I think I’d like to try and write a little series on the Rosary. Of course I should begin with the disclaimer that these are only the thoughts of a poor Catholic layman and may be unintentionally riddled with errors. But perhaps there are one or two pious thoughts that could serve as a meditation launchpad, so to speak, for inspired readers. I have prayed for the grace to better understand and better pray the rosary, so hopefully a few of the thoughts below are the result of those prayers. It will be easy to recognize any thoughts inspired by grace because they will be the helpful ones. All others are simply my own paltry personal ponderings.
Perhaps the most helpful thought about the Rosary is remembering that it is a prayer of offering. We pray the Rosary in order to offer something to God. What do we offer Him? Our own reflections, meditations, and affections, of course; but much more important and powerful than that is the offering of Our Lord’s earthy life to God the Father. We also offer to God the Father the good and meritorious actions of those who were associated with Our Lord throughout these Mysteries, beginning principally with His Blessed Mother Mary.
Viewing the Rosary in this light makes us see many similarities between it and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We offer the Mass in order to offer to God the Father the passion and death of His Divine Son. The Mass is the unbloody sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ, but the Rosary can be something similar, in a certain sense. By offering the same life, passion, and death of God the Son to God the Father throughout the mysteries of the Holy Rosary, this beautiful prayer becomes a perfect compliment to the Mass. Bearing this one simple thought in mind throughout each of the mysteries of the Rosary can provide an inexhaustible source of countless fruitful decades.
This tiny mustard seed can blossom into something much more grand, and our prayer can take many different forms. We can offer to God the Father the virtues of His Divine Son, we can offer to Him the beautiful life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we can offer to Him the merits of Saint Joseph, Saint Gabriel the Archangel, Saint Elizabeth, the shepherds, the Magi, Simeon, Anna, and all the other holy souls who participated in these mysteries. We can offer any or all of these merits for several different ends.
One end could simply be reparation. We could offer to God the Father all of the acts of humility contained in the Mystery of the Annunciation, and we could offer them in reparation for our sins of pride. We could offer to God the Father in reparation for all of our sins the bloody sweat of Our Lord in His agony in the garden. We could ask, by virtue of the pains endured by the Blessed Mother at Calvary, that all of our sins be washed away.
Another end could be our own spiritual growth. We could offer to God the Father the patience of Our Lord in His carrying of the Cross, and we could ask that God grant us a share in that same patience. We could offer to God the Father the love of poverty shown by Our Lord in His nativity, and we could ask for that same virtue.
We could offer a Rosary of thanksgiving, and simply offer to God the Father the merits of His Divine Son and most Blessed Mother in thanksgiving for all of the favors we have received.
We could also pray the Rosary as an act of adoration. We could adore God in His Incarnation, life, and death. We could adore God through His most perfect creation, the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The list is boundless, as are the merits and grace of Our Lord. Through the Rosary, we have at our disposal an endless treasury with which any good can be purchased.
Perhaps in the posts to come we can go through each of the fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary and provide a brief example of some holy thoughts and sentiments that could be in the mind and heart as one prays the holy Rosary.
Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Pray for us!
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