The Rosary: A Powerful Weapon

It seemed hopeless. I found that there was nothing I could do or say to make the situation better. I went to pray the Rosary; offering it for the situation at hand. The rhythm of the words helped me to begin to shut off the anxiety I was struggling with. I was able to mediate upon the mysteries a bit more fully.

After saying “Amen,” I received a call. The situation had been resolved. With my own effort I had only seemed to make things worse. Yet, when I sought the intercession of the Blessed Mother and focused my attention on Christ, humbly acknowledging my own lack, the peace I had tried on my own to unsuccessfully foster, had come.

Is every time I pray the Rosary like this? Absolutely not! Often, I struggle with distractions; meditating more on my “to do” list, a conversation I had, a movie or a game, or whether or not Tom Brady will win another Super Bowl.

Distraction in prayer is common. The witness of the saints, and the very faith we profess teaches exactly that. Prayer requires time, attention and effort; it is discipline for spiritual combat, and we are at war. St Paul reminds us that our struggle is not with flesh and blood, and prayer is one of our greatest weapons. The enemy of our souls desires to pull us away from prayer. We are tempted to become discouraged by distractions and dryness. But the remedy is faith, fidelity to times of prayer, and watchfulness. Even our distractions help us to be more aware of those areas we may need more detachment from in order to grow closer to God! What is needed most is a humble awareness of what hinders our prayer life, for this moves us closer to Christ and helps purify our hearts. Prayer ultimately springs from a desire for relationship with God. We must be humble. We must be persistent. I have found the Rosary to be one of the greatest prayers in helping me in this way. These next 30 days, I encourage you to consider making it a point to pray the Rosary, reflect on the Mysteries proclaimed, each day.

“Behold Your Son”

There are few places I prefer to pray more than the Portiuncula, on the campus of Franciscan University. A few years ago, I was on campus for a conference. It was a hot humid day and a storm was moving in. As it began to thunder, and the rain became heavy, I didn’t want to leave. Here, so many times I have found peace, direction from the Lord, reassurance and comfort, and I wanted that again.

This day was different. I had come feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders; tired, burned out and stressed. Amidst the joys of the conference, I still found myself thinking about seemingly hopeless situations that had only seemed to become more hopeless. Yet in the stillness and quiet, tucked back in the trees with only the sound of the rain and occasional thunder, an incredible peace came over me.

It was while sitting in the middle of the grotto, soaked through and through (even ruined my cell phone), just me and Our Lady, that a peace had come over me. I felt such a loving and comforting embrace that suddenly everything else mattered little, even the fact that I was so wet. It was as if the Blessed Mother had taken me into her arms and said, “Rest my son, and do not worry.” I will never forget this moment. Sure, I “knew” all the doctrine about Mary. But this was the first time I had come to experience what it means to say “Mother Mary” in a real way.

Here I really saw how significant Christ, while bleeding out and dying on the Cross, giving us his Mother, truly is. Jesus said to his Mother, “Behold your son;” and to his beloved disciple, “Behold your Mother.” Scripture then affirms that from that day, this beloved disciple “took her into his home.” We to, as beloved disciples must take her into our homes, and allow the love of the Mother of God to penetrate our hearts as only that of a faithful mother can. Her heart is to draw us ever closer to the source of peace that surpasses all understanding: her son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Rote Prayer

In Matthew 6:7, Jesus declares, “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.” In its proper context, Jesus is teaching those gathered for his Sermon on the Mount about prayer. He says this right before giving them what the Church sees as the most perfect and sacred prayer, the Our Father.

Before I entered the Catholic Church I heard probably more than a thousand times, how Jesus here is condemning rote prayer; that this proves that prayers such as the Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, are nothing other than vain repetition; that priority should always be given to spontaneous prayer. But then something happened.

As I began to study the Faith more carefully, and grow deeper in my relationship with Christ, I realized something that was for me, altogether new. My “spontaneous” prayer had actually become quite rote in many ways. I regularly prayed for the same intentions, drawing from the same Scriptures. Was this “vain repetition?” No! Ultimately my faith was not, and is not in those words themselves, but rather the loving God to whom those words are addressed.

Jesus was not saying that rote prayer is something bad. But rather, Jesus was warning against the very thing that we can all so easily fall prey to: simply going through the motions for the motions sake. See, there is a difference between praying a prayer and saying a prayer. That difference begins in the heart. Furthermore, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Church provides us with a rich treasury of traditions of prayer, so that we may grow in holiness and in relationship with Christ. It is in these prayers that have been handed on to us that we learn the language of prayer. We learn to still our minds, let peace enter our hearts, turn off all the chatter of the world, and draw closer to Christ.