During the month of
October, this blog will focus on the rosary.
I will begin this four-part series with a reflection on my relationship
with the rosary and how it has changed over the years.
I am a cradle Catholic.
My earliest memories of the rosary are a combination of the large
children’s rosary I had hanging above my bed and my rosary coloring book. I would spend what felt like hours carefully
coloring each bead, being super careful to color inside the lines. That was my earliest expression of devotion
to the rosary.
As I got older, my relationship with the rosary
evolved. I remember bringing a rosary to
school with me in October when I was in second grade at Cosgriff and having the
whole school gather in the church to pray together. I remember the CD I received as a gift that
had kids from Australia praying the rosary.
I remember receiving a specially blessed rosary from the shrine of Our
Lady of Betania in Venezuela. (I still
have and use this rosary.)
As an adult, my relationship with the rosary has become more
about the devotion itself. I am still
trying to find the way of praying it that is most satisfying to me. I want to “do everything.” I want a scriptural passage to meditate
on. I want an expansion on the holy name
of Jesus to help keep the mystery top of mind.
I want to make sure I am including the prayers for the pope and his
intentions and the Litany of Loreto at the end.
And I want a way to incorporate the intention of my rosary into the
prayers.
Maybe I want to do too much.
I have yet to find a method or app for praying the rosary that
incorporates all of these things. I have
read conflicting articles. Some say that
it’s not about the quantity of your prayer (i.e., the time you spend in
prayer), it’s about the quality of your prayer.
Then others seem to say the exact opposite. Of course, the best thing to do most likely
is to find a balance between the two. As
Dr. Mary Healy says in the Symbolon video we used for RCIA this week, “If we say
we are too busy to pray, we’re too busy.”
She goes on to explain that prayer needs to be a priority in our
lives. What could be more important than
developing our relationship with God through prayer?
What are your earliest memories of the rosary? How do you incorporate this devotion into
your prayer life?
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