The Rosary is arguably the most recognizable Catholic devotion. Sadly, it is a devotion that has fallen out of fashion for many Catholics. This is deeply unfortunate, as the Rosary is one of the most powerful weapons in our arsenal for spiritual warfare and one of the greatest aids in the pursuit of a fruitful spiritual life.
Among the most common excuses for failing to pray the Rosary one hears are that it’s “boring” or that it takes too much time. What many Catholics aren’t aware of, however, are the benefits – promises from Our Lady herself – associated with its faithful recitation.
A History of the Rosary and How to Pray It
While the specifics are unclear, tradition and the Church hold that Our Lady appeared to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan de la Roche sometime in the 13th century to impart the devotion of the Rosary. The monks of the time had already developed the habit of praying the psalter – all 150 Psalms daily recited by memory. Mary gave the Rosary to these two spiritual sons to promote the habit of daily prayer among all the faithful, not just those in the religious life.
Structurally, the Rosary is divided into five decades; a decade is made up of 10 Hail Marys preceded by an Our Father and concluded with a Glory Be. Each of the five decades is associated with a mystery from the life of Christ, and there are three sets of mysteries: the Joyful Mysteries, the Sorrowful Mysteries, and the Glorious Mysteries. An entire Rosary consists of all 15 decades. Fifteen decades of 10 Hail Marys each equals a total of 150 Hail Marys, thus leading the Rosary to be known as “Mary’s Psalter.”
Mary’s Promises for Daily Devotion
The most amazing thing about the Rosary is that Mary made 15 promises to those who recite it daily. These aren’t insignificant promises, but rather enormously helpful graces provided to those who are trying to live a good and faithful Catholic life:
- To all those who shall pray my Rosary devoutly, I promise my special protection and great graces.
- Those who shall persevere in the recitation of my Rosary will receive signal graces.
- The Rosary will be a very powerful armor against Hell; it will destroy vice, deliver from sin, and dispel heresy.
- The Rosary will make virtue and good works flourish, and will obtain for souls the most abundant divine mercies. It will draw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
- Those who trust themselves to me through the Rosary will not perish.
- Whoever recites my Rosary devoutly, reflecting on the mysteries, shall never be overwhelmed by misfortune. He will not experience the anger of God nor will he perish by an unprovided death. The sinner will be converted; the just will persevere in grace and merit eternal life.
- Those truly devoted to my Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
- Those who are faithful to recite my Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces and will share in the merits of the blessed.
- I will deliver promptly from Purgatory souls devoted to my Rosary.
- True children of my Rosary will enjoy great glory in Heaven.
- What you shall ask through my Rosary you shall obtain.
- To those who propagate my Rosary I promise aid in all their necessities.
- I have obtained from my Son that all the members of the Rosary Confraternity shall have as their intercessors, in life and in death, the entire celestial court.
- Those who recite my Rosary faithfully are my beloved children, the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.
- Devotion to my Rosary is a special sign of predestination.
Mary, who is our true spiritual Mother, always desires what is best for us. She who was conceived without sin and sits as the Queen of Heaven and Earth enjoys a will that is in perfect unity with the will of God. What she wants for us is nothing less than what He wants. And He who made us knows precisely what we need to do to do the work He has assigned us, and the surest path home to Him.
These promises of Mary show us how the rosary serves as a spiritual weapon that every soldier for Christ and His Church needs to fight succesfully in the spiritual battle that comprises much of our earthly sojourn. Those who trust in the Rosary and are faithful to Mary through it will have access to many additional graces that those who choose not to pray it won’t. Graces we desperately need to help us make it through the narrow gate that leads to heaven.
Why You Should Pray the Rosary Daily
In addition to the 15 promises that Mary herself gave, I would offer some additional reasons for praying the Rosary daily that are taken from my own personal experience.
Daily recitation of the Rosary will help you get to know your Mother better. By getting to know Mary better, you will in turn get to know Jesus better. When you look at each mystery of the Rosary, you reflect upon different aspects of Jesus’ life through the eyes of His mother. Mothers know and see their children much differently than others do.
Because the Rosary was given to us by Mary, it has great power. There have been many miracles associated with praying the Rosary. Our Lady of Fatima mentioned that the main reason for the loss of souls into the fiery abyss of Hell is that no one is praying for them. When you pray, you can offer up your Rosary for a particular intention, whether it be for the conversion of souls or for an end to abortion. Fr. Richard Heilman, pastor of St. Mary (Pine Bluff) in Cross Plains, Wisconsin, has been leading online groups in 54-Day Rosary Novenas for different intentions. The miracles that I have seen come from that are amazing. For example, on the last day of our 54-Day Rosary Novena for Purity, the Hobby Lobby ruling was issued.
Finally, the battle between Heaven and Hell is real. The Rosary has a special power against evil. Satan hates Mary with all of his might. Through Mary and her Magnificat, her “yes” to God, we have Our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have our salvation, if we choose to accept it. Demons know and fear the Rosary. Blessed Pope Pius IX said, “Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world.” This is how powerful the Rosary is. St. Francis de Sales, the great master of the spiritual life, wrote, “The greatest method of prayer is praying the Rosary.”
And of course, Our Lady of Fatima said, “Pray the Rosary daily.”
The Rosary is one of the most powerful weapons that we have against Satan and his minions. It will help to ward off temptations. Prayed together with the family, it will create a locus of stability and peace in the home. There are also a number of indulgences attached to the Rosary, which can bring about the remission of temporal punishment due to us even if we die in a state of grace. If there is any reason why the Rosary is not recited as often today as it was in the past, you can be certain that Satan himself is behind it.
The inconvenience of praying the Rosary daily, which can seem at first tedious or burdensome, grows lighter with every recitation. Let us equip ourselves for battle. Make a commitment to pray the Rosary every day – and keep it.
Originally published on August 2, 2014.
“Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world.”
Seriously?
Umm….do you pray the Rosary? Just wondering how much you know about the power of the Rosary? It sounds like a simple request for such a powerful spiritual tool, but the problem seems to be………people just don’t pray it. Guess I’m not understanding where you’re coming from with………………’Seriously?’
Have you ever asked yourself why you would enjoy trying to spike the interaction between believers about something you don’t understand or are sceptical about? Let us put aside the truth of the power of prayer…is your activity healthy and normal? Now back to reality….your efforts are futile..pointless..ineffective.
“Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world.”
Seriously?
yet another atheist in a religious website. your intention is?
perhaps you might find this of interest:
http://www.catholicinsight.com/islam-the-rosary-and-the-battle-of-lepanto
“Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world.”
Well, it certainly worked at Lepanto…
Mr. Stempel, thanks for the excellent article. I found this site just today, but I’ll
certainly be back for more.
I have prayed the rosary for a number of years now and I was tormented for some time about how ‘devoutly’ I was reciting the prayers. As soon as I began to pray my mind whirred like someone rapidly tuning back and forth through the radio channels. Every random thought, unbidden, intruded into my mind. The more ‘devoutly’ I tried to pray, the more conscious I became of the flotsam and jetsam randomly crossing the radar screen of my mind.
Frankly, I was distraught and felt I was wasting my time and the Blessed Mother’s. And then I remembered the words attributed to Our Lady of Fatima by Lucy (Servant of God Sister Lucia of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary) and one phrase in particular…’recitation of the Rosary’ not ‘pious recitation’ not ‘devout recitation’…just ‘recitation’. After recalling Sister Lucy’s words I offered my daily recitation of the rosary to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary and, like a baby babbling to the delight of its parents, trusted my recitation of the rosary was perfected in their Hearts.
“Look, Father, the Most Holy Virgin, in these last times in which we live, has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary. She has given this efficacy 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, of the families of the world or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations, 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. With the Holy Rosary we will save ourselves. We will sanctify ourselves. We will console Our Lord and obtain the salvation of many souls.” – Sister Lucy to Father Fuentes (1957)
http://www.fatima.org/essentials/opposed/frfuentes.asp
Thank you! for I have needed this! I’m always obsessed with saying each Hail Mary & Our Father & Glory be devoutly. 🙂 ! Now I can remove the pressure of obsessing over it and try my best to just calmly contemplate.
Jeff, thanks for this necessary article. Promotion of the Rosary needs to be much wider today.
For those who have difficulty getting around to praying the Rosary, and using this most powerful weapon for the Latter Days, ASK for the grace to love the Rosary, along with the Gift of Prayer. After doing this myself, I have an improved sense of urgency that encourages me to say the Rosary daily.
The Rosary is too important to ignore. Laity can’t say Mass, so it is the most important thing we can do – to make ourselves part of the army of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Also, if one is overwhelmed with all the possible intentions we have in our chaotic lives, simply intend whatever the Immaculate Heart of Mary needs. She will apply your prayers to what she sees as the most important priorities.
A week ago, I found a little book call A Scriptural Rosary. My family has tried adding adding the recitation of the scripture citations to just one decade to see how it goes. It is taking a little practice, and this is to be expected, to integrate this extra step. However, last night I did two mystery sets by my self and, wow! For the first time I feel like I got the meditation component of the Rosary devotion. This is after two years of regular recitation.
The book claims that this is how the Rosary was originally practiced. Maybe. Maybe not. However, I really liked it and will be making it a regular part of my devotion to Our Blessed Lady.
I don’t like having to break it to you, 1P5, but even the Catholic Encyclopedia says the alleged visions of St Dominic by Alan de Rupe, the source of the “15 promises”, “are not to be regarded as historical.” http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01246a.htm
I read your link in the Catholic Encyclopedia, but I don’t find it especially persuasive or interesting; whenever there is “controversy” concerning an event in history, there is just that, arguments from at least two sides. Regardless of whether the story of the visions of Alan de Rupe is exact or not, the benefits from recitation of the Rosary have been proclaimed by so many saints and popes, and figured so prominently in so many appearances of Mary (for just one example, she is know as Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Fátima), that no one can seriously dispute them. So, rather than patronize us ignoramuses here at 1P5 as you do in your first sentence, why not just join us in praying the Rosary if you don’t already?
Ouch.
I pray the Rosary daily, but I’ve never understood how Our Lady is well served by “truthiness” about the origins of the devotion.
My thinking precisely. (I like your neologism.)
I think you misunderstand. Truthiness = the quality had by something we
feel to be true or strongly desire to be true, even though it’s not true.
And please, ElizD was not being patronizing by pointing out information pertinent to the discussion, nor was she disputing the power or the efficacy of the Rosary. Snarky defensiveness does not contribute to the conversation.
And before you accuse me, my family and I say the Rosary together every
night. (though I must confess, I sometimes doze off before we’re through).
Chacun à son gout.
I seem to remember reading somewhere that Pope Pius X threw the Catholic encyclopaedia across the room when he read it.
Uh, ElizD: Do you know anything about Mary’s admonition to pray the Rosary daily in her apparitions to St. Bernadette at Lourdes, and to Jacinta, Francisco, and Lucia at Fatima?
Period. End of story.
Thank you, Mr. Stempel. I pray the Rosary often. I must say that the Rosary is a wonderful way to reflect on the Incarnation and the Passion and Glory of our Lord, Jesus Christ. I must say that I struggle with the promises that you mention. I trust that they are historical. Regardless, I have difficulty in accepting that the Rosary in and of itself is powerful as is suggested by these promises. Another concern I have is that often we Catholics can forget that the only One we are to worship is Jesus Christ. We are to honor His (and our) Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, but sometimes we can off track and look to her for salvation. Any indication that salvation comes from her is troublesome. I do agree wholeheartedly that, as St. Padre Pio stated, the Rosary is a weapon. Prayer in an of itself is a weapon, but the Rosary does focus us specifically on Life of our Lord. In praying the Rosary, our Mother holds us close and shows us her Son and we grow closer to Him and thereby the Will of His Father. This should be sufficient motivation for us to pray.
Beautiful and timely! The rosary is the Catholic’s secret weapon, the poor man’s catechism and a great tool of evangelization. I even love saying the Luminous Mysteries each Thursday.
“I even love saying the Luminous Mysteries each Thursday.”
Well that was gratuitous.
Well, they weren’t mentioned in the article, and it is such a lovely article I didn’t want to sound critical, but I do love the Luminous Mysteries too, and thought them worth a mention.
They weren’t mentioned by Our Lady, either.
Well, that was gratuitous.
I don’t like praying the Luminous Mysteries. Am I a bad person?
Of course not! In fact, you’re not a bad person if you only pray the Joyful Mysteries, or if you never pray the rosary at all. This is the Catholic Church, you know; there’s no one right way to pray.
I promised my Catholic girlfriend that I’d pray the Rosary every day (before sleep) for Lent. I’m an atheist but, I gotta say, after awhile it started to get to me because I was reading as instructed by trying to feel the deeper meaning of it all (note, I was also going to Mass each week with her, reading the Bible (curiosity, loved the notes sections as it made the text more meaningful), and trying hard to understand her faith. The Rosary readings became like a form of hypnosis and, after awhile, because I found myself falling asleep easier and faster than ever, I started feeling that I needed to do this ritual, at least to help me sleep. After around 7 weeks of this, I actually started having dreams about God coming to me.
Dangerous stuff.
Just a question about the recommendation of praying the rosary daily: does this mean all 15 or 20 mysteries daily? Or one set of mysteries daily? And if it’s the former, could anyone offer some advice on how to integrate all those mysteries in one day? Do you do it in one sitting? Break it up through the day? If you break it up, what times of the day do you pray them? Thank you so much!!
[EDIT: I found this testimony if anyone was wondering the same thing. http://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/d013rp15Decades_Stretenovic.html ]