October - the Month of the Rosary
Sunday 18 October 2015
October is the month of the most Holy Rosary and thereby Mary. Why does God wish us to pray to Mary? We pray to Mary because she is the Mother of God and her prayers are very powerful. When we pray the Hail Mary we combine worship of God and honour of Mary. We combine both our prayers to God and her prayers to God. We do not worship Mary; we only worship God. When we pray to Mary we honour her as the Mother of God, and as our Spiritual Mother. When we need help the most, we not only go directly to God by ourselves, we ask others to pray for us and with us. When we pray the Rosary, we have Mary, the Holy Mother of God, pray to God for us and with us. God wishes us to honour Mary because of her special role in God's plan of salvation. He wished her to contribute to the redemption of man, just as much as Eve contributed to the fall of man.
Why should we pray the Rosary? Because it has been used and encouraged for centuries by the greatest saints and Popes, and because of its good effects - like a good tree it bears good fruit. Also, because of the Promises of Mary to Christians who pray it and because she appeared at Lourdes and Fatima to ask us to pray the Rosary. The Rosary has helped and changed thousands of lives, why not give it a chance to help yours?
How do we pray the Rosary? It is by meditating on the 20 mysteries, by praying ten Hail Marys on the beads, and one Our Father and the Glory Be at each mystery.
How do we meditate on the Mysteries of the Rosary? We meditate on the mysteries of the rosary by using our imagination to picture the mystery occurring right in front to us. Then we keep this image fresh in our minds as we say the Hail Mary prayers. As we meditate we repeat our prayers, as Jesus did. In the Rosary, we basically say, "Jesus and Mary, I love you" over again and again. As we do, we grow in our love of God. Saying, "I love you" never grows old. When we truly love, it just grows deeper.
How should we start to pray the Rosary on a daily basis? By praying just a decade, one mystery with 10 Hail Mary's each day until we feel we want to pray more.