October is the month of the Holy Rosary. I was told as a child that the Catholic Church dedicates the two most beautiful months of the year (May and October) to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. I understand that every month is dedicated to some mystery of our faith, but without looking it up, I can only think of three: May is the month of Mary; June is the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; and October is the month of the Holy Rosary.
When I was a boy, our family knelt around our parents’ bed before sleep, and we prayed together as a family. Our routine was to pray the Apostles Creed, Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Act of Contrition and the Angel of God prayer. But once in a while, we prayed the rosary. I never understood why we prayed the rosary on occasion, but I think now that I am older, that when my parents faced some problem, perhaps not enough money to pay the bills and feed the family, my father decreed a rosary night to beg for God’s help.
I still pray the rosary several times each week. For me, I have to walk while I pray the rosary and I usually pray while I am walking to Holy Redeemer in Chinatown. Sometimes I walk back and forth through the garden behind the church, with my rosary in hand.
The rosary is a meditation prayer. We say with our lips Our Fathers and Hail Marys, but in our mind we meditate on the mysteries, the events in the life of Jesus and Mary.
I have ministered to Chinese Catholics since my ordination in 1991. During the years when Catholics in China did not have regular access to the Mass and the Eucharist, they kept their faith alive by praying the rosary each day. In fact, Chinese Catholics understood that a daily rosary was a requirement of the Catholic faith. It was the way that they sustained their Catholic faith even without access to the Eucharist or any priest.
The rosary is a beloved Catholic prayer. It helps us to think about Jesus and how He saved us by His life, death and resurrection. There are 53 Hail Marys, so the prayer is also dedicated to Mary. It seems to me that the rosary is a meditation on Jesus where we ask Mary to accompany us in our meditation.
Do you pray every day? What do you do when you pray? Reading and meditating on the Bible, especially the New Testament, is perhaps the best form of prayer. Sitting in silence and calling to mind the presence of God is also good prayer. The rosary can help to meditate on the story of Jesus and to recall the presence of God.
Don’t neglect prayer! And if you have lost or have never had the practice of praying the rosary from time to time, I invite you to learn or re-learn how to pray the rosary.
