Month of the Rosary

A couple weeks ago I encouraged all of us to use this fall season to prepare for Advent. As I was thinking about how to better to prepare for the coming of the Lord, I started thinking about how my wife and I prepared to receive our two children.

We set up a gift registry, had a baby shower, prepared their room, but most importantly we prayed. During all of this we thought back to how Mary and Joseph prepared to receive Jesus. They were probably anxious especially when there was no room in the inn.

As we prepare for Advent let us turn to Mary and Joseph, more specifically with the Rosary. Here are the four things that can help all of us:

1. You don’t always need to pray the entire rosary (although that is awesome if you do!)

In our busy lives, the rosary can be an intimidating prayer because we immediately think things like, “who has 30 minutes for a rosary!… maybe later.” You don’t need to pray the entire rosary you can just a decade. Pull out your beads and spend a couple minutes to pray a decade and think about a moment from Jesus’s life.

2. Carry your rosary beads with you.

Just having my rosary beads with me during my day has become a kind of prayer reminder each day. It has also helped me in moments when I’m struggling or feeling anxiety, knowing I have my beads with me and reaching for them makes me aware of God’s presence and Mary’s mantle of love and protection with me in the tough times.

3. Savor the Experience

As with any prayer, this is an important note. The quality of the prayer is more important than the quantity of prayer. Truly consider what God wants you to take away from this moment with Him can often be more fruitful when you sit and savor the moment with the Lord no matter how long or short. Just like you wouldn’t rush eating a good piece of cake don’t rush being with the Lord!

4. Allow yourself to be amazed.

One of the first and most important steps for inner prayer is to go from thinking and speculation to looking upon and being amazed. The rosary opens our eyes and hearts to the mysteries of the life of the Lord. We can be amazed at how much the Lord truly loves us by reflecting on his life and all he did and continues to do for us.

Maybe you relate, and you too have been questioning the power of the rosary. Maybe you are intimidated by the amount of time you think it takes to pray the rosary, or maybe you feel it is too confusing to keep track of all these mysteries and beads we pray in the rosary. If you’re thinking or feeling any of these things, I want to invite you to revisit the rosary this week – maybe even right now – grab your beads and start praying.