I am sure that almost all of you have got a Rosary and treat it with respect. Mary gave it to you to be an enormous help and defense and an enlightening way of growing in prayer and holiness and to do it in a way that, without any complications, brings you into the right relationship with Jesus and with Her. The beads themselves, blessed by a priest, that is to say made a sacramental of the Church, enable us to pray the Rosary even when we are worried or distracted or unwell or troubled in various ways.
I do not think Our Lady demands that Her children always say the Rosary with rapt attention and deep recollection. If we can do that at times with Her help that is a great blessing, but because we have in our hands this tangible instrument from our Mother to play with, I am sure that even a very distracted and very unrecollected use of the Rosary brings us great rewards and benefits. It does so as long as we genuinely want to pray it well. . .
Of course I would not say that we should be careless in saying the Rosary, but I would say that if we are trying to say it well, without any strain, we can be quite sure that Our Lady will give us love and attention. I am sure that if a mother hears the least cry of her baby and answers it, our heavenly Mother’s attention is drawn as soon as we take hold lovingly of our Rosary beads. What a pitifully small use we make of them, most of us. We have a gift from Mary, and we almost forget it, . . .
When we say the Rosary, we contemplate the mysteries of Jesus under His Mother’s prompting. . .
I do not intend to suggest that the Rosary should be our only voluntary prayer outside Holy Mass . . . but it should supplement our prayer . . . There is no reason why we should not say the Rosary very slowly as our mental prayer if we feel moved to do so, and it is possible to say the Rosary in a very deep state of prayer in which the words are hardly noticed, and the thoughts about the mysteries are very gentle, and the love we feel for God is very strong. There are very many ways of praying the Rosary, all based on the holy beads that Mary has given us.
One of the chief antidotes to the evils of our times in the realm of faith is undoubtedly the Rosary, and when Our Lady appears to chosen souls, whether at Fatima or Lourdes or elsewhere, She always begs us to say the Rosary. It is Her way of defending Her children and keeping them safe with Her Son. It is not something difficult She is asking of us, and She will always help us with it.
The Holy Rosary recited with great reverence and love and meditated on is a very direct and simple link with Jesus in the company of Mary, whether it is at the Annunciation or at the foot of the Cross or in the Resurrection. . . The Rosary should accompany us everywhere, and we can even hold the beads when we are not praying, as a kind of holding Mary’s hand, a sign and cause of confidence.
No one, no one at all, can say he cannot pray if he has a Rosary. Let us love it and say it very often and not keep looking to see if we are doing it well. Let us do it with a desire to do it well, but without any strain or tension or self-analysis.
We have the privilege of visiting the Blessed Sacrament from time to time. We have the privilege of entering Mary’s presence, close to Her Son, even more often. We just take hold of our Holy Rosary.
At the end of praying the Rosary, we ask God our Father to grant that by meditating on the Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary we may imitate what they contain of the life, death and Resurrection of His Son and obtain what these Mysteries promise us. That is what this gift from our Mother enables us to do.
Some people make a great fuss over heirlooms that belong to their families. We have an heirloom given to each of us by Mary our Mother. Treat your Rosary Beads with special care, and make frequent use of them.
