Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

On this Feast of the Holy Rosary we hear Jesus’ teaching about persistence in prayer. The rosary is certainly one very good response to his teaching.

After the initial trial of learning the prayers – the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be – one learns to relax into the spirit of prayer. 

Reciting the rosary is not a trying experience in either sense of the word. One does not try to say the rosary, nor is it a trial for the one who prays. Rather, it is a way of presenting oneself to God, of being and remaining in God’s presence.

It is a wonderful antidote for road rage! As I drive into Louisville or back to Mount Saint Francis I see foolish things that people do on the highway. They weave in and out of lanes; they drive too fast and hit the brakes too often; they tailgate; they talk on their cell phones or, worse, text! There’s not much I can do about such behavior except fume. And that does no one any good. So I turn my attention back to the rosary, to the words and images and intentions that occupy my mind as I pray. I remain attentive to the road, of course, but my heart rests in God’s Presence.

Coping with road rage becomes a paradigm for how the rosary blesses the devout. We all have distracting, dreadful concerns that occupy our minds like an invading army. We are helpless before them. With the poet John Donne, we complain:
     I, like an usurp'd town to'another due,
     Labor to'admit you, but oh, to no end;

     Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
     But is captiv'd, and proves weak or untrue.
     Yet dearly'I love you, and would be lov'd fain,
     But am betroth'd unto your enemy;

Because Reason fails to free our minds from worries, we turn to a higher power. Like insurgents in an occupied city, we use the rosary to open the flood gates of grace. Suddenly God’s presence sweeps the enemy out. And because God is so gentle, we experience no wrenching anguish. Even as we are cheering the incoming rush of angels, the demons are fleeing empty-handed from the back of the city. In the words of Psalm 37:

I have seen ruthless scoundrels, strong as flourishing cedars.
When I passed by again, they were gone; though I searched, they could not be found.

Resentments fade; hurts are healed, blessings recalled and hope revived. The rosary is a victory celebration of the heart, welcoming the joyful, irresistible advance of God.