Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) summed up Catholic devotion to Mary in this admonition: "Love Jesus as Mary loves Jesus; love Mary as Jesus loves Mary." With the Rosary, we love and honor both. Of all women in creation, Mary was specially selected to carry Jesus in the womb, to care for Him. Mary, as Jesus' mother, would have been the one to teach Him to pray. The first reason to pray the Rosary, honoring Mary, is to please Jesus by showing His mother love. The second is that Mary brings us closer to Jesus, whom she loves above all else. Mary shows us what Jesus could not: How to be a disciple of Him.
Is the Rosary not a prayer of "vain repetition" we're warned against (Matt. 6:7)?
No. There is a distinction between repetition and vain repetition. We do not pray the Our Fathers, Hail Marys, or Glory Bes just to be saying them or because we think God will be pleased by sheer volume. Each time we pray one of these prayers, we ought to deeply intend the words we are saying, words of praise and supplication. Further, each decade of the rosary (ten beads) is matched with a different mystery of the faith, of the life of Christ. The prayers we pray on the beads are holy words we repeat to help our minds stay focused on our meditations on these mysteries.
Don't be discouraged if praying the rosary is a difficult habit to form, or if you have trouble concentrating. Our Lord will bless your trusting perseverance, will honor your honoring His beloved mother, and delight in your persistent prayers.
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