“The reason why we get tired of saying the Rosary so much, is because we think about it so little.”
Father Ronald Knox

For Reflection:
To what extent do I think about the prayer of the Rosary throughout the day? How does this help me enter into it more deeply?

“The Rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known; it is the book of the simple, which initiates them into mysteries and knowledge more satisfying than the education of other men; it is the book of the aged, whose eyes close upon the shadow of this world, and open on the substance of the next. The power of the Rosary is beyond description. ”
Fulton J. Sheen

For Reflection:
Given the categories of individuals Archbishop Sheen describes in this quote, what attributes or virtues describe them as they pray the Rosary. Into which category do you fit most readily? To what extent have you emulated all of them?

“When you say the Rosary, say after each mystery: O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.”
Our Lady of Fatima

For Reflection:
Who do I know that is in need of God’s mercy today? I will pray this prayer for him/her at the close of each mystery in my Rosary this day.
 

Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

“Say the Rosary every day. Pray, pray a lot and offer sacrifices for sinners. I’m Our Lady of the Rosary. Only I will be able to help you. In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”
Our Lady of Fatima

For Reflection:
To what extent am I personally heeding Our Blessed Mother’s plea? In what one way can I be more diligent?

“Airplanes must have runways before they can fly. What the runway is to the airplane, the Rosary beads are to prayer – the physical start to gain spiritual altitude.”
Fulton J. Sheen

For Reflection:
To what extent has the Rosary been a runway to spiritual altitude for me in my life? How has it led me into a deeper understanding of God’s presence in my life?

“After Holy Mass [the Rosary] is one of the most beautiful and efficacious forms of prayer, on condition of understanding it and living it.”
Grarrigou-Lagrange

For Reflection:
What do I think it means to understand and to live the Rosary? To what extent do I do this in my everyday life? Is there a strategy I can employ to help me do so more faithfully?

“The second fault commonly committed in saying the Rosary is to have no intention other than that of getting it over with as quickly as possible.”
St. Louis de Montfort

For Reflection:
How often I have fallen into this fault! Today, I will begin again to treasure this great prayer that is my privilege to pray.

“Take great care to avoid the two pitfalls that most people fall into during the Rosary. The first is the danger of not asking for any graces at all. So, whenever you say your Rosary, be sure to ask for some special grace or virtue, or strength to overcome some sin.”
(See tomorrow’s Grace Line for the second pitfall.)
St. Louis de Montfort

For Reflection:
What special grace or virtue will I ask to obtain when I say my Rosary today? Is there a sin I need the strength to overcome? What is it? I will tuck this intention into my prayer as well.

“From my youthful years this prayer has held an important place in my spiritual life. The Rosary has accompanied me in moments of joy and in moments of difficulty. To it I have entrusted any number of concerns: in it I have always found comfort.”
Pope John Paul II

For Reflection:
What position does the Rosary hold in my spiritual life? Am I in a moment of joy or difficulty? Am I willing to entrust this moment to this prayer?

Queen of the Holy Rosary

Queen of the Holy Rosary!
Thee as our Queen we greet,
And lay our lowly, loving prayers
Like roses at thy feet.
Would that these blossoms of our souls
Were far more fair and sweet.

Queen of the Joyful Mysteries!
Glad news God’s envoy bore.
The Baptist’s mother thou didst tend;
Angels thy Babe adore,
Whom with two doves thou ransomest;
Lost, He is found once more.

Queen of the Dolorous Mysteries!
Christ ‘mid the olives bled,
Scourged at the pillar, crowned with thorns,
Beneath His Cross He sped
Up the steep hill; and there once more
Thine arms embraced Him–dead!

Queen of the Glorious Mysteries!
Christ from the tomb has flown,
Has mounted to the highest heaven
And sent His Spirit down
And soon He raises thee on high
To wear thy heavenly crown.

Queen of the Holy Rosary!
We, too, have joys and woes.
May they, like thine, to triumph lead!
May labor earn repose,
And may life’s sorrows and life’s joys
In heavenly glory close.
Cyril Robert

For Reflection:
As I contemplate this poem, how have I seen the mysteries of Christ’s life reflected in my own?