Be honest. Have you ever worn your Rosary out?
Wait! Do you know where your Rosary is?
Wait! Do you own a Rosary?
Wait! Do you know how to pray the Rosary?
These are important questions for a Catholic. Next to the Mass, the Rosary is one of the most powerful prayers we have in our arsenal of faith. Each mystery of the Rosary takes about 20 minutes to pray. Through each decade we view the Gospels with the eyes of Mary, His Mother.
The prayers of the Rosary are simple. We begin with the Apostles Creed which reminds us of the fundamentals of our faith. The rest of the prayers are basic, prayers we should have learned as children. There are a total of 6 Our Fathers, 6 Glory Be's, 53 Hail Mary's, and, between each decade the following prayer::
"Oh My Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of Hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are in most need of they mercy."
The prayers are repetitive and meditative.
Each decade brings to a different encounter with Jesus.
There are 4 mysteries of the Rosary::
The Joyful Mysteries
The Luminous Mysteries
The Sorrowful Mysteries
And
The Glorious Mysteries.
In each mystery, we learn more about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, Son of the Father. He teaches us through His life how we are to live and pray. Even Jesus prayed to the Father.
When we pray the Rosary, we join with Mary, the Mother of God, in walking through Gospels.
In the Joyful Mysteries,
we learn of Mary’s faith when the Angel Gabriel asked her to become the Mother of God.
We see Mary leave her hometown to care for her elderly cousin, Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist,
becoming the first Tabernacle of Jesus.
We skip to the birth of Jesus to His presentation in the Temple, and to Jesus teaching the elders in the Temple as His parents frantically search for their Son.
In the Luminous Mysteries,
we see Jesus leaving home to begin His ministry.
He is baptized by John in the River Jordan.
Here it is that we meet the Father who is pleased with His Son, Jesus.
Jesus performs His First Miracle, at His Mother’s prompting, at the wedding in Cana.
She said to the waiters, “Do whatever He tells you.”
Jesus then begins His Ministry by proclaiming the Gospel of Salvation to the Jews.
We see Jesus Transfigured on the Mountain. His apostles are amazed when they see Jesus as God.
At the Last Supper, Jesus institutes the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
In the Sorrowful Mysteries,
Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane. He prays for His Cup to pass, but He accepts the Will of the Father when it does not.
Jesus is arrested and taken before the Pilate who orders Him to be Scourged.
Many healthy men died during such scourings.
In the midst of the tortures He endured, He was beaten, whipped, and crowned with Thorns.
After all of this, Jesus was condemned to death, a death of shame, on the cross.
Yet, He begged His Father to forgive His torturers because they did not know what they were doing.
Jesus was crucified and hung between two thieves.
As He is dying, Jesus gives His Mother to us as our Mother.
Jesus dies on the cross.
In the Glorious Mysteries,
Jesus after being buried in the tomb is resurrected from the dead.
After 40 days, Jesus ascends into heaven in the presence of His Mother and the apostles.
As He promised, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to enlighten and strengthen His followers who will carry on the work of His Church.
In the last two decades of the Rosary,
we return to Mary, His Mother, and ours.
Mary dies and is assumed into heaven, body and soul.
She is crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth.
The life of Jesus is condensed into the Rosary.
Based on Sacred Scripture, in the Rosary, we meet the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Each mystery is a prompt for meditation on the life of Jesus.
Through the Rosary, we come to know Him.
In our prayer, we come to know His Mother.
In our prayer, we come to know His Apostles and disciples.
This “extraordinary” event of love, which is the life of Jesus,
who, as the Second Person of the Triune God, defeated sin and satan.
Know this act of love.
Pray the Rosary!
Don’t be afraid to wear those beads out!
