Jesus tells us, “Do not babble like the pagans!” Yet the Church encourages us to pray the Rosary, a prayer that may seem repetitive and boring… How does it help us grow in our Christian life?
A little history
Since early Christian times, the first Christians repeated the angel’s greeting to the Virgin of Nazareth, adding the name of Mary: Ave Maria, gratia plena. In the 9th century, the Offertory antiphon for the fourth Sunday of Advent was composed by adding Elizabeth’s exclamation during the Visitation to this greeting. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui. In the 13th century, at the request of Saint Gertrude of Helfta, the name of Jesus was added. The faithful then repeated this prayer 150 times in communion with the monks who recited the psalms.
During the Crusades, knotted cords were created to count the Ave Marias. People liked to crown statues of Mary with them. This is the origin of our rosaries and chapelets (crowns of roses or small hats). From the 15th century onwards, people began to meditate on the Gospel while reciting the Ave Marias, and added the final invocation Sancta Maria… En 1571, le pape Saint Pie V fait du rosaire la prière de l’Église et instaure la fête de Notre-Dame du Rosaire le 7 octobre. In the 19th century, in Lourdes, the beautiful lady prayed her rosary at the same time as Saint Bernadette. Half a century later, in Fatima, Mary was named Our Lady of the Rosary.
Simplicity and importance
“I knelt down and said the rosary in the beautiful lady’s presence.” Saint Bernadette bears witness to the simplicity and greatness of praying the Rosary. The basic prayers of the Church eventually become a vital reflex, like breathing. Meditating on the mysteries of Christ’s life immerses us in Revelation, the source of our faith and hope. Like the air we breathe, the Gospel becomes our spiritual atmosphere and our living environment.
When praying the rosary, il we can let ourselves be evangelized with Mary and by Mary. Who know the Gospel better than Mary? She carried her Son in her arms from Bethlehem to Golgotha! To pray the rosary and to meditate on the joyous, luminous, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries is to put ourselves in Mary’s arms to become Jesus’ disciples.
Pray without ceasing
Jesus asks us to pray without ceasing (cf. Lc 21:36)! The rosary is a contemplative prayer. It is a return to the source the source from which to draw salvation and be reborn before sin, holy and immaculate (cf. Eph 1:4)! It is an intercessory prayer in the hope of the conversion of sinners. It is a prayer of penance and reparation for our sins. Finally, it is a prayer of thanksgiving which remembers the wonders of the Lord, and in which sounds Mary’s Magnificat for the entire work of salvation.
