What the Rosary means to me… 3

Some years ago, at a Youth 2000 retreat in Walsingham, someone described the action of praying the Rosary with it wrapped around one’s hand as holding the hand of our Mother as she leads us home. This image struck me with some force because until then I had often seen the Rosary as a mental prayer, and it was unattractive to me because there was too much to think about – the mystery, the intention, the words of the prayers etc – and characteristically, I worried that I was not doing each part well enough!

However, that simple image, full of childlike confidence appealed to me immediately and I began to appreciate the Rosary much more. Soon, I began to keep one beside my bed, so that if I was awoken by bad dreams, I would be able to reach out for Our Lady’s hand. I also began to carry the Rosary in my pocket and discovered that I enjoyed saying the Rosary as I travelled. It became a way of talking to “Mama Mary” during my journeys, invoking her presence and intercession for the people, places and incidents I saw on the way, and contemplating the saving presence of God in our human history and lives, which is what the Mysteries reveal. 

The Rosary still has this intimate character for me: I prefer to pray it alone, whispering to my Mother and asking her to show me the face of Christ. Oftentimes, the Rosary has been a comfort to me, and in those moments, the words of Psalm 131:2 come to mind: “Truly I have set my soul in silence and peace. A weaned child on its mother’s breast, even so is my soul.”