Year of Prayer 2024-2025

For the next year, our Pastorate will be providing resources and hosting events each month to celebrate the variety of ways we can each grow in love with the Lord through prayer. 

Our priests' thoughts on prayer:

Fr. Neterer: "I think prayer's a great thing!"

Fr. Shocklee: "You need to pray, sinner!"

Fr. Peter: "I think of the Liturgy of the Hours."

Resources

Books

​​​Catholic Prayer for Catholic Families- for families of all sizes and ages, please take a copy from the Kiosk/Narthex!
An Introduction to Prayer- Bishop Barron: we will gift every family a copy at Christmas!
Signs of Life- Scott Hahn 
School of Prayer- Pope Benedict XVI
Oremus: A Guide to Catholic Prayer- Fr. Mark Toups (workbooks + video series for 8-week study)

Videos

Formed
- use the search box for relevant terms and look through the many good options!


Events
In-person & Virtual- keep an eye out for more information!

This Month's Challenge:

Pray a Rosary (even just a decade!) with your family or a friend.

“The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christ-centered prayer.  It has all the depth of the gospel message in its entirety.” 
- St. Pope John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae

An Introduction:

The rosary is a form of prayer, and also a physical object. The form of prayer is not liturgy, so there can be a lot of variation! The foundation of the rosary is meditation. You may find some people add prayers to the rosary, and others seem to omit some prayers. The physical item of the rosary most commonly used includes a Crucifix, beads or knots for an Our Father + 3 Hail Marys, a center medal which usually has an image of Mary on it, followed by 5 decades (1 Our Father + 10 Hail Marys). 

Key terms: 

• Rosary: two meanings: a form of prayer and also a physical item. The physical rosary can be used for other forms of prayer. 
• Decade: Meditation of a Mystery of the Rosary over 1 Our Father, 10 Hail Mary, 1 Glory Be, and 1 Fatima prayers
• Mystery, Mysteries: Meaningful scenes from Jesus and Mary's lives for meditation/contemplation. 
• Meditation: "An exercise and a form of prayer in which we try to understand God's revelation of the truths of faith and the purpose of the Christian life, and how it should be lived, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking" (Catechism of the Catholic Church Glossary, p. 888). Meditation is "the connecting of mind, heart and soul in communicating with God and... a response to His invitation to offer oneself totally to Him." (Fireside New American Bible Encyclopedic Dictionary, p. 96)
• Christocentric: having Christ as the center- while we most commonly associate the Rosary with Mary, Jesus Christ remains the central focus. We go to Jesus, through Mary!
• Mediatrix: We profess that Jesus Christ is the "one mediator between God and man (1 Tm 2:5)." Some say that calling Mary our Mediatrix means we are looking to her for salvation- but this is not what it means! Mary "is sometimes called Mediatrix in virtue of her cooperation in the saving mission of Christ" (Catechism of the Catholic Church Glossary, p.887). Just as Mary asked Jesus for help when the hosts ran out of wine at the Wedding at Cana, so she asks Him for help on our behalf when we call on her.
• Blessing: "a rite dedicating persons, places, or things to a sacred office.... A blessing is valid only if the prescribed formula is followed by the properly authorized ecclesiastic" (Fireside New American Bible Encyclopedic Dictionary, p. 23).
• Blessed: In regards to a blessed object- "Something that has been hallowed by a religious rite of blessing" (Fireside New American Bible Encyclopedic Dictionary, p. 23).
• Sacramental: "Sacred signs which bear a certain resemblance to the sacraments, and by means of which spiritual effects are signified and obtained through the prayers of the Church" (Catechism of the Catholic Church Glossary, p.887).
• Indulgence: Praying a rosary can be used to gain an indulgence, which is remission granted by the Church of the temporal punishment due to a sin which has already been forgiven. see CCC 1471 for more detail.

Why pray the Rosary?

"The purpose of the rosary is to help us meditate on the great mysteries of our salvation.”- Franciscan Media

"In meditating on the mysteries of the rosary, Catholics become better disciples by examining the life of Jesus through his mother’s eyes"- Catholic apologist, Tom Nash

How do you pray the Rosary?

As previously stated, because the rosary is not liturgy, there is a lot of variation and freedom to modify this form of prayer to fit your personal devotion. 

A starting point for what is typically prayed: 
Free how-to guide: www.newadvent.org/images/rosary.pdf 
& en español: www.newadvent.org/images/rosary_es.pdf

The minimum for praying a rosary is meditation! This is why variation is possible- there is no requirement to how many and which prayers much be included. This is why it's acceptable to pray a single decade (1 Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, 1 Glory Be), or why some add the St. Michael prayer to the closing prayers. 

What is meditation? Isn't that from other religions? 
Meditation is the practice of quieting your mind, soul, and body to better listen for God's still, small voice. It's the intentional focusing of your mind by letting distractions (internal + external) fade and relaxing. While it's not only a Catholic practice, Catholic meditation draws us from ourselves to God. 

"There are as many and varied methods of meditation as there are spiritual masters. Christians owe it to themselves to develop the desire to meditate regularly, lest they come to resemble the three first kinds of soil in the parable of the sower. But a method is only a guide; the important thing is to advance, with the Holy Spirit, along the one way of prayer: Christ Jesus.
Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. . . . Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary. This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him."
 —Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 2707-2708

Click these links for more on Meditation:
USCCB
Catholic World Mission

Where does the Rosary come from?

To learn about the history of the Rosary, Our Lady of the Rosary/ Our Lady of Victory, Our Lady of Lepanto, click here 

Is it Scriptural?
Yes! The Our Father is directly from Matt 6:9-13, and the Hail Mary is both from Scripture and also based in Scriptural themes.
For more about the Scriptural basis of the Rosary, visit:
Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage
Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae by St. Pope John Paul II
Integrated Catholic Life article by Peggy Bowes

Which Rosary should I use? Can I make one?

Rosaries (the physical object) come in many forms, for the same reason as the variety of prayer forms!
A typical rosary has a crucifix, 6 Our Father beads, 53 Hail Mary beads, and a center/medal at its intersection. This can be made from cord, string or chain, with knots or beads (glass, wood, stone, plastic, etc.). 

Other forms of rosaries:
Bracelet (decade or full)
Finger-ring (decade- a ring-shape with protrusions for the Hail Mary beads and a crucifix/cross at the top, would fit in your hand)
Ring (decade)
Wallet rosary card
Kids' rosaries- chewy decades or full rosaries, wooden ball or puzzle piece rosaries, popper rosaries, and more!

Yes, you can make your own! There are many tutorials online, and we have some parishioners who are very talented at making them, too.

Respecting your rosaries:
There is no hard and fast rule about how/where/when to wear or store rosaries. It is most important to give the rosary its due respect and reverence as a sacramental or blessed item (if it's been blessed), not to wear or display it in a mocking or sacrilegious way. If you're uncertain whether something is reverent or mocking, please ask a trusted member of the clergy for guidance. Disposal of a blessed rosary, and sometimes repair, merits special attention and care; if uncertain, please ask clergy or parish staff!

Blessing rosaries:
We will hold a blessing of rosaries at Sunday (and vigil) Masses on October 26th and 27th. More details to follow in the bulletin.

Praying as a family:

It can be challenging to pray a rosary with children. Start small, don't expect it to be perfect, and let kids be kids! Imagine their prayer (or squirming around while you pray) as a picture they've colored- Jesus and Mary will love it no matter what!
Using pictures of the Mysteries, taking turns saying a prayer or praying "repeat ​after me" or "fill in the blank" style, or incorporating movement are all ways to help kids participate. Remember, the minimum is meditation! 

More Resources

Books & Authors to look for: 

Fr. Donald Calloway
Anne Catherine Emmerich
Scott Hahn
St. Louis de Montfort
Edward Sri

Video

Formed- Search "Rosary"
Formed- Mysteries of the Rosary

Kids & Family:

Many small Catholic shops have amazing resources for families, check out our Gift Shop or browse online! 
Some family-friendly resources: 

• Coloring pages, books, and toys: The Little Rose Shop (also has Rosary videos for kids on Youtube)
• Alternative rosary formats (like wooden bead puzzles, pop-its, etc.: Gather and Pray

Audio: 

There are many great formats to listen to a spoken or sung Rosary. From CDs to Youtube, any popular streaming service (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, etc.), or apps like Hallow, Formed, or Laudate, find what helps you best draw closer to the Lord through Mary!