If you saw this title and were a bit confused, no worries, I totally get it. Saying the Rosary is often something us Catholics dread doing. It's repetitive, it takes a good chunk of time to complete, and can be boring. What if I told you saying the Rosary doesn't have to be boring? What if I told you that saying the Rosary can actually be an exciting prayer? Yup, that's right, I believe saying the Rosary is exciting. But of course, it depends on my attitude while saying it and the background knowledge I now have of it.
My first reason for arguing that praying the Rosary can be exciting is simple: Mary asks us to. Mary, the mother of Jesus, asks us to pray the Rosary. It is important to also realize that Jesus desires for us to look to Mary as our own mother. John 19:26-27 says, "When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, 'Woman, behold, your son.' Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother.'" Mary has the most strong, motherly love for each and every one of us, and she desires only for us to come to Jesus. Who would know how to get to know Jesus better than Mary? So the answer is simple, we can look to Mary for guidance, and she already has and is still giving us the guidance we so crave. Mary appeared to Saint Dominic in the year 1214. It was at that time that she taught Saint Dominic the rosary and asked that he spread the use of it throughout the Church. Mary has also appeared in the past in Lourdes and Fatima, and is currently appearing in Medjugorje (if you do not know about these apparitions, I highly encourage you to do some research, the miracles and messages she gives are eye opening and life changing). In all of these places, Mary encourages the prayer of the Rosary. Essentially, Mary has always asked and continues to ask us to pray the Rosary. Knowing that we have a form of prayer that the mother of Jesus has not only approved, but encourages, is exciting!
A second reason to be excited about praying the Rosary is that Mary made fifteen promises to those who pray the Rosary on a regular basis. Mary first appeared to Saint Dominic in the year 1214 and asked that he establish the Rosary. The practice of praying the Rosary would eventually die away, and so in 1460 she again appeared to Blessed Alan de la Roche, whom she asked to restore the practice of praying the Rosary. To these men she gave the fifteen promises. The promises are as follows:
1. Whosoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal graces.
2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.
3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin and defeat heresies.
4. It will cause good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for Eternal Things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish.
6. Whosoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of Eternal Life.
7. Whoever shall have a true devotion to the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.
8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the Light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the Merits of the Saints in Paradise.
9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of Glory in Heaven.
11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by recitation of the Rosary.
12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire Celestial Court during their life and at the hour of death.
14. All who recite the Rosary are my Sons, and brothers of my Only Son Jesus Christ.
15. Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
Wow, just typing her promises made me excited. If Mary promises all these wonderful things in exchange for a devotion to praying the Rosary, I think it is safe to believe that the Rosary is an incredibly powerful prayer, which leads me to my last reason for claiming the Rosary is an exciting prayer. (For explanations of the fifteen promises, click here)
The Rosary is exciting because of its amazing power over the devil. The devil fears Mary above all the other saints because it is she who made the Redemption of mankind possible by saying yes to God's will and becoming the mother of God. It is said that each Hail Mary is like a blow against the devil's head. With that being the case, saying the Rosary, or even just a decade of the Rosary, is equivalent to physically beating up the devil. What could possibly be more exciting than that? Just imagine saying the Rosary while being fully aware that with each Hail Mary you recite, the devil is taking a blow. I don't think I speak for myself when I say that this is a pleasant thought.
So pray the Rosary, obtain amazing graces and defeat evil one Hail Mary at a time.
For more mind blowing information on the rosary, consider reading The Secret of the Rosary by Saint Louis de Montfort.
