The rosary is a powerful way to meditate and pray

By Celia K. Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald

Rare is the Catholic home without at least one rosary in it.

It might be collecting dust in a drawer, or it might be worn from years of passing through its owner’s fingers.

The rosary might be elaborate, with gold detailing and glass beads, or a simple white string of plastic beads with a plastic crucifix and medallion.

Perhaps its owner traveled to Rome and picked it up at a Vatican gift shop. Maybe a child received one from her school to learn its prayers.

With the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on Oct. 7, the entire month of October is dedicated to the rosary. In Hawaii, a number of parishes and religious and lay orders reflect the importance of the rosary within the Catholic Church.

Nita Ayag, president of the Legion of Mary, said that throughout October, the organization visits homes with a statue of Mary and prays the rosary with families.

“It is our way of promoting devotion to our Blessed Mother and an opportunity to encourage families to pray,” she said.

Many priests and religious men and women pray the rosary regularly. Bishop Larry Silva said he prays at least two rosaries daily.

The rosary — is a deeply meaningful way to meditate. It can be a way for the faithful to express their love, faith and devotion; it can provide comfort or help people focus; it can even work as a way to connect with others.

“When the Maui wildfires broke out in August 2023, I immediately thought that one way we could all help was to pray the rosary for the victims,” Bishop Silva said. “We did a ‘Zoom’ rosary that night, and even though the notice was very short, I believe about 100 people joined us for the rosary.”

Roots of the rosary

The rosary invites the faithful to reflect on the mysteries of salvation. The church has identified key events in the lives of Jesus and Mary that originally were grouped in three sets of five — the joyful mysteries, the glorious mysteries and the sorrowful mysteries.

Pope John Paul II added a fourth set, the luminous mysteries, in 2002.

The most familiar version of the rosary — a loop containing five “decades” (groupings of 10 beads) — is often linked to St. Dominic, the founder of the Dominican order who was said to have received the rosary from Mary herself in the early 13th century.

While this account is difficult to trace, according to author Pat Kasten in her 2011 book “Linking Your Beads: The Rosary’s History, Mysteries, and Prayers,” there’s no doubt that Dominicans led the way in promoting the rosary as a form of meditation and prayer.

One of the most prominent early champions of the rosary was Pope Pius V, himself a Dominican. He believed it could help counter the heresies challenging the Catholic Church in the mid-1500s. According to a 1996 article by Father Matthew R. Mauriello, who now serves in the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, it was Pius V who established the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on Oct. 7, 1571, in honor of a victory by Catholic forces over Ottoman Empire forces.

Counting on prayer

The rosary’s hallmark, and perhaps its most daunting feature, is the repetition of prayers guided by meditation on the rosary’s mysteries.

The Hail Mary is prayed 50 times as faithful reflect on a set of five mysteries. This is preceded by the Apostle’s Creed, the Our Father, three more Hail Marys and the Glory Be, and concludes with the “Salve Regina” (“Hail Holy Queen”).

When the rosary began to spread in the Middle Ages, it was used as an alternative for illiterate faithful who could not read the Bible’s 150 psalms every day, which was encouraged at the time. As it happened, the number of Hail Marys prayed during meditation on all three original sets of mysteries totaled 150. People could still participate in prayer, but on their own terms.

Despite the many mysteries and prayers — not to mention optional prayers — involved in the rosary, Kasten offers a reminder that “there really is no ‘correct’ way to say a rosary.”

“The key purpose … remains the same: to help us meditate upon the wonders of our salvation and the glory of new life won for us through Christ.”

A path of discovery

As with many things in life, embracing the rosary takes time and practice. Some who faithfully pray the rosary now weren’t always so enthusiastic about it.

When Father Anthony Tran was growing up, praying the rosary felt “repetitive and robotic” and wasn’t very enjoyable.

Learning about Marian apparitions in high school, however — especially at Fatima, where one of the children could not see Mary until he prayed the rosary correctly — had a profound impact on Father Tran, who serves as parochial vicar at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu. He said he realized the importance of prayer and, as he entered the seminary and added the rosary to his routine, “came to understand that Mary intercedes for us, helping us grow closer to her son, Jesus Christ.”

Now, Father Tran said, the rosary is even more central to his spiritual life.

“As I lift up my rosary in prayer for those God has entrusted to my care, I hope to be like Mary — leading others closer to Jesus, just as she leads me closer to him,” he said. “In this way, the rosary has become not only a personal devotion but a pastoral tool, helping me root my relationship with Jesus and guide others in their faith.”

Esther Gefroh, co-director of the World Apostolate of Fatima-Hawaii division, promised to pray the rosary daily in college, but for years prayed “in a hurry, distracted and with no meditation at all.”

Now, “by the grace of God and Our Lady’s help,” she prays the rosary with deeper devotion and meditation.

Family matters

Just as every Catholic home has a rosary in it, many Catholics grow up with at least some exposure to the prayer through family members.

Several priests, as well as Bishop Silva, interviewed for this story cited their families as having an early influence on their prayer habits.

“When I was a child, my family was influenced by the message of Father Patrick Peyton, the great crusader of the rosary, whose mantra was ‘The family that prays together, stays together,’” Bishop Silva said. “(…) I am sure the rosary helped us overcome many difficulties.”

Father Ace Tui, parochial vicar of St. Anthony Church in Wailuku, and Sacred Hearts Father Herman Gomes, parochial vicar of Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Pearl City, said their mothers prayed the rosary when they were growing up. While in seminary formation and as ordained clergy, both found the rosary to be a guiding light and a comfort in tough times.

Dominican Sister Lergie Tabasa also said her mother, who prayed the rosary almost every night, was also influential in her devotion.

Growing up in the Philippines, Sister Tabasa also recalled visits by the Benedictine Sisters of the Rural Mission, who would pray the rosary with families as well as in a small chapel in her village.

“Looking back and in the present (as a Dominican sister), praying the rosary has helped me through and guided me in every choice and decision I make,” she said.

The power of prayer

Father Anthony Rapozo, pastor of St. John Apostle and Evangelist Church in Mililani, described the rosary as having a calming effect. It helps keep him “focused on whose work I am really doing, which is Jesus’.”

Father Dario Rinaldi, pastor of Holy Family Church in Honolulu, also said he finds calm and connection through praying the rosary.

“The rosary’s graces are more than I can describe,” he said. “The rosary connects me to God, the Blessed Mother, the saints and the souls in purgatory. Like the beads linked together, it unites us all in a ring of prayer.”

Sister Tabasa and others detailed the profound connection they feel when they pray the rosary.

“Praying the rosary is looking through the eyes and reflecting on the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary (and) the salvation that God has promised to us,” she said. “It is just worth praying and meditating with.”

Bishop Silva urged all “to turn to the Lord in prayer in this simple way — even to pray the rosary while driving or cleaning the house.

“Faith and prayer can indeed move mountains!”

Know your mysteries

• Joyful mysteries: the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Presentation and the Finding of Jesus in the Temple
• Sorrowful mysteries: the Agony in the Garden, the Scourging at the Pillar, the Crowning with Thorns, the Carrying of the Cross and the Crucifixion
• Glorious mysteries: the Resurrection, the Ascension, the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, the Assumption and the Crowning of Mary as Queen of Heaven
• Luminous mysteries: the Baptism in the Jordan River, the Wedding at Cana, the Proclamation of the Kingdom, the Transfiguration and the Last Supper

How to pray the rosary

• maryknollsisters.org/pray-with-us/pray-rosary-us