Monday, April 19, 2010

Multiply the power of your Rosary prayers

I often pray the Rosary for my own private intentions or those of my immediate family and closest friends.  Sometimes my prayers are not answered quite the way I had hoped, but I can see concrete results through the blessings bestowed upon the people I know and love.

Since I try to pray the Rosary every day, I occasionally pray for random people I encounter in my daily life-- the homeless man sleeping on a park bench, the elderly woman who can barely push her cart through the grocery store, or the teenage boy who bullies my son at school.  I will probably never know if my prayers have any effect on those people, but I trust that the Blessed Mother will know what to do.  I also receive grace by practicing charity.

If you really want to multiply the power of your Rosary prayers, then join the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary.  Anyone can join, and the requirements are simple: Pray the 15 traditional decades of the Rosary every week.  This includes the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries.  You are encouraged, but not required, to pray the Luminous Mysteries each week as well. 

The benefits and blessings received through this association are well worth the small effort required.  Members of the confraternity include all the other members and their intentions each time they pray the Rosary-- your prayers and intentions are multiplied hundreds of thousands of times!

If you think that praying 15 decades (or three Rosaries) a week is too much of a commitment, then consider praying just one decade at a time.  You can begin the Rosary on Sunday, praying the pendant chain prayers (the chain with the crucifix):  The Apostles Creed, 3 Hail Marys, Glory Be and Fatima Prayer.  This only takes about 3-4 minutes, and is easily done before or after Mass.  On Monday through Friday, you can pray 3 decades a day-- one in the morning when you wake up, one at lunch time, and one in the evening or before bed.  A decade consists of announcing the mystery (e.g. The First Joyful Mystery is The Annunciation), praying an Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, the Glory Be and the Fatima Prayer.  (As you pray the 10 Hail Marys, reflect or meditate upon the that particular mystery.)  It only takes about 3-4 minutes to pray each decade.  On Saturday, complete your 15-decade Rosary by praying the Hail Holy Queen (less than one minute of your time).

If you don't know how to pray the Rosary or forgot some of the prayers or mysteries, you'll find a tutorial on the Rosary Confraternity's website.  Even if you don't join the confraternity, do realize that your Rosary prayers are very powerful and can bring many blessings upon yourself and those you pray for.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I too pray the Rosary everyday and have received countless graces for doing so. I wanted to share a wonderful site that also teaches and encourages people to pray the Rosary everyday. This site has Rosary meditations on every mystery incase you need help with meditating on a particular subject, plus you can even add your own meditations. They also have a place where you can actually submit a Rosary prayer request and a place to share an inspirational story of the Rosary if you have one that will encourage others to pray the Rosary.

Peggy Bowes said...

That IS a wonderful site! I have come across countless Rosary websites but somehow missed this one. Although it's not listed on CatholicCulture.org's site reviews, I looked it over and it is very Orthodox and faithful to the Magisterium. Thanks for sharing the links. I plan to submit this blog and my website to them.

Maia said...

The link to the Rosary Confraternity is wonderful! The Dominican parish I grew up in, Holy Rosary, is linked to the Rosary Center and directly across the street. We were blessed to have Fr. Duffner as priest and preacher; if you get a chance to read To Know Him, The Way, The Truth, The Light, it is a holy, beautiful read.

Ann said...

I'm loving the link from anonymous above. I had found the links for the rosary videos on Youtube but now I have the website for them.
thanks very much.

Peggy Bowes said...

I just heard back from the "Pray the Rosary Everyday" folks (first link from Anon), and they plan to feature me as an upcoming Rosary Promoter-- such a great honor! I'll post the details when I have more information. I also submitted their *very* helpful website to CatholicCulture.org's site review committee.

Maia, how wonderful to grow up in a Dominican parish. I'll add the book to my ever-growing Amazon wishlist. I've been a member of the Rosary Confraternity for several years. (For more info, see my blog post for April 19th.)