There’s a renewed interest in spirituality these days, especially the practice of meditation.  For the next several posts I’d like to reflect upon a great Catholic tradition that I believe is one of the best ways to practice meditation and to progress in contemplative prayer: the Rosary.

Let’s start with the most obvious fact about the Rosary: it’s a set of beads.

Interestingly, many world religions use beads.  Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Catholics all use beads as an aid for prayer.  Some might consider this idolatrous: Why use a handmade instrument for the spiritual practice of prayer?

I’d like to attempt to answer that question in this short post; for, rather than being a form of idolatry, Catholics pray the Rosary to deepen their contemplation of the mysteries of Christ’s life.  The beads themselves are not the focus of the Rosary, but they aid us in our meditation upon the Lord.

So why use beads?  Why not just sit quietly, meditating on the Lord?  Well, we certainly can do that.  However, Christianity, in essence, is a very tangible religion.  After all, God became man in the person of Jesus Christ.  You can’t get much more tangible than God taking on human flesh.  Jesus used his own spittle combined with dirt to heal the blind man (John 9:6).  He took ordinary bread and wine and changed it into his body and blood, a miracle that we relive every day at Mass.  A wooden cross became the instrument that brought about our salvation.

If Christ used tangible realities to communicate his divine life to us, then we can use tangible things to deepen our union with him.  The Rosary is just that: it’s tangible; the beads guide us as we pray; the beads free our minds and hearts to focus on the mystery we are contemplating.

Dr. Mark Miravalle, one of my college theology professors, used to say that “The beads are for the prayers, and the prayers are for the mysteries.”  In other words, the beads helps us to focus on the prayers, and the prayers help us to focus on Christ.  The beads and the prayers, in a sense, become the dramatic musical score leading us to experience Jesus in a deeper way.

There’s something relaxing, contemplative, about letting the beads flow through our fingers, spinning them as we prayer the Hail Marys.  Like life, like breathing, like the heartbeat, the Rosary is rythmic.

If you’re not Catholic, stick with me for the next few posts.  I know there are a lot of misconceptions about Catholic devotion to Mary and the Rosary and I’d like to have the opportunity to explain it to you.  If you’re Catholic but don’t pray the Rosary, I encourage you to form the habit.  Just start by praying one decade a day.  It’s not about quickly firing off a bunch of Our Fathers, Hail Marys, and Glory be’s; it’s about praying from the heart and entering more deeply into friendship with the Lord.  As we let the beads pass through our fingers, our minds are free to meditate upon Jesus.

In the next post I will focus on the difference between meditation in general and Christian meditation as practiced in the rosary.

If you enjoyed this post, please share it: