The Redeemer, Mary and You
The Rosary: A Creative Prayer of Love
In his apostolic letter On the Most Holy Rosary, Pope John Paul II writes: “With the rosary, the Christian people sit at the school of Mary and are led to contemplate…the depths of [Christ’s] love.” Unfortunately, a complaint people have about praying the rosary is the monotony they experience in repeating the same prayers many times.
Bishop Fulton Sheen tells of a woman who expressed her disfavor of becoming a Catholic because, in prayer, we say the same words over and over, and she believed anyone who is so repetitive isn’t sincere.
Bishop Sheen asked her who was with her. Her fiancé, she replied. When asked if her fiancé loved her, she answered “yes.” The bishop asked when was the last time he professed his love? She replied, “About an hour ago!” When pressed to recall if he had previously told her, she said he tells her daily. Bishop Sheen then delivered his point: “Don’t believe him. He is repeating his words; he is not sincere.”
Love spoken from the heart is never monotonous.
In saying the rosary, at each decade we focus briefly on an event in Jesus’ life that speaks to us of his love for us. And we are moved to say through Mary: “I love you, Jesus!” Be creative, for we aren’t limited to meditating on the mysteries. Choose five parables, miracles, or sayings of Jesus to help achieve the purpose of the rosary, which is to help us experience the love of Christ through Mary.
Fr. Philip Dabney, CSsR
