Reflections 2006
Praying the Rosary

October has long been regarded as ‘the month of the Rosary’. Central to this focus is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on 7 October. In October 2002, Pope John Paul II inaugurated the ‘Year of the Rosary’ with an Apostolic Letter dedicated to teaching the Church how to pray the Rosary properly: Rosarium Virginis Mariae.

The Rosary is probably the most distinctively Catholic of all Catholic devotions. No other prayer or action or object symbolises the practice of the Catholic faith as potently as this form of prayer. Yet for many who grew up with it, and for many who have come as adults to the Catholic faith, the Rosary can remain something of a puzzle. A small pamphlet can explain the mechanics of praying the Rosary, but it takes a lifetime to acquire the art of praying the Rosary.

Despite its central significance for us today, the Rosary is a rather late addition to the practice of the faith.

It arose in the late Middle Ages among the laity in the Western Church as a substitute for praying the Psalter. This is why the original version of the Rosary (before the addition by John Paul II of a new set of mysteries — the Mysteries of Light) had 150 beads — corresponding to the number of psalms in the bible.

However, the practice of praying with beads is far more ancient — and indeed universal, for the practice occurs in Islam and Buddhism as well as Christianity. Our English word ‘bead’ in fact is related to the old English word for prayer: ‘bede’. From this we also get the English word ‘bid’, as in the ‘bidding prayer’ of Good Friday.

Pope Paul VI wrote in his Apostolic Exhortation, Marialis Cultus, that the Rosary is essentially a contemplative prayer that requires “tranquillity of rhythm or even a mental lingering which encourages the faithful to meditate on the mysteries of the Lord’s life”. Many today find the Rosary a difficult prayer to pray because we are impatient for instant results. Praying the Rosary is an art which takes time.

Those who grew up as children with this form of prayer in their families may in later life have rejected it, as all they saw was endless repetitions and mumblings. Certainly this is how many non-Catholics view the praying of the Rosary. But the Rosary is a jewel with many sides, and each of its aspects is designed to draw us deeper into the contemplation of the Christian mystery and deeper into prayer before God, assisted by the Prayer of Our Lady, as we think with her on the mysteries of Jesus’ life. To do this, it must first gain victory over all the distractions around us, and focus all our faculties upon the prayer at hand.

How does it do this? Firstly, it engages our hands. Those who enjoy knitting have often attested to the fact that their occupation allows them ample time for prayer because their hands are involved in the business of needles and yarn. The Rosary likewise disables our fidgeting hands by giving us beads to hold and finger. Many regular users of the Rosary find that simply the feel of the beads themselves are enough to call the prayers to mind. The beads captivate the sense of feeling.

Secondly, the lips are given set words to say. Many think that true prayer is prayer that finds words spontaneously from the heart. But Jesus himself knew that in times of real need, invention and inspiration often fail us. Therefore he gave us the words of the Our Father, so that even in the driest times of spiritual need we will not have to search out words for a prayer that is pleasing and acceptable to God. In the Rosary, we do not have to make up new prayers: we are given the prayers to say as a gift.

With lips and hands occupied in word and action, the mind is then freed for the work of mental prayer. It is rightly said that the meditations upon the mysteries — joyful, luminous, sorrowful, and glorious — are essential to the Rosary. Those who observe someone praying the Rosary can see what they are doing with their fingers, and hear what they are saying with their lips, but cannot fully comprehend what they are contemplating in their minds.

There are several possible helps, which can aid us in the contemplation of the sacred mysteries of the Rosary. One of the most highly recommended is to use the passages of Scripture, which relate to each mystery. One might read the complete passage before praying the decade, or read a verse before each Hail Mary of the decade, or to insert a scriptural phrase into the Hail Mary itself that calls the mystery to mind. There are many manuals available which give guidance in this area.

A second way of focusing attention on the Mysteries takes care of the problem of the roving eye! I suggest that you might find it helpful to focus your gaze upon pictures or icons of Mary or Jesus, or perhaps relating to each particular Mystery. Again, there are many publications which provide such pictures, such as the little booklet published by Aid to the Church in Need with simple but beautiful illustrations by Bradi Barth.

A third way is to listen to music suited to prayer while praying the Rosary. When prayed in groups, a verse of a Marian hymn may be sung between the decades. Perhaps, for a change of pace, the prayers may be sung to their traditional chants. Again, there are many recordings that are designed to help pray the Rosary with attention and focus.

One should also feel free to modify the focus of the Mysteries in relation to Liturgy of the day. For instance, in Christmastide, the Joyful Mysteries can be used regardless of the day of the week. At Epiphany the visit of the three wise men might replace the finding of the child Jesus in the Temple. Sometimes the Gospel of the day may be a suitable focus for a decade of the Rosary, especially if saying the Mysteries of Light.

There is a final dimension to the Rosary that should not be overlooked: the intentions. At the beginning of the Rosary you may dedicate the whole prayer to a particular intention. Then, each decade may individually be focused upon a particular need or intercession. In this way, the prayer is not a self-focused meditation, but one that reaches out in the name of Christ and of his Blessed Mother to the whole world.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.