Let’s be honest. The rosary isn’t the most popular prayer amongst our age group. It’s the prayer that we sometimes got guilt-tripped into reciting on long car rides with the family, or guilt-tripped into reciting while at the Lenten prayer service, or guilt-tripped into reciting when…well, you get the picture. For many of us, the rosary is pretty much just the result of a guilt trip.
However, despite what preconceived notions or feelings you may have towards the rosary, I submit to you that it should be a regular part of your daily life as a young Catholic. Why? Five main reasons:
1. In the fight against temptation and against Satan, a wimpy and sporadic prayer life simply will not do.
What does the prayer life of most people our age look like? Most likely: whatever we feel like that day. This is, quite simply, a recipe for disaster, and a fast-track to grave sin.
If you’re not accustomed to it, developing the habit of praying a daily rosary (or any consistent daily prayer) is difficult. Because of this, we can easily come up with a thousand reasons why getting in a rosary every day is just not all that important. The Catechism describes this battle of prayer:
2725 Prayer is both a gift of grace and a determined response on our part. It always presupposes effort. The great figures of prayer of the Old Covenant before Christ, as well as the Mother of God, the saints, and he himself, all teach us this: prayer is a battle. Against whom? Against ourselves and against the wiles of the tempter who does all he can to turn man away from prayer, away from union with God. We pray as we live, because we live as we pray. If we do not want to act habitually according to the Spirit of Christ, neither can we pray habitually in his name. The “spiritual battle” of the Christian’s new life is inseparable from the battle of prayer.
So, we turn to the one of the most powerful weapons in our arsenal: the rosary.
“The holy Rosary is a powerful weapon. Use it with confidence and you’ll be amazed at the results.” -Saint Josemaria Escriva
“No one can live continually in sin and continue to say the Rosary: either they will give up sin or they will give up the Rosary” -Bishop Hugh Doyle
2. Because “World Peace” isn’t just a go-to answer for beauty pageant contestants
Prayer may be described both as an internal struggle and as a spiritual battle, but as Christians, we are always faced with the task of bringing the peace of Christ to a confused and hurting world. How are we even to begin to go about this?
Mary literally gave us the answer to this herself. And then she made the sun dance.
If you’re not familiar with Mary’s apparitions at Fatima, she appeared several times to three children at the beginning of the twentieth century. Her message:
Our Lady stressed the importance of praying the Rosary in each of Her apparitions, asking the children to pray the Rosary every day for peace. Another principal part of the Message of Fatima is devotion to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart, which is terribly outraged and offended by the sins of humanity, and we are lovingly urged to console Her by making reparation. She showed Her Heart, surrounded by piercing thorns (which represented the sins against Her Immaculate Heart), to the children, who understood that their sacrifices could help to console Her.
Again and again, Mary has appealed to us in her apparitions to pray the rosary daily. Why not do as she says?
3. Because Jesus listens to his mom
We see this in John’s account of the gospel, when Jesus transforms the water into wine after Mary tells him they had run out at the wedding (John 2:1-11). In a similar way to the Old Testament, when the King listened to and respected the Queen Mother, so Jesus respects and listens to his Mother, Mary, Queen of Heaven.
“And the king said to her, ‘Make your request, my mother; for I will not refuse you” -1 Kings 2:20
Of course we can go straight to Jesus, but he has given us his Mother as well (John 19:27). And as we know from the gospel, Jesus hastens to answer his Mother’s requests.
4. Miracles Happen
“Among all the devotions approved by the Church, none has been so favored by so many miracles as the devotion of the Most Holy Rosary.” -Pope Pius IX
Books could be filled (and, in fact, have been filled) with stories of miraculous healings, conversions, and other events brought about by the regular recitation of the rosary. There’s no reason to expect the rosary not to bring about some dramatic and powerful change in your life as well.
5. Because meditation helps us to “see for the first time”
The rosary is meant to be the “epitome of the entire Gospel”. When we pray the rosary, we are engaging in the practice of mediation
CCC 2708: Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart, and strengthen our will to follow Christ. Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary. This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him.
Mediation is meant to lead us as a step along the way to true knowledge of the Lord, to personal union with Jesus. As GK Chesterton said, “If you look at a thing 999 times, you are perfectly safe; if you look at it for the 1000th time, you are in danger of seeing it for the first time.” This is what we attempt to do in mediation – to see for the first time. We meditate on the stories of the Gospel as we pray with Mary to help us see Jesus for the first time, to fall in love with Him by meditating upon his life.
So get the beads out and start praying! You won’t regret it 🙂
I admit that I have a really hard time praying the rosary. My family prays it each night but I don’t always join them. I know it is really good to do, but sitting still for that long trying to concentrate sometimes just makes me feel like I want to scream.
Do not worry, it happen to many of us. One important thing is that if you ask Jesus to fill your heart with devotion, He will make you a devout Christian. Start praying the time you are driving if you drive, just the way you know until you make a habit and later on it will be a need of something to do. God bless you.
Wondeful post. I’m currently trying to get into the habit of praying the Rosary every night before bed, but usually I only get about 3 decades or I don’t pray it at all because I’m too tired.
This post is just the encouragement I needed to keep trying 🙂 Thanks Mary!!
try praying the Rosary first thing in the morning when you wake up, along side your morning prayers, i have been consistence in praying the rosary everyday for 3 years. Its powerful, and a great weapon against the enemy. For 3 years since i started praying the rosary, i have been having spiritual battles every night, but i always conquer through the grace of God. The devil detest this powerful means of inflicting pain on his kingdom, remember Dominica, first thing u do when u wake up, pray the rosary, and your life will never be the same. God’ s grace dear.
http://www.comepraytherosary.org 😉
This may seem a stupid question, but how do you pray the rosary? My family was Catholic technically, but we didn’t pray the rosary or anything. now that I’m older I am trying to get into these sorts of things. Do you know a website that outlines it properly?
Great post, as usual!!
Hi, I could help you do that. Email me on ask4bk@yahoo.com and I could drive you through the procedures.
hi, i can also help you how to pray the rosary… if you want you may email me at parcepatrickjay@yahoo.com…
Hi Kate,
Here’s a link to how to pray the Rosary: http://www.newadvent.org/images/rosary.pdf
Print it out and use it as you pray–before long you won’t need it! It’s definitely a prayer that takes effort, but the rewards are well worth it. It centres your whole life around the mystery of the Incarnation.
Thank you Jonathon! That is super helpful 🙂
Great article. The Rosary is very powerful, and by the way, so is Eucharistic adoration. Like so many people, I regarded the Rosary as a kind of chore when I was young and rarely said it. What a mistake. I am now convinced, based on the outpouring of grace in my life that began once I finally had sufficient motivation–a son on the way–to start saying it daily, that the Rosary is extraordinarily powerful and that my youth would have been used (rather than spent) much better, had I availed myself of Mary’s intercession earlier. It is helpful though if people understand why the Rosary is so powerful. Christ is our sole mediator before the Father and all graces come through Him, but all Christians are co-redeemers and co-mediators (‘co’ meaning ‘with’) by virtue of our baptism (which makes us “sons of God”). But the prayer of a person of great faith and great righteousness avails more than that of a person of less faith and less righteousness. We need intercession IN the Body of Christ, through the power of Christ. That’s why Paul urges all Christians to intercede for each other in the Body of Christ (1 Timothy 2). When we offer our prayers to Christ through a holy saint and ask that saint to pray for us, our prayer is rendered more efficacious with Him; that saint makes our cause his or her own. Mary is the spouse of the Holy Spirit and the Mother of God, She is clothed in the glory of the Holy Trinity (Rev 12). When she intercedes, Jesus always listens (John 2:5). If you are in Christ, then you are Mary’s son as well, and if your desire is for holiness and to be conformed to the image of her Son and to know Him and follow Him better, she will storm the throne of grace for you. I begged God to take away a particular sin from me that I felt virtually powerless to resist. I committed to saying the Rosary every day until God heard my cry. One day, months after beginning this commitment, I woke up and realized that this sin had been simply removed from my soul, along with the damage (temporal punishment) that it had done to me. I am still a struggling, often failing, sinner, but through the Rosary (combined with adoration), God took away a burden I was powerless to lift and gave me back hope for my own sanctification. The Rosary is teaching me my absolute dependence on God and on heavenly help. You know a thing by its fruits, and the fruits of the Rosary are faith, sanctification and the desire to submit, like Our Lady, to God’s will.
Mega props for a rosary post! Who knows a son better than his mother?
Great post as usual- Rosary always has been a sort of guilt trip haha. Try to say it everyday for Lent along with the Divine Mercy Chaplet. I hope it’s not cheating, but I find it helpful to split it up throughout the day: a decade on the way to my next class, a decade in the shower, a decade before bed, etc. Definitely helps.
Thanks Mary!
Far from “cheating”, praying the rosary throughout your day keeps you mindful of God and His mother all day. What could be better than walking through your routine with Mary on one arm and the Trinity on the other?!!
God and His Mother bless and keep you always.
Thank you for this wonderful post. I will now use my Rosary application on my iPhone and engage in prayer. God Bless you! Keep up the good faith.
Andrea T
Miami
Awesome post! And I think a lot of other people agree with me: it got shared on the Catholic Church page on Facebook =D
AMEN!!! Thank you for this post!
I used to fall asleep too while praying the rosary but praying to the angels and saints to help me stay awake actually helps a lot!!! 🙂
I let a niece buy me a CD – Pray The Mysteries of the Holy Rosary & had it sent here to Vegas. It has 2 CDs with 2 mysteries on each CD led by the 4 Aquino ladies. It’s cover is a painting of the Holy Rosary done by the late former Pres. Cory Aquino. Part of the proceeds of the CD goes to the San Carlos Seminary. I have not prayed the Holy Rosary for days because I am too exhausted to do it in the evening after my other prayers are done. But with the CD, I am able to pray the 4 mysteries while preparing our meals in the early evening. While others do it by decades on different times of the day, my way of doing it completes my day. Jesus, I trust in You, Mama Mary I love you!
I don’t pray it daily. But whenever I do (mostly after confessions) I find myself so happy and fulfilled. I pray one day make this a daily habit.
As a convert, I never grew to love the rosary as much as many of my friends. What I did love was the Chaplet of Divine Mercy which you recite on the rosary beads. This one suited my temperament and my protestant upbringing. I was told I have a ‘lenten’ spirit and this Chaplet suits me.
Thank you for this post. I’m occupied with my life that I often forgot to recite my rosary prayer. Your post made me realized how I should make it a priority in my life. I’m glad to read your post as it is such a great reminder. May God bless you.
I began praying the Holy Rosary since late last year, & from then on I pray the Holy Rosary everyday. I believe that when we started praying & have developed strong faith to Our Lord Jesus Christ & to His mother, Mama Mary. It seems that I can handle my problems and since I began praying the Holy Rosary & “I say to my problems” I have God & Mama Mary to help me with my problems.
The Rosary is a powerful prayer. I only wish I can say it everyday. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Dear mother Mary, help & assist ur children, Amen!
yes, thanks for spreading the message. I think we all need it, whether for the first time or for a long time, we need reminders.
I’ve said it everyday for a year and a half, and it’s absolutely changed my life. It’s absolutely transformed my college experience.
Young Catholics shoudl look at what their leaders do.
The Catholic church has by far the largest percentage of child sex abusers in history. Catholics will tell you otherwise, but it is your esponsibility to seek the truth.
Then the church lied about it. Then they fought the victims. THey still do. THink about what God thinks about that, since your eternity depends on it, and that’s really all that matters.
Carla, nobody here is defending the injustice of priestly abuse. If our salvation is dependent on whether or not there are pedophiles and other oppressors in leadership (Protestant leaders have no problem committing their own damnable sins), then everybody who goes to church, including Protestants, is damned.
Actually, if you check the crime stats, public schoolteachers are the biggest offenders. On another note, there’s always one just like you.
GOD id good!
indeed the Rosary is very powerful.
thank yu for this post…. rosary definately strengthens our faith and helps us get close to Jesus… Halleluia. AVE MARIA!! Hail Mary mother of GOD.
Felix
bangalore
yes indeed thank you my mother mary we love you for interceding for us contantly mother is a queen of universe..
Matthew 6:5-15
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,
15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Well, good thing the rosary has six Our Fathers in it 🙂
And I absolutely agree. Praying the rosary should not be done to be seen by others or for vain reasons, but to grow in holiness and as an act of love for Jesus through His Mother, Mary.
The Blessed Mother has appeared to many different visionaries. Some of her apparitions have been approved by the Catholic church. She always tells people to pray the rosary. She says it is the most powerful prayer on the face of the earth. Because She is the most powerful of all of the saints. This is what the Blessed Mother said to the visionaries at Kibeho, Africa, which is an approved apparition ~ “Please pray the Rosary because the powers attached to this prayer will protect you. Through these Rosaries I bind you to my Immaculate Heart. In this way, I keep you close to me and I can steer you away from dangers. This prayer is being used by heaven to bind our apostles together all over the world. Through the Rosary, your hand is joined with the hand of each apostle on earth. The Rosary also creates and unbreakable bond with me, your heavenly mother. Through this bond I keep you and your loved ones attached to heaven. The world pulls at you but I am linked to you and so you cannot be pulled away. Pray the Rosary and I will keep you safe. I will help you to step over snares and walk around traps laid by the enemy. I will help you to heal. I will help you to see the world with the heavenly light that exposes sin, even when it is well concealed by those who wish to lead you away from me. I am your mother. I can only lead you to Jesus. This is my role. I bring souls from the world, see that they have what they require to heal, and then deliver them to my Son. Use me to pull others from darkness.” ~ There is much more, but I can’t write it all. She also says that she wants people who pray the rosary to wear blessed medals, crosses, or scapulars on them to protect them from satan.
i know how to recite the rosary but i find it to difficult to give my time to it and i need help
Hi there, I am a catholic French Canadian I am only 15 years old and would like to become a priest, but I’m not sure if its right for me I need a sign please pray for a sign. Also I have been praying the rosairy befor I go to bed I just don’t know any more what to ask and thank for god. Please pray for me so that I may have a great faithful spirit Amen
God bless you,
i will pray for your hearts desire, but let it be the will of God reign on you…God bless you for your showing intention of becoming a priest
Hi mate, that,s the best vocation u can ever have so keep on praying may gods will be done
You know what? I love it! The message is perfectly delivered and received by me. I will start….
help me to pray rosary and asking if i can be helped with free rosaries.
This is a very good Rosary Website:
Specifically, it is a Rosary crusade: 1,000,000 Rosaries for the consolation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It also explains how to say the Rosary, and it tells Our Lady’s 15 promises for the Rosary.
http://www.rosecrownsforourlady.wordpress.com
Very nice article. I used to sleep while praying the Rosary. My problem was solved when I started to get down on my knees to pray. I don’t need more than 30 minutes to finish the whole Rosary. I would suggest to find a room to stay 30 minutes alone, too.
Greeting from Brazil!
Hi Mary!
I just donated! I’m sure it will go to good use 🙂
Plz pray for me ppl my 6 years relation ended after mis-understanding btw the families and also my gf didnt stand by me i love her with all my soul and want her back in my life i belive only god can put things together plz pray me….
Is Mary capable of hearing hundreds of thousands of prayers simultaneously like God is?
Good question! Couple things:
First, it’s not at all unthinkable that God would give saints in Heaven (including Mary) the ability to hear the prayers of those on earth. It’s actually Biblical! In Revelation 5:8 we read of those in Heaven carrying bowls of incense–representing the prayers of those on earth. Also, in Luke 16:19-30, Jesus tells the parable of the rich man who, after he dies, calls on Abraham to go and warn his brothers—and Abraham hears the rich man’s prayer from Hades! Jesus certainly seems to think that the righteous can hear prayers of sinners.
But I want to also address an underlying fear/assumption that I think is often behind this question. And that is that if Mary/the saints in Heaven can hear our prayers, it somehow takes away from God’s divinity–as if God’s ability to hear hundreds of thousands of prayers all at once is what makes Him God. Hardly! God is Being Itself. We need not fear His exaltation of His creatures to high places limits or “threatens” His divinity or power in the least.
Hi dont u know that she is a god woman and the mother of god jesus christ.
Ok, I’m convinced. But I worry that I won’t be able to keep up a daily rosary. Pray for me.
we have to continue praying rosary eight hundred gourilla pound. removes demons lft and right amen
[…] http://www.marypearsonblog.com/2012/03/5-reasons-why-young-catholics-should-pray-a-daily-rosary/ […]
[…] […]
is it biblical
Luke 4:8 ►
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'”
Matthew 6:8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
La verdad es que tengo como tres meses de estar rezando el rosario y ciertamente puedo decirles que ha cambiado mi vida. La virgen Maria me ha llevado de vuelta a los pies de Jesús. Saludos y un fuerte abrazo desde El Salvador.
Thanks for this article. I need to make it a habit again… I also recommend the 7 sorrows of Mary…
if not praying rosary daily,we are poorers ever.bring it on and you shall feel the filial love ever( rorary=mary)
mary=rosary,bring it on praying rosary daily and you shall see many gracies from it, still more experiencing filial love from her.what a beautiful sacred object! do’nt give up becaure her does not give up for you ok.
[…] on March 20, 2012 by Mary| 56 […]
the rosary is holy for the holy catholic church
and the rosary is mystery sorroful;joyful;lominous;glourios
The Rosary is such a great way to meditate on the mysteries of God’s life and on salvation. 🙂
I think things make more sense when prayed with the Angelic Psalter. https://angelicpsalter.wordpress.com/
# 1124
…Loneliness…
Loneliness
Is an acquired state
The fault of the lonely
And its surroundings.
Jesus is salvation for
The lonely when ascending
To the Live Holy Rosary.
Author Mr.Jan Tarwid – Janwid.
January.04 / 2015 USA
Knights of Columbus.
—–
…Samotnos’c’…
Samotnos’c’
Jest stanem nabytym
Z winy osamotnionego
Oraz otoczenia jego.
Jezus jest ratunkiem
Dla samotnego gdy przysta,pi
Do z’ywego Ro’z’an’ca S’wietego.
Autor Mr.Jan Tarwid – Janwid.
January.04 / 2015 USA
Knights of Columbus.
http://www.marypearsonblog.com/2012/03/5-reasons-why-young-catholics-should-pray-a-daily-rosary/
///
I pray the rosary on a daily basis…pray warrior to our Blessed Mother through Christ our Lord!
I FALL IN LOVE WITH THE HOLY ROSARY FROM BIRTH…. AND AM PROUD TO BE A CATHOLIC
I love that! I am proud to be Catholic as well! God bless!
Thank you very much for this article. Praying the Holy Rosary for youngsters even to us, adults, is pretty challenging, The heart is there but the willingness is weak.
Again, thank you. I will pas this on to my family. God bless you and your readers. Aloha Ke Akua!