Tiny intro to the Holy Rosary

This is only a tiny intro because I read this blog (linked in the title above) and HAD to share it right away.
It’s the evening, I’ve got my boys cuddled by me in the living room, and they’re not going to let me write a lengthy entry. (I normally write in the morning before one of them is awake). 

Her blog entry gives a great example of how Catholics are *supposed* to meditate when they pray the Rosary. Unfortunately, many “Catholics” don’t even know how to pray the Rosary, and cannot even tell you what it’s about. 

Many people unfamiliar or just blatantly bigoted towards the Catholic faith will tell you that when we pray the rosary, we are worshipping Mary. 

And that, as we know from my previous post, couldn’t be further from the truth. 

The rosary contains 4 Mysteries of The life of Jesus Christ. (ummm… Not the life of Mary…*cough*) 
There are the: 
Joyful Mysteries 
Sorrowful Mysteries 
Glorious Mysteries 
Luminous Mysteries. 

Each of these mysteries actually contain a set of 5 mysteries within. 
And depending on which type we are praying, those five are what we mediate upon while praying. 

In her blog linked above, she attaches the beatitudes to the Sorrowful Mysteries. 

With each Hail Mary, each Our Father and each Glory Be, we meditate on the scriptural basis- the events in Christ’s life.

For example, the Sorrowful Mysteries are about the: 
1 Jesus’s agony in the garden 
2 the scourging of Jesus at the pillar 
3 the crowning of Jesus with thorns 
4 Jesus carrying the cross 
5 Christ’s crucifixion 

We pray, meditating on these events of Christ’s life all while ALSO bringing to Jesus our struggles and personal prayers for our life and loved ones. 

This is not easy to do. 

To someone standing on the outside of a group of people praying the rosary, it would appear that we are just chanting meaningless repetitive “prayer”. No. We are praying the prayer of the Gospel. 

We are praying the words of the bible WHILE lifting up our own struggles and praises! 
It is emotionally challenging. 

There is SO much to meditate and reflect upon. So when someone tells you that praying the rosary is a shallow, meaningless worshipping of Mary, you are now equipped with a tiny knowledge enough to know that, that person has absolutely no idea what he or she is talking about. 

And now Elmo is over and I have to get my boys to bed.

Here’s some further info: 

http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/devotionals/rosaries/how-to-pray-the-rosary.cfm 

Prayers of the Rosary 

An inspiring explanation of the Hail Mary