First Rosary Devotional- What Is The Rosary and How Do You Pray It?

Woohoo! First rosary post! Now, to clarify, these posts are actually mostly for me so that I can easily remember how I set up my own rosary when I pray. If you’d like to pray the way I do, that’s great! But you shouldn’t have to. Everyone prays differently, and the rosary is no exception to that. First, though, what is the rosary and why do we pray it? Well, it’s not a prayer of worship to Mary. In fact, it’s intensely focused on Christ and His life, viewed through the lens of Mary. As for those who might say that it’s vain repetition, the Rosary, when done well, should never be vain or empty. Rather, it should be intensely meditative and prayerful, focused completely on the events of the mystery in question and the graces that are being asked for. Instead of mindless babbling, the repetition of the prayers should gently lead us back to studying the life of Christ through the eyes and heart of His Blessed Mother, who was closer to Him than any other person.

The Rosary, according to tradition, was given to St. Dominic in 1214 A.D in a vision by Our Lady, and his followers, the Dominicans, spread the tradition around Christendom. In 1517, it is credited as being the reason that a tiny Christian fleet defeated the last great Islamic navy in the Battle of Lepanto. There is now a celebration of Mary as patroness of the battle, and she is called Our Lady of the Rosary. In 1917, Our Lady of Fatima told the three children who were receiving visions of her that she was “The Lady of the Rosary.” The rosary is often invoked as a shield of grace against Satan, and Pope Adrian VI famously  “The Rosary is the scourge of the devil.” St. Padre Pio, who we all know is one of the patrons of Surrender the Brownies, also said that, “the Rosary is THE weapon.”

How do you pray the rosary? Let’s have some graphics. Readers love graphics.

And what are the prayers?

 

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Got it so far? Ready for the fun stuff? Now, this will be the first in a series about the Rosary, one post per mystery. There are four mysteries of the rosary. These are- 

The Joyful Mysteries (which include the first events of Christ’s life, from the annunciation to the presentation in the temple.)

The Luminous Mysteries (which deal with the events of Christ’s ministry, from the Baptism in the Jordan River, until the Last Supper.)

The Sorrowful Mysteries (which take on the story of the Passion and Death of Christ, from the Agony in the Garden until the Crucifixion.)

The Glorious Mysteries (which finish the story, from the Resurrection of Jesus until the Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth.)

And yeah, that’s it for now. Expect the first post soon! Till then, I leave you with another great quote from Sr. Lucia Santos, who saw Our Lady of Fatima when she was a child in 1917.

“The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families…that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary.” [Emphasis added]

Love to all!

-Tani

#blessed Through Suffering

We humans don’t like to be uncomfortable, and nowhere is that more apparent than on the internet. We present an idealized and hyper-sanitized version of our lives, cutting out the flaws and the fights and only showing ourselves as classy, good-looking, fun people who have everything put together. Sadly, our internet addiction has led to an even deeper hatred of suffering than is natural. In a culture that is all about the individual, anything that can’t be tweeted, instagramed, or facebooked is worthless. Suffering, a natural part of being human, isn’t very photogenic, and doesn’t usually make the sufferer look good. A moment spent suffering is a moment wasted.

But suffering is never wasted when suffering is done well. For the individual, suffering offers a chance for growth, a chance for the sufferer to become stronger, humbler, even more peaceful. I know that my own disease, which is pretty darned painful, has made me a far better person. The pain taught me that my strength doesn’t come from my body, it comes from God. It taught me that I’m neither invincible nor perfect, and I need help. And it’s definitely taught me how to trust God with everything I am, which has in turn given me the most lovely peace. That peace has colored every part of my life, freeing me from a lot of fear and confusion that, before I got sick, would have made me stressed and panic-y. Suffering is a beautiful thing!

Suffering is also good for humanity as a whole. We all know that it was Christ’s suffering and death that gained for us our salvation. But did you know that you can add your sufferings to His, as reparation for sin? The sacrifice of Jesus is vertical, between God and man. When we join our suffering to Jesus’s, the sacrifice becomes horizontal, as well- covering the whole Church (on earth, and most especially in purgatory!) in grace. We Catholics are fond of the term “offer it up,” but it’s a good idea- give your suffering to Christ, and He’ll give grace back to you and everyone else in the Church, as well!

We never have to fear suffering or run away from it. We should never go looking for it, either- each of us is given the exact amount of suffering we need to get us to heaven. Take it from someone who understands pain: it’s nothing to fear. No, it may not be pretty, even when run through filters and given hashtags, but we need suffering. And those bad days make the good days even sweeter by comparison. Suffering makes us truly #blessed.

Love to all!

-Tani