A Saint’s Love Letter
Twenty-two years ago this month, St. John Paul II released his apostolic letter ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE. I printed it out and took it with me to the adoration chapel at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Logan, OH.
I began reading and continued reading for over an hour. I couldn’t put it down. His words were beautiful, his love palpable. He showed me a way to pray that I had never before considered. I was moved by his phrases and ways of considering the life of Jesus and Mary. Phrases jumped off the page, through my eyes, and into my heart.
Phrases like this…
The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer.
With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love.
To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ.
His words were poetic and uplifting. Yet, for me, the rosary was still boring. I had rattled off my Ave Marias and Pater Nosters but more like a child trying to get a chore done than as a man diving deeper into the mysteries of the Christian life. That is until I read this:
To look upon the face of Christ, to recognize its mystery amid the daily events and the sufferings of his human life, and then to grasp the divine splendour definitively revealed in the Risen Lord, seated in glory at the right hand of the Father: this is the task of every follower of Christ and therefore the task of each one of us.
At the same time our heart can embrace in the decades of the Rosary all the events that make up the lives of individuals, families, nations, the Church, and all mankind. Our personal concerns and those of our neighbour, especially those who are closest to us, who are dearest to us. Thus the simple prayer of the Rosary marks the rhythm of human life”
Everything Changed
As I sat there in the chapel, it finally dawned on me; the rosary isn’t about saying prayers over and over, it’s not about bringing my intentions to God through Mary. Yes, it is about those things but even more deeply, it is contemplating the life of Christ with Mary AND seeing the “events that make up the lives of individuals, families, nations, the Church, and all mankind” WITHIN those mysteries; within that contemplation!
So, I began to ask myself; what are the human experiences that nearly all of us experience? Can I find those experiences in my life, Mary’s life, Jesus’ life, our nation’s life? If after all, I reasoned, if the “prayer of the Rosary marks the rhythm of human life” I should be able to see these experiences hidden within the mysteries of the rosary. Work, marriage, addiction, children, death, suffering, joy, and all of life’s experiences should be within, around, and between those beads!
THAT is exactly what I found. I couldn’t contain my joy when I saw my own work reflected in the work of Jesus and Mary. Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the apostles all wept at the death of a loved one at some point. Me too! Jesus, Mary, and all the followers of Christ have experienced much of what we experience today.
Not only did I find these life experiences in certain obvious mysteries of the rosary, I found them in each one. I found the experience of death in the Joyful and the Sorrowful Mysteries. I found addiction hidden in the Luminous and the Glorious Mysteries. I found so, so many…but not all. There are still endless experiences for me and you to discover!
Discover Your Life
As we enter into this October 2024, into this Month of the Rosary, let us too, once again or maybe for the first time, sit at the school of Mary and contemplate the face of Christ. Think of that Holy Face! Is He on the Cross or in the Cradle? He is a teenager or with His apostles? Is He facing Pilate or embracing a leper?
This October, make a commitment, no, make it a priority to pray the Rosary. Oh, how I hate that phrase – “pray the Rosary”. It sounds cold, unfeeling. No, rather, live the rosary and find your life within it! It’s there, if only you take the time to look, to be humble, to listen, and to love.
Embarrassingly, humbly, I offer my little book Rosary Meditations for Real Life, for your consideration. It is the fruit of my contemplation begun in that chapel after reading that beautiful letter. You can find it here or download free, printable samples from it here. May God bless you in your contemplation and please pray for me.
James M. Hahn, Author 