday
with the five individual mysteries (meditations) being:
The Resurrection
The Ascension of Jesus into Heaven
The Descent of the Holy Spirit
The Assumption of Mary into Heaven
The Coronation of Mary
I’ve prayed the rosary often enough now that I do remember what the mysteries are and which days they are assigned to.
I’m going to drop here a rosary session of mine from last year as a way of seeing how it works.
I wanted to share a way in which I pray the rosary in a penitential manner when I’ve messed up and need God’s help, especially with something in particular, which in this case was pride.
This is one way to meditate on the mysteries, it’s not the only way. There are many ways. The one outlined here is to stop at the end of the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, and then insert the thought, and pick up again with holy Mary, Mother of God… It’s the method I was taught first, and I said it that way on each of the ten “Hail Mary” beads.
Here’s an outline of how I do that, with an example that I prayed recently, after I had already done some serious soul searching. I prayed with the Sorrowful Mysteries.
Opening Prayers:
Invocation (make the sign of the cross): in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
While holding the crucifix: The Apostle’s Creed.
First bead: The Lord’s Prayer.
Next three beads: Hail Mary.
Last bead: Gloria Patri (Glory Be, Doxology).
Medal:
Intentions: I always set an intention for the prayers, for this time I was praying penitential prayers and so I asked that God would help me to overcome my sin (pride).
Act of Contrition: I used one I know from memory from The Book of Common Prayer.
Prayer to begin each decade:
The Lord’s Prayer.
Prayers between the decades:
Gloria Patri (Glory Be, Doxology).
Fatima Prayer* (optional, but I put it in there).
Serenity Prayer (my addition).
The Agony in the Garden: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, who suffered in obedience to the Father because of my sin (pride), of which I confess now. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death.
The Scourging at the Pillar: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, who was wounded for my sin (pride), of which I repent. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death.
The Crowning with Thorns: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, who was crowned with thorns, help me to mortify my desire to sin (be prideful). Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death.
The Carrying of the Cross: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, who needed Simon to help carry his cross, help me to faithfully do penance for my sin (of pride). Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death.
The Crucifixion: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, who suffered and died to bear my sin (pride), I commit to amendment of life. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death.
Closing Prayers:
Hail, Holy Queen.
Prayer After the Rosary.
* I do not believe in literal fire in hell, I believe the prayer was given this way because of common understandings of hell.
Here’s a very good resource that outlines the prayers of the rosary, with the words, the mysteries, and which beads are for which prayers. It’s a PDF file from Our Sunday Visitor, a Roman Catholic website. It’s a free resource available to all. Download from here.
As always,
Let us pray.
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