As a Protestant, I had some vague idea about the rosary, but quite honestly I thought it was a sequence of rote prayers directed to Mary.  Somehow I completely missed the fact that the recitation of prayers was to be combined with meditations on the life of Christ.  Nor did I understand that the Lord’s Prayer, the Glory Be and the Apostles Creed were also included.  It was indeed an epiphany when I discovered these crucial facts regarding the rosary – and then it began to make so much more sense to me.

For cradle Catholics, praying the rosary is automatic – maneuvering the beads, reciting the prayers, envisioning and meditating on the scripture passage.  But for the new Catholic, rosary logistics can be quite challenging!  I liken praying the rosary for the first time to my first attempt at preparing a new complicated recipe for a dinner party.

First of all I have to set out all my “ingredients” (rosary materials) before me:

Rosary

Rosary diagram for detailing which prayer to pray with which bead

Bible – so I can read the passage of scripture to aid in effective meditation

Rosary instruction booklet so I can read the words of the lesser known prayers

Then I have to overcome my slight anxiety that the “recipe” (rosary prayer) might not come out right.

And finally during the actual “recipe preparation” (praying) – I succumb to my OCD and constantly check to see if I said the right prayer on the right bead – all the while keeping the meditation top of mind.  As you can see, I am completely exhausted when it is over!!

But seriously now – I know that God does not care if my prayer is perfect.  I think He is rather pleased in all of His children’s feeble attempts to come to Him in prayer and meditate on the life of His son.  So while my effort is somewhat bumbling and robotic, I will continue to try and pray the rosary with the hope that one day it will become more automatic . . . more natural.  But most importantly, I am hopeful that entering into Christ’s life through these meditations will help me to grow to be more like Him.

Southern Catholic Chick A