New Book on the Rosary

I was treated to a fresh look at the Rosary by reading a new book on it— The Healing Power of Praying the Rosary by Gary Jansen, my friend at Loyola Press. There are many books about the Rosary, but this one has a different slant. Through sharing personal experiences, Gary shows how praying the Rosary can heal body, bring peace, and draw one closer to God. It is just the right spiritual practice for the traumatic time we live in. 

I’ve prayed the Rosary for decades (ha, ha), but some concepts in this book were new to me, for instance . . .

• The idea that Mary, as the mother of Jesus, can lead us to understand him better. The Rosary is a way of spending time with family.

• The repetition of the prayers are like the repetition of life’s greatest gifts: heartbeats, breathing, days and night, seasons.

• The mysteries invite being present and silent.

• Use the Rosary to listen to God.

• The Rosary lowers stress and promotes health.

• Praying the Rosary deepens our spiritual awareness.

• Synchronize breathing with the beads.

• The Rosary is connected to nature. It’s a very physical prayer. As we touch the beads, the rosary involves not only our bodies but the stuff of creation—wood, metal, stone, plastic, even seeds.

An Added Benefit

In addition, the book offers the usual facts about the Rosary. But a special feature is a presentation of each mystery with questions. These deepen your understanding of the mystery and relate it to your life.

If you stopped praying the Rosary or if you never prayed it, this book is for you.  

Origin of the Rosary

St. Paul tells us to sing hymns and offer prayers for leaders but says nothing about praying these prayer beads. According to a legend, the Rosary began when the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Dominic in the fifteenth century and gave him a rosary to pray. This legend arose because the Dominicans promoted praying the Rosary.

The truth of the matter is that long ago people prayed the 150 psalms. Illiterate people, however, prayed 150 Our Fathers instead on beads called the paternoster (Latin for “our Father”). Lady Godiva (remember her?) bequeathed her paternoster made of gems to a monastery.

When the Hail Mary prayer was finalized in the twelfth century, people prayed it 150 times on beads beginning each set of ten with an Our Father. The Rosary was called Our Lady’s Psalter. The Hail Mary is rooted in Scripture. It combines the words of the Angel Gabriel with the words of Elizabeth to her and adds a short plea for her prayers. (The Creed at the beginning and the Our Fathers are also Scripture-based.)

Gradually people began to reflect on events in the life of Christ, making the Rosary “the Gospel on beads.” It’s also a way to pray Mary’s memories. These events called mysteries are grouped as Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious.

The Rosary became more popular in 1571 when a large fleet of Turks were on the way to attack Europe. Pope Pius V asked people to pray the Rosary in public to protect Rome. The Christian navy was sure to be defeated. Yet, in the decisive battle of Lepanto, against all odds, the Muslims were trounced. The pope declared the feast of the Holy Rosary, which today is observed on October 7. 

Saint Pope John Paul II added five new mysteries in 2002, the first major change in the Rosary in over 500 years.

People Who Prayed the Rosary

The Rosary was Saint Pope John Paul II’s favorite prayer. After September 11, 2001, he urged us to pray it for world peace. So did Mary herself in 1917 when she appeared to the three children in Fatima, Portugal, and called herself Our Lady of the Rosary. Coincidentally, this pope was shot on May 13, the day Mary first appeared in Fatima. Doctors were amazed how the bullet zigzagged to avoid major organs. The pope credited Mary with saving his life and ordered that the bullet placed in the crown of her statue in Fatima.

Likewise at Lourdes, Mary appeared with a rosary suspended from her arm and told St. Bernadette to pray her rosary. Our Blessed Mother prayed along. Of course, she was silent for the Hail Marys, but she joined in on the Our Fathers and Glory Be prayers.

Composer Joseph Haydn always had a rosary with him and prayed it; so did scientist Louis Pasteur. Although Martin Luther left the Catholic Church, he prayed it all his life.

A Lesson Learned

I love this story: A university student seated on a train next to an old man praying the Rosary remarked, “I don’t believe in such silly things. Take my advice. Throw the rosary out the window and learn what science has to say.”

“Science? I don’t understand,” replied the man. “Maybe you can explain it to me.”

The student offered, “Give me your address and I’ll send you some literature.”

Fumbling in his pocket, the old man drew out his business card. The boy looked at the card and burned with embarrassment. It read, “Louis Pasteur, Director of the Institute of Scientific Research, Paris.”

Why People Pray the Rosary

To this day the Rosary remains a popular prayer. It’s more than an ornament in the car, a necklace, or a nice Communion gift. By praying it, we honor Mary—like offering her a garland of roses. It’s also a powerful way to praise God, who created Mary and sent his Son to save us. Praying the Rosary also deepens our faith and links us more closely to God. The Rosary is not just a prayer for grandmas.

We Sisters of Notre Dame pray the Rosary every day. My friend tries to pray four a day.

Some people find praying the Rosary boring because it is so repetitious. Our Blessed Mother obviously doesn’t find it boring. To her it’s like hearing “I love you” over and over.

When and How to Pray the Rosary

A fresh look at the Rosary includes ways to ensure that we really pray and not just say the Rosary.

Times to Pray

•   The repetitions of the Hail Marys are like soothing background music to our thoughts—so soothing that the Rosary can be a remedy for sleepless nights, more effective than counting sheep, the Calm app, or lavender oil. 

•  While walking, running, or exercising, pray the Rosary.

•  Pray the Rosary while traveling by car, bus, train, or plane.

•  Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., known as the rosary priest, coined the expression “The family that prays together stays together.” So pray the Rosary as a family.

Variations of the Rosary

•  Pray along with a Rosary prayed on a CD, an app, or a video on youTube. One site is www.comepraytherosary.org.

•  If possible, pray in a different language like Latin, Spanish, French, or American Sign Language.

•  Offer the Rosary for an intention or a person or offer each decade for a different, specific intention.

•  After each decade pray the Fatima prayer that Mary gave to the children in her third apparition:

“O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.”

 •  Sing some of the prayers.

A Fresh Look at the Mysteries

•  Create your own mysteries by praying on five of Jesus’s parables or five of his miracles.

 • Think of five original mysteries of the Rosary that are related to Mary. These may be her titles or roles she has.

•  Create mysteries based on your experiences, for example, gifts God gave you, mysteries of your family, or your work life.

Bringing the Mysteries to Life

•  Spend a minute at the beginning of each decade concentrating on the mystery. At that time ask for the grace to grow in a virtue related to that event too.

 •  Stay mindful of the mystery by inserting in the Hail Marys words that refer to it. For example, for the first joyful mystery, the Annunciation, you might pray, “Hail Mary, full of grace, to whom the Angel Gabriel came, the Lord . . .”

 •  Visualize each mystery before praying its decade.

 •  Reflect on a fruit (virtue) related to the mystery: Annunciation (humility), Visitation (charity), Nativity (love of God), Presentation (obedience), Finding in the Temple (zeal for God).

•  Pray a scriptural rosary that presents the verses related to each mystery. These can be found on the Internet and in booklets such as Scriptural Rosaries in Verse by Mary Doreen Strahler, SND.

Different Kinds of Rosaries

Rosaries can be beautiful crystal ones or homemade. The rosary we Sisters used to wear at the side of our habits was large. Most of these had black plastic beads, but the prized ones were made of cherry wood.

Additionally, there are also single decade rosaries: ten-beaded bracelets. I have one made from crushed rose petals.

Rings and key chains with ten beads are available as well as cards with ten holes.

We can always pray the Rosary on our hands, which conveniently have ten fingers! This is how to pray while driving.

The largest rosary is at a shrine in Windsor, Ohio. It is made of foot-high lamps near the tallest statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is 50-feet high.  

A Rosary Workbook

Years ago I wrote a workbook about the Rosary for children— The Rosary: The Gospel on Beads for Grades 2—6. It has explanations plus activities. I think there is only one left on Amazon, but if you would like a copy, contact me. I have several copies left.

Palm Sunday

I’m not forgetting that this Sunday is Passion (or Palm) Sunday. Here is a traditional hymn for the day:

• When do you pray the Rosary?  Does it bring you comfort?

• Do you have a rosary that is special to you, for example, one you received when you made your First Communion?