William M Watson Sj

Sacred Story Rosary William M Watson Sj

Fidelity to a spiritual discipline requires more than sheer willpower. Many people have begun a new spiritual regimen with dedication but in time the passion wanes. This has happened to me countless times. I knew the Rosary was important when I started praying it but sometimes became bored or distracted when I prayed. Many times I took heart in the comment attributed to St. Therese of Lisieux that she oftentimes fell asleep before she finished the Rosary. She had a child's joy however, because she said the Blessed Mother would finish it for her! Others could never fall asleep praying the Rosary. After my "Marian awakening," I became friends with Fr. Richard McSorley, S. J. He was known as the "Peace Priest," for his "career" protesting against war. He lived at Georgetown University, as did I, and was deeply devoted to the Blessed Mother and the daily Rosary. There was something both holy and humorous in the way Fr. McSorley prayed the Rosary. He was totally serious in his praying but could rattle off an entire Rosary in less than 8 minutes. He always wanted to pray a Rosary when we drove places and we could oftentimes get in two or more, even on short trips. If I fell asleep with my own praying of the Rosary, Fr. McSorley would get speeding tickets from Heaven for praying his. He prayed so fast I could not understand the words to the Paters and Aves. I mention these two examples as I believe they capture many people's experience of this great prayer. Some get bored or distracted in praying and others rattle off the Mysteries to "get through them" before boredom can set in. Both are better than no Rosary at all. Yet, if I was going to draw some fruit from this most popular of devotional prayers, I needed to find a way to make it my own. I was searching for something more contemplative and spiritually nourishing. The Rosary's Mysteries should engage my heart and my mind without compelling me to race through them (or make me fall asleep). Twenty years of praying aided by hefty doses of graced inspiration have led me to a profoundly fruitful practice of this great prayer. I hope it helps you, too, find a new path to God's graces through this most popular of Catholic/Christian devotional prayers.