Last summer while visiting with my brother and his family at his cottage in Eastern Ontario, we decided to visit a historical Catholic Church at a nearby picturesque town and take in an afternoon Mass. I asked him if we can go a little earlier so that we could take a short tour of the historic church.
While we were touring the church prior to Mass we found ourselves in the foyer of the church where they had a display of religious items that one can purchase with a donation including a number of great CDs. One of the CD’s I came across was a CD that one can listen to and follow while praying the holy Rosary. Though I have been a Catholic all my life, I had never prayed the Rosary. For no apparent reason that I can think of, I decided on the spot to give a generous donation and pocketed the CD.
This was strange because I had every excuse to avoid praying the Rosary, namely:
- It was for old people.
- I only recalled females saying the Rosary when I was young. It was not a manly thing to do.
- It would take hours (or so I thought) to pray the Rosary, and I had much better things to do.
- I could never get the prayers straight nor could I ever memorize all of the prayers.
- My friends would laugh at me if they ever found I was praying the Rosary (goodness, my mother, grandmother, and aunts were praying the Rosary!).
- I already prayed the Our Father, Glory Be, and the Hail Mary anyway.
As I said, they were excuses.
When I got home from the trip to the cottage, I threw the CD into the glove compartment along with my other CD’s and it sat there for a number of months.
Last autumn I had an occasion to take a long drive. After loading up the car, I carefully reviewed the music I would listen to during the drive and prepared the CDs ahead of time (Country was my music of choice!). It was then that I came across the Rosary CD I had purchased that summer. I placed it on my playlist and started my long drive.
After my first stop for a meal and to gas up I started on the next leg of trip. It was at this point that I looked over at my CDs and out of pure curiosity I popped the Rosary CD into my player. I was mesmerized. For the next 30 minutes I was moved to tears by the beauty and simplicity of the Rosary. I recall having felt such a deep feeling of peace that lasted through to the last leg of my trip.
My frustration was that I had no one to share my thoughts and feelings with. In that 30 minutes, all of the excuses that I had placed between myself and the holy Rosary melted away. It wasn’t just a ‘feeling’, it was a deep, pure, heartfelt sense of peace and love for the Lord my God and Mother Mary. I had never felt such a deep longing for the Lord.
Slowly I graduated from saying the Rosary only on long drives to now saying the Rosary daily. At times I even spread praying the Rosary throughout the day as I go about my business. It allows me to pray throughout the day and stay focused on the Lord through meditating on the Mysteries. The powerful combination of prayer and meditation is simply astounding.
To think that I went all those years without praying the Rosary is a great regret for me. I have also started a study on the Rosary: its history, the promises Mother Mary bestows upon those that pray the Rosary faithfully, the Rosary mysteries, and the personal experiences of those who do pray the Rosary faithfully. Through this personal study I have gained a greater appreciation and understanding of the Rosary, allowing for much more meaningful prayer and meditation. I look forward to praying the Rosary daily and it has become the highlight of my day.
Fellow brothers and sisters, do not make the same mistake as I have. I urge you, TODAY, initiate a prayerful journey praying the Rosary. Start slowly, steadily and faithfully. It has been my Salvation and I pray that it will be yours as well.
Copyright 2014, Luciano Corbo
Luciano Corbo
Luciano Corbo holds a Master of Arts - Integrated Studies from Athabasca University. His major interests are Culture, Work, Organizations and Leadership, within a context of Catholic Social Teaching Principles. He writes from Canada.
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