Why pray the Rosary every day for a year?


Each time the Blessed Virgin has appeared-- whether it be to Saint Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes; to Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco at Fatima; or to Mariette Beco at Banneux-- she has asserted the importance, saving grace, and power of praying the Holy Rosary on a daily basis. Based upon her words, the Rosary is penance and conversion for sinners, a pathway to peace, an end to war, and a powerful act of faith in Jesus Christ. Pope Paul VI presented the Rosary as a powerful means to reach Christ "not merely with Mary but indeed, insofar as this is possible to us, in the same way as Mary, who is certainly the one who thought about Him more than anyone else has ever done."

To show us how this is done, perhaps no one has been more eloquent than the great Cardinal Newman, who wrote: "The great power of the Rosary consists in the fact that it translates the Creed into Prayer. Of course, the Creed is already in a certain sense a prayer and a great act of homage towards God, but the Rosary brings us to meditate again on the great truth of His life and death, and brings this truth close to our hearts. Even Christians, although they know God, usually fear rather than love Him. The strength of the Rosary lies in the particular manner in which it considers these mysteries, since all our thinking about Christ is intertwined with the thought of His Mother, in the relations between Mother and Son; the Holy Family is presented to us, the home in which God lived His infinite love."

As Mary said at Fatima, "Jesus wants to use you to make Me known and loved. He wishes to establish the devotion to My Immaculate Heart throughout the world. I promise salvation to whoever embraces it; these souls will be dear to God, like flowers put by Me to adorn his throne."



Lenten Rosary Construction Update

Posted by Jacob

Time for another Rosary-construction update…


To date, over 160 Rosaries have been lovingly constructed for distribution to overseas missions and American soldiers deployed or stationed abroad. Within the week, my first “shipment” of finished Rosaries will be headed to Catholic missionaries in East Timor (a small island republic located between Indonesia and Australia). The remainder of the constructed Rosaries will be sent to Rosaries for the World for distribution to missions and troops currently in need of Catholic prayer aids.

I am deeply appreciative of the donations that have been submitted by readers. I estimate that it costs approximately one dollar per mission-style Rosary that is constructed, and as I have the goal of constructing 1,000 over the course of the year, that’s a fairly sizable economic undertaking! Every dollar counts, and is put to good use! So thank you all for your continued support. If you would like to make a donation, please use the Donate button on the left-hand sidebar. You can also track the number of Rosaries constructed to date beneath the Donate button!

Some readers have asked where I get the “materials” used to make these Rosaries. While I have purchased from a number of sites, there is one in particular which I would like to highlight today: Ave Maria’s Circle: Rosary Making Supplies. Based in Ontario, Canada, the company provides a wide selection of Rosary-making needs, including those required for mission-style Rosaries. Moreover, the owners have been extremely gracious, offering discounts on materials (offered to all customers), and support and encouragement on my spiritual journey. Below are some photos of the newest “batch” of materials. I’m excited to get constructing!




On a separate, but related note, I have also constructed a new chain Rosary for personal use during the contemplative period of Lent.  Made from a seed known as “Job’s Tears,” reflective of the suffering and penance undertaken by Job, this Rosary is a useful aid in remaining focused on the sufferings and sacrifices of Christ leading up to Good Friday. The center of the Rosary is a representation of Saint John the Baptist, my patron saint, a miracle of mortification, penance, humility, and martyrdom for his faith in Christ.

Thank you all for your continued reading, support, and encouragement. I wish you each a deeply meaningful Lenten season, in whatever form that may take. Perhaps taking some time each day to mediate on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary might be a meaningful exercise, placing our sufferings in context as compared to those of Our Lord.

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