Thank you for this article. I believe it is important to pray the Rosary every day. It takes just about 20 minutes. I personally love praying it while walking in the forest or in the hills. Since I always carry trekking poles in my hands, my rosary needs to have large enough spacing between the beads.
I also appreciate having a beautiful rosary—after all, a beautiful prayer deserves a beautiful rosary.
Some other good quotes by St. Louis de Montfort: “The Rosary is the most powerful weapon to touch the heart of Jesus, our Redeemer, who loves His mother so.” And “Mary is the safest, easiest, shortest, and most perfect way of approaching Jesus.”
The best of all, but actually there are more: “We never give more honor to Jesus than when we honor His Mother, and we honor her, simply and solely, to honor Him more perfectly. We go to her only as the way to leading to the goal we seek - Jesus, her Son.”
I have trouble actually meditating on the Mysteries when I pray any Rosary, Patriotic, Pro-Life, for the Holy Souls, for my family and prayer concerns. I enjoy looking upon beautiful spiritual art. I also have found that I’m completely spoiled by the mini-Homilies Bishop Robert Barron does in his praying of the Rosary, available on YouTube and Hallow App. Hallow App, in my estimation, is well worth the $60-70/ subscription fee per year. I use Hallow constantly, followed closely by the EWTN App on my phone and streaming on my tv. I imagine if I found the Ascension App, I would feel it was also worth its subscription fee.
Is anyone familiar with “Rosary in a Year”, kinda but not really like the “Bible in a Year” and “Catechism in a Year” available because of Ascension Press, available on Hallow and Ascension Apps and most podcast formats. Father Mike Schmitz does great mini-Homilies with those to projects.
“Rosary in a Year” is going to open up all that praying the Rosary can be. It’s not praying one Rosary over 365 days! It started 1 January 2025, and I fully meant to promote it, and it’s not too late. It’s available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Ascension App, and at ascension press.com/rosaryinayear. Spread the word!
The Rosary, next to the Mass, is our most powerful prayer. Start small and see how far you can go. My goal is to do what Johnette William’s’ grandmother did praying Rosaries for each of her 13 grandchildren. I only have half that, but I keep striving. My co-grandmother (my DIL’s mother) dedicates a Mystery of the Rosary for each grandchildren. That will do until I reach 7 a day plus one for all the parents.
[Johnette Williams in the host of EWTN’s radio and tv show, Women of Grace]
My advice for praying the Rosary and making it a daily habit is more mundane.
1) It is important that your Rosary has beads where the Hail Mary beads are distinct from the Our Father beads. I have many beautiful Rosaries that are somewhat useless to me because these beads are not obviously distinct. This can lead to confusion. The Rosary I use is an inexpensive plastic one.
2) Use the Luminous Mysteries. They are sublime addition per Pope John Paul II.
3) I have a pamphlet from the Marian Press. For each of the mysteries, there is a relevant painting and quote from scripture. I find this a wonderful aid.
I completely agree, especially with your first point! Having distinct beads for the Hail Mary and Our Father prayers is essential—it makes it much easier to stay focused and avoid confusion. Like you, I also have some beautiful rosaries that are not as practical for regular use because of this.
Your other suggestions are great as well. The Luminous Mysteries truly enrich the Rosary, and having a visual and scriptural aid sounds like a wonderful way to deepen meditation on the mysteries.
I needed this so much; I will never pray the Rosary the same way again.
Thank you for this article. I believe it is important to pray the Rosary every day. It takes just about 20 minutes. I personally love praying it while walking in the forest or in the hills. Since I always carry trekking poles in my hands, my rosary needs to have large enough spacing between the beads.
I also appreciate having a beautiful rosary—after all, a beautiful prayer deserves a beautiful rosary.
Wishing you God's blessings.
Some other good quotes by St. Louis de Montfort: “The Rosary is the most powerful weapon to touch the heart of Jesus, our Redeemer, who loves His mother so.” And “Mary is the safest, easiest, shortest, and most perfect way of approaching Jesus.”
The best of all, but actually there are more: “We never give more honor to Jesus than when we honor His Mother, and we honor her, simply and solely, to honor Him more perfectly. We go to her only as the way to leading to the goal we seek - Jesus, her Son.”
I have trouble actually meditating on the Mysteries when I pray any Rosary, Patriotic, Pro-Life, for the Holy Souls, for my family and prayer concerns. I enjoy looking upon beautiful spiritual art. I also have found that I’m completely spoiled by the mini-Homilies Bishop Robert Barron does in his praying of the Rosary, available on YouTube and Hallow App. Hallow App, in my estimation, is well worth the $60-70/ subscription fee per year. I use Hallow constantly, followed closely by the EWTN App on my phone and streaming on my tv. I imagine if I found the Ascension App, I would feel it was also worth its subscription fee.
Is anyone familiar with “Rosary in a Year”, kinda but not really like the “Bible in a Year” and “Catechism in a Year” available because of Ascension Press, available on Hallow and Ascension Apps and most podcast formats. Father Mike Schmitz does great mini-Homilies with those to projects.
“Rosary in a Year” is going to open up all that praying the Rosary can be. It’s not praying one Rosary over 365 days! It started 1 January 2025, and I fully meant to promote it, and it’s not too late. It’s available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Ascension App, and at ascension press.com/rosaryinayear. Spread the word!
The Rosary, next to the Mass, is our most powerful prayer. Start small and see how far you can go. My goal is to do what Johnette William’s’ grandmother did praying Rosaries for each of her 13 grandchildren. I only have half that, but I keep striving. My co-grandmother (my DIL’s mother) dedicates a Mystery of the Rosary for each grandchildren. That will do until I reach 7 a day plus one for all the parents.
[Johnette Williams in the host of EWTN’s radio and tv show, Women of Grace]
Hail Mary
My advice for praying the Rosary and making it a daily habit is more mundane.
1) It is important that your Rosary has beads where the Hail Mary beads are distinct from the Our Father beads. I have many beautiful Rosaries that are somewhat useless to me because these beads are not obviously distinct. This can lead to confusion. The Rosary I use is an inexpensive plastic one.
2) Use the Luminous Mysteries. They are sublime addition per Pope John Paul II.
3) I have a pamphlet from the Marian Press. For each of the mysteries, there is a relevant painting and quote from scripture. I find this a wonderful aid.
Hope this helps you.
I completely agree, especially with your first point! Having distinct beads for the Hail Mary and Our Father prayers is essential—it makes it much easier to stay focused and avoid confusion. Like you, I also have some beautiful rosaries that are not as practical for regular use because of this.
Your other suggestions are great as well. The Luminous Mysteries truly enrich the Rosary, and having a visual and scriptural aid sounds like a wonderful way to deepen meditation on the mysteries.
Thanks for sharing your insights!
I had the hardest time getting into that book last time I tried to read it...but I do have a copy of it on my shelf. Hmmm.