For a very long time I did not understand the Rosary.
I honestly thought it was dumb simply because I did not understand it. I think this is a very dangerous thought to have: to dismiss something simply because we do not understand it. Some parts of the Catholic faith are difficult to understand. Because they take time. However, we will miss out on that truth when we fail to take that time to question, contemplate, and discuss what we do not understand. One of the things that I tell literally everyone is that it is 100% ok, good, and necessary to have questions in your journey to know God. It is ok to have doubt. It is NOT ok to leave your questions lingering unanswered. Say your question out loud. Ask someone who is wise and might know the answer. Seek out the truth. This takes humility. It takes humility to say -you know what I do not know the answer. It takes humility to learn because it requires admitting that we do not know something. This is how we grow in wisdom and understanding. At a certain point, I had to start from the beginning with humility and consider – maybe there is something I’m missing about the Rosary. Maybe it’s not the Catholic Church that has a problem, maybe I just don’t get this. So, what is the Rosary? The Rosary is a prayer of meditation on the incarnation, life, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ. The Rosary beads are used as a guide along the 5 decades of one Our Father prayer and ten Hail Mary prayers. I used to think to myself: There are more prayers to Mary than to Jesus in the rosary. Why am I even saying the Hail Mary prayer? Why would I ever want to say the same prayer 10 times in a row? Well, first. I want to clarify what the Hail Mary prayer is. “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you” This first part is the words of the Angel Gabriel in greeting the Blessed Virgin (Luke 1:28). "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb (Jesus)" The second are the words of St. Elizabeth borrowed from the Divinely inspired greeting of St. Elizabeth (Luke 1:42), "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen." The final words are a prayer petitioning Mary to pray for us. Have you ever asked a friend to pray for you? We do the same thing except we are asking Mary, Jesus’ mother, to pray for us. We ask Mary to pray for us and with us because she is Jesus’ mother. The purpose of Mary’s life was to give birth to Jesus, be his mother, allow salvation to enter the world, and model submission to God. Any attention we give to Mary automatically gives glory to Jesus because without Jesus, her life is meaningless. I have found personally that saying structured prayer such as the Hail Mary and the Our Father provide me the words to say in prayer when I don’t know what to say. There is a place in our lives for both free prayer and structured prayer. In other words, talking to God straight from your own uninhibited honest self, and talking to God with words somebody else wrote. Have you ever tried to pray and talk to God, but you just don’t know what to say? Or maybe you just want God to read your heart, but you feel like no matter what you try to say nothing is going to do your heart justice? Don’t get me wrong – rambling is BEAUTIFUL. But sometimes, it can be exhausting. There is something calming and comforting about repetitively saying deeply meaningful holy words. God knows our hearts. He knows our thoughts and deepest desires. When we pray the Rosary, we actively are saying to Jesus: “you know my heart, and I trust you”. The Rosary is not a prayer of vain repetition. It is a deep meditation moved by familiar words. The gentle repetition allows us to be present in the silence of our hearts where Christ dwells. --- Click here to learn how to pray the Rosary. Click here to learn about Mary's promises to those who say the Rosary.
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Thanks for stopping by! I'm Madeleine, and I write about how I think and why I do the things I do as a Catholic. Archives
October 2018
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