PRAY THE ROSARY ON THE FEAST OF THE HOLY ROSARY!

An article I posted last year around this time is worth re-reading. It puts the rosary in historical context. What better way to celebrate the Blessed Mother's feast day than to pray her rosary. And if you are feeling especially generous, you could offer her all twenty decades meditating on the events in each set of mysteries.

The rosary is a scriptural prayer. It was developed at a time when most people were illiterate. The 50 Hail Mary's (150 in the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries) represented the "poor man's psalter" with the repetition of the angel's salutation taking the place of the 150 psalms. Pope John Paul II added the Luminous Mysteries to fill in the gap in the life of Christ, his public ministry.

In this day, when so many are spiritually illiterate, the rosary invites people to enter into a profound relationship with Mary and her Son. I love the scriptural rosary where a verse or two of scripture is recited before each Hail Mary.

For example, with the first decade of the Joyful Mysteries, the Annunciation, one might begin. "The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary" and than recite the first Hail Mary. The second bit of Scripture might be, "Mary was troubled by the angel's words and wondered what his greeting meant." Hail Mary.... "Fear not, Mary, you have found favor with God." Hail Mary.... "You will conceive and bear a Son and he shall be called Jesus." Hail Mary.... "And Mary replied, 'How can this be since I know not man?'" Hail Mary.... "The Holy spirit will overshadow you and the child conceived will be the Holy One of God." Hail Mary.... "Know that your cousin Elizabeth has conceived in her old age." Hail Mary.... "For nothing is impossible with God." Hail Mary.... "And Mary said, 'I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me as you say." Hail Mary.... "And with that the angel left her." Hail Mary....

Glory be to the Father....

The faith can be summarized in the rosary from its beginning with the compendium of the Christian faith in the Creed to its ending calling on Mary to be with us in our exile "in this valley of tears." If you're Catholic the rosary is an important part of your heritage, but it is not exclusively a Catholic devotion. Many Protestants have embraced it as well. I believe the book, Five for Sorrow; Ten for Joy, a collection of meditations on the rosary, was written by a Protestant. What a blessing the rosary is for those who embrace it and pray it with devotion. If you don't know how, go here.