Learning to Love the Rosary

Neither my husband or I grew up Catholic. We came into the Church as adults shortly before our first child was born, and we continue to create a “domestic church” on the fly as we go. We learn about feast days from friends at church, hear about saints we didn’t know on podcasts, and go on retreats where it seems like everyone knows prayers we’ve never heard.  

My kids didn’t know the rosary because I had always shied away from it. I knew the basics, but I had never invested in the regular recitation of the rosary. I wanted to create a rosary habit, but I kept putting it off. That all changed during a terrible Sunday morning stuck in traffic on the way to church. 

The Rosary as a Miracle

On the freeway going to Mass, traffic suddenly backed up and stopped completely. As the minutes ticked by, we learned that an accident ahead of us had all lanes of traffic blocked. With no close off-ramps to make an exit, we had nowhere to go. My oldest son and I looked at the clock at the same time and he said with a sigh, “We’re missing Mass.” As a second ambulance wove its way through the gridlock to get to the accident, he added, “We should pray for them.” 

So, we did. I dug out a rosary from the bottom of my purse, and we prayed the Glorious Mysteries. As we finished the rosary, our van finally crawled to an off-ramp. We got the church very late but with much more peace than I expected. It felt like a miracle. 

The Rosary as a Routine

This started an experiment I called “The Pre-Mass Car Rosary.” Every Sunday, as we made our way to Mass, we prayed the rosary. While my husband drove, I led each decade from the passenger seat, announcing the mystery and starting each prayer. Week after week, I could hear my children’s voices in the backseats grow stronger and more confident in their responses.  

After about two months of doing that every week, I realized that my four kids could each choose an intention for one of the decades. Even my youngest, who was only three when we started the Pre-Mass Car Rosary Experiment, loved to announce the person or family she wanted to pray for at the beginning of her decade. It gave us time and space as a family to bring all the special people and circumstances in our lives to the Lord through the intercession of Our Lady.  

We’ve prayed for new babies and the recently deceased. We’ve prayed about cancer diagnoses, wars half a world away, and for each other. Hearing my children bring their celebrations and their worries to God every week in the rosary has highlighted the value of this devotion for me.  

The Rosary as a Reflex

Recently we’ve added rosaries throughout the week for special intentions. For example, in the next week we will pray the rosary on the birthday of a godparent, the confirmation anniversary of a godchild, and the wedding day of a friend. Each day we’ll take the time to pray a rosary for that person or couple.  

Sometimes we pray these rosaries at home at the dining room table, other times we pray on the living room couch. Some of my kids will grab a special rosary from their room, others will use their fingers to count out the Hail Marys we pray. Some of us will keep our bodies still, others will change positions frequently. We still also love our car rosaries. Together, we will use the rosary to help us intercede for the people we love wherever and whenever we can. 

As we incorporate the rosary more and more into our daily life as a family, I’ve learned that the best rosary is the rosary you actually pray, however you pray it. There isn’t a special set of rosary beads or meditation books that make it easier to do or a superior location that always yields full participation. The best aids help you pray with frequency and focus. For our family, the people we pray for inspire us to continue our devotion.   

I’ve wondered if my children truly understood the power of their prayers and felt encouraged to pray the rosary themselves. Then, this past Lent, two of my children decided to pray a decade of the rosary together every day for all the souls in purgatory. Without prompting, whenever they found time, they stopped their fun activities and prayed their daily decade. As their prayers drifted through our home, I thanked God for nudging us to become a family that prays together.