Nine reasons why I love the rosary

By Jean Paige – There is a beautiful poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-61) titled, How Do I Love Thee? In it, the poet claims there are nine different ways. I shall try and show you nine reasons why I love my Rosary prayers.

1. My burning desire to draw closer to Jesus, through meditation of his teachings, such as those in the mysteries of Joys, Sorrows, Perseverance, Tears, Sweat and Blood.– 

2. Our Blessed Mother Mary has asked many times in her apparitions that we should pray the Rosary. Since she does so much for me, I am delighted to please her in this matter.

Many say it is too repetitive, but think of it this way: do you ever get tired of hearing your spouse or your child say I love you? In the same way I constantly offer my Ave’s so that Mary can know that I love her.

3. Some of the Church’s greatest prayers are part of the Rosary: the Gloria, the Creed, Doxology, the Jesus prayer, and most importantly the one our Lord taught us to pray, the Our Father.

On this note, I once met a priest who had been a missionary in China. When the Communists took over, they burned all bibles, prayer books and broke down churches and banished priests.

Twenty five years later, the priest returned to his former parish as all the prohibitions had been lifted. He told me that he was shocked, amazed and joyful to find that numerous children who had never seen a church or a bible were very adept at all their prayers. It transpired that their mothers and some fathers had fashioned rosaries by threading grains of rice on cotton, and had taught them the prayers in this way. If their house was raided and searched for Christian artifacts, they just broke the cotton and threw the rice into the cooking pot.

4. The Rosary to me is the surest way I know to offer a nine-day novena, and for it to be answered favourably. In Luke 11:5-9, there is the story of the home owner who had gone to bed, but answered the door because of persistent knocking. My Aves are my knocks on the door.

5. Our beloved Bl John Paul II said in an article when he introduced the additional rosary of the Mysteries of Light, that the rosary was his favourite manner of prayer. To coin a phrase: What’s good enough for him is certainly good enough for me!

6. Because it makes Satan squirm and shiver in his boots!

7. It gives me great pleasure to think of Mary, her obedience, humility and compassion. I don’t think anyone I know would travel 100km on a donkey to help and assist me as she did for Elizabeth. She never grumbled at giving birth in a stable. Let me assure you that I would definitely have had a moan about it.

8. Convenience. Recently I had a bout of illness which kept me in hospital for a week. It was too difficult to read, which required sitting up in bed, or lifting one’s arms to hold a book, especially a Bible. However, my beads were always there to comfort me, always handy under my pillow.

9. Hopefully at my death, the Blessed Virgin Mary will say to me: I greet you now Jean with love, because of all the times you greeted me.

Someone once scornfully said to me that the rosary is just a counting mechanism. And, yes, that it is indeed!

I count on it to sweeten my soul. I count my blessings on it. I count it a privilege to pray with it.