Fr. José Juan Sánchez Jácome / ACN.- The holy rosary has been essential in my spiritual formation, through which the emotional part and the maternal aroma of my Christian faith were accentuated. Its kindness, simplicity, and intimacy have made it possible for me not to succumb to the charms of modernity, trying to seek more novel, flashy, and sophisticated means in spiritual life.
The holy rosary not only led me to know God more and more and to deepen my Catholic faith, but it also made me enjoy those moments of prayer that were lived with the seal of Mary, the woman of the most eloquent silence.
I felt that the holy rosary equipped us not to stop feeling wonder at the things of God, awakening all our sensitivity to be more attentive to the manifestations of the Lord.
When I felt distracted and had no words of my own to share with the Lord, I had the holy rosary which made those moments not wasted time. The holy rosary awakened my sensitivity and entrusted me with sacred words to confirm my affection for the Lord.
In this way, I came to perceive that the rosary is a prayer for all moments. All kinds of feelings fit into it. If it was a matter of giving thanks, there was the rosary; if there was a need, there was the rosary; if an affliction arose, there was the holy rosary; and even in the saddest moments, especially in the death of a loved one, there was the holy rosary.
In the most difficult moments and when faced with death one cannot say anything -because only tears, loneliness, and a lump in the throat remain-, the rosary put words in our mouth and feelings in our heart, proving the sweetness and consolation in the most bitter moments of life.
What would our griefs be like if the rosary did not exist? How would one face the death of a loved one if we did not have the holy rosary in our hand? How would we live those delicate moments if those blessed words we address to Mary did not flow, when we are blocked and have nothing of our own to say?
The rosary is a chain that not only unites the earth with heaven, but also unites us closely to the Lord in any circumstance we go through. St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus said: “With the Rosary, everything can be achieved. According to a gracious comparison, it is a long chain that unites Heaven and earth, one end of which is in our hands and the other in those of the Most Holy Virgin”.
Now the holy rosary is not only something I like, but it has become something necessary and essential. Although I have been consolidating my relationship with God and learning the richness of spiritual life, the rosary remains something primary.
The rosary is the prayer of simple people, of those who are thirsty for God, of those who want to grow in intimacy with the Lord, of those who do not want to impress God with their speeches. Cardinal Albino Luciani pointed out:
“I do not understand contemplation. I stick with simple prayer, the humble one, that of simple souls. Certain poor people have not learned to meditate, but they say the prayers well, with the heart, the vocal prayers. St. Bernadette is a saint only for this. She prayed the rosary well, obeyed her mother”.
St. Bernadette Soubirous was content with praying the holy rosary to enter into relationship with God, as she herself says: “I did not study and I am very ignorant, but I know how to pray my Rosary and with it I manage to communicate with Our Lord and with the Most Holy Virgin”.
The rosary is a matter of love that comes from the heart. Therefore, when it is criticized with airs of superiority and insolence that the rosary is boring, mechanical, and repetitive, one should point out that with the rosary we can offer something out of love for Mary.
The rosary that we pray for different situations, in the end, is always for her, although as always happens in the things of God, the greater benefit is for us. If you ever react that way and disqualify the rosary because it is repetitive, think that it is for your mother, that it is for Mary.
In other moments of life, you give your mother what she likes, not what you like. You want to see her happy, you want to surprise her and that is why you think about what can bring her the most joy. You try to do everything possible so that she lacks nothing and what she can never lack is your confession of love and your details.
Mary likes the rosary. Surprise her by giving her what she likes most, keeping in mind that the greatest benefit will be for you. Even in spiritual life, one must change the materialistic mentality: pray not only for the pleasure you experience, but for the love you can express to God and to Mary.
On her birthday and on other important moments in life, the mother is given what she likes most. The gift is not for you, but for her. Telling a mother fifty times that you love her does not tire her. And that is what we do by borrowing the words of the Gospel. No matter how eloquent I am to tell her something, my words will never reach the height, width, and depth of those words that the Angel and St. Elizabeth said to Mary.
Brother Carlo Carretto, a hermit who spent much of his life in the Sahara desert, comments on the holy rosary: “What is proper to love is to repeat itself with simple and warm words. So, if you feel the need to nourish your prayers with biblical texts, do so. But if you realize that you find peace and joy praying the Rosary, delving into a rhythmic and repetitive prayer, enjoy it.
Remember this: if you manage to pray the entire Rosary without having to worry about thinking, but only to feel happy near the Mother of Jesus, rejoice, because without a doubt you are under the action of the Spirit and that is the only thing that matters when we pray…
For those who do not understand spiritual life, the prayer of the Rosary is synonymous with something mechanical, stupid, useless. For those who are ‘spiritual’, for those who advance on the path of prayer, the Rosary is the simplest way to help themselves live concretely in prayer. I have no fear of affirming that those who feel comfortable praying the Rosary are contemplatives, or surely advancing on the path of contemplation. Therefore, be careful not to denigrate what you do not know”.
Thus, when they tell you that the rosary is repetitive and monotonous, remind them that the athlete constantly repeats his exercises to achieve excellence; that the artist rehearses hundreds of times to reach the beauty of his voice; that the same work is always done to procure a decent livelihood; that lovers do not count the innumerable times they confess their love; and that parents repeat the same routine with love so that the children feel loved and have what is necessary.
With the beauty of verses, Enrique Menéndez y Pelayo refers to this same issue in his poem To the Rosary:
You, who suppose this amiable devotion
monotonous and tiring, and do not pray it,
because it always repeats the same sounds,
you do not understand loves and sorrows:
What poor person tired of asking for gifts?
What lover of saying tendernesses?
In our childhood, our Christian initiation consisted of learning to say prayers, like the Hail Mary, the Our Father, etc. Chronologically, they were our first notions of Christianity and they became something very familiar, the words we know best and that are felt in the heart. They were our first Christian words and perhaps they will be the last, when the moment comes to return to the Father.
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