Why We Pray the Rosary This Way

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I’ve been asked recently how to explain to others the way we we do this Rosary and how it fits Mary’s original intent.  

Mary gave St. Dominic the Rosary, but not exactly the way most people think of it. Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange, one of the greatest Dominican theologians explained Dominic’s method: At the end of the 12th century southern France was ravaged by the Albigensian heresy – a heresy which denied the infinite goodness and power of God by admitting a principle of evil which was often victorious…It was at that moment that Our Blessed Lady made known to St. Dominic a kind of preaching till then unknown, which she said would be one of the most powerful weapons against future errors and in future difficulties. Under her inspiration, St Dominic went into the villages of the Albigensians, gathered the people, and preached to them the truths of salvation — the Incarnation, the redemption, eternal life. As Mary had taught him to do, he distinguished the different kinds of mysteries, and after each short instruction, he had ten Hail Mary’s recited… And what the word of the preacher was unable to do, the sweet prayer of the Hail Mary did for hearts. As Mary promised, it proved to be a most fruitful form of preaching., p. 255

So We pray the Rosary in a new way that is actually a really old way – introduced by St. Dominic - a short teaching from the Word of God, and then we pray one decade of the Rosary – and we do this five times. 

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The traditional mysteries of the Rosary were meant to serve as an outline for the life and teachings of Jesus. They were never meant to limit us to those scenes. Imagine reading the table of contents of a book over and over and never reading the book. Sooner or later you will lose interest in the table of contents because you want to know more, you desire to go deeper.

During the Rosary we can meditate upon all that Jesus, the Word of God revealed through His life and His teachings. The full Word of God comes to us through Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium. We can meditate on all of this during the Rosary: Scripture, the writings of Augustine, Aquinas, Teresa of Avila, Therese of Lisieux or St. Faustina; and the teachings of the Magisterium. In fact the best synthesis of the Word of God is the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is great to meditate upon during the Rosary.

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The Rosary was always meant to be meditation on the Word of God. Sr. Lucia, of Fatima describes mediation in this way: “Meditation or mental prayer consists in placing ourselves in the presence of God in order to reflect on one or other of the revealed Mysteries, some episode in the life of Our Lord, some point of doctrine, the Law of God, or even about one or other of the virtues which we find in Jesus Christ, in Our Lady or in the Saints, as an example for us.”[1]

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Many people are bored with the Rosary

·       They see it as just saying words

·       With nothing to captivate and engage their mind and emotions that moves their will to make a change in life

·       That’s why we provide 5 points from the Word of God:

o   Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium

·       To think about and Reflect upon during each decade

·       Also provides the Content for a Good conversation

·       We provide the Word Document with the 5 points for Good Conversation attached to your daily email or text 

·       Abridged opening to engage attention

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St. John Paul II in his letter on the Rosary writes: The Rosary is also a path of proclamation and increasing knowledge, in which the mystery of Christ is presented again and again at different levels of the Christian experience. Its form is that of a prayerful and contemplative presentation, capable of forming Christians according to the heart of Christ. When the recitation of the Rosary combines all the elements needed for an effective meditation, it can present a significant catechetical opportunity which we should use to advantage. In this way too Our Lady of the Rosary continues her work of proclaiming Christ. The history of the Rosary shows how this prayer was used in particular by the Dominicans at a difficult time for the Church due to the spread of heresy. Today we are facing new challenges. Why should we not once more have recourse to the Rosary, with the same faith as those who have gone before us? The Rosary retains all its power and continues to be a valuable resource for every good evangelizer.

[1] Sister Lucia, Calls from the Message of Fatima, P. 96