Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary
October is the month of the Rosary!
I probably mentioned in a previous post that the Rosary was really what put me on the spiritual path I find myself on. It started with a retreat at Malvern in August 1993 where I prayed the rosary with at least 100 men. A month later on a long car ride I invited two friends to join me in the rosary and, much to my surprise, they said, “Yes!”. The three of us would spend a number of years praying the rosary together!
30 years later I still pray the rosary often and with the influence of others, especially Fr. Douglas McKay and Fr. John Wackerman, I have found many ways to put the valuable spiritual weapon to good use. Over the next few days I will share some of those “ways” with you.
The traditional rosary consists of the Apostles Creed, six Our Father’s, fifty-three Hail Mary’s, six Glory Be’s and then depending on the individual or group there can be various prayers at the end including the Hail Holy Queen, Our Father/Hail Mary/Glory Be for the pope’s intentions, etc. There are many resources on the internet, including YouTube, that can be used to help you pray the Rosary.
There are four sets of five “official” mysteries that are included with a five-decade rosary. The sets include the Joyful, the Illuminative, the Sorrowful and the Glorious Mysteries.
For those that have been following me since last year you might recall that I added the “Prevenient” mysteries. All these years of praying the Rosary, I wondered why the Immaculate Conception was not included. To resolve that I came up with the Prevenient Mysteries which included the Immaculate Conception, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mary’s Life as a Temple Virgin and Mary’s Betrothal to St. Joseph.
Praying the Rosary is a “game changer”. Praying it with the Blessed Mother affords us an opportunity to meditate on all the various parts of the Jesus’ and the Blessed Mother’s lives. It takes time and it takes commitment which means it is an act of our human will, which, in turn, is our Fiat or our “yes” to them as we agree to spend that special time with them in prayer. As a result, the Rosary then becomes one of the greatest weapons in our spiritual arsenal after the sacraments, especially frequent Holy Communion and Confession.
Most people are aware of the traditional Rosary. Over the next few weeks I will share information about non-traditional ways of praying or simply using our rosary beads. Among them will include the Seven Sorrows Rosary and the Irresistible Novena, the Gratitude Rosary, The Surrender Rosary and the Most Precious Blood Prayers.
By the way, did you know that if you pray the rosary with at least one other person, and announce the mysteries you can obtaine a Plenary Indulgence. The usual requirements must also be met including detachment from all sin, including venial sin, sacramental confession within 20 days, receive Holy Eucharist on the same day and pray an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be for the intentions of the Pope.
As always, please feel free to share and comment on my posts!