By: Guest blogger on May 12th, 2018

Let’s Get Rosary Tough!

Typically in the month of May we like to honor our Mother in heaven, Mary. Therefore, I was hoping to make a commitment to making this month my time to remember saying a daily Rosary.

In 1206 St. Dominic began this tradition by praying the Rosary for help to combat the Albigensian heresy. Mary showed him how to pray what we now call the Rosary. There are six fundamental prayers said with 20 decades, each one focusing on a particular mystery in the life of Jesus and his Blessed mother.

We know that when we pray the Rosary we are asking Mary if she will intercede to her son, Jesus, on our behalf. Mary responds like all good mothers do, wanting to find ways to help God’s children and subsequently, her children, find solace through prayer.

Prayer is the lifting of our hearts and minds to God which enhances the grace within our souls. It’s with prayer that we bring our pleas, our thanks and present our hurts and sorrows to God; and then finally, requesting forgiveness of our sins. Isn’t it amazing that we can do this while praying the Rosary thereby asking Jesus’ mother Mary to pray along with us. What a wonderful gift we have with the Rosary if you really stop to think about it.

Several months ago a former high school classmate was undergoing brain surgery to remove a cancerous tumor. I sent her a message on Facebook saying I would pray a Rosary for her. Her response to me was “Oh, please, Cathy; get Rosary Tough!” I thought that was a remarkable statement.

I realize her family and friends were all praying for her, but I like to think that my Rosary helped her get through one of life’s most difficult moments where she had to put her trust totally in the hands of God.

She had her surgery and by all indications, she is doing well and has recovered. To that, I say thank you to our Mother Mary who placed all those prayers in front of her Son Jesus.

Each time that we say the Hail Mary we are repeating the very same words with which St. Gabriel the Archangel saluted Mary on the day of the Annunciation, when she was made Mother of the Son of God. Many graces and joys filled the soul of Mary at that moment.

Every time we hear the song Ave Maria sung in weddings, funerals, concerts, and graduations, it always amazes me how it must bring a smile to Mary knowing that those participating through singing and listening are being blessed with her presence in front of her Son, Jesus. Ave Maria is of course the Latin version of the prayer, Hail Mary, which is the greeting of the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary and the words of Elizabeth upon greeting her cousin Mary, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!

I would like to suggest that this May we all get “Rosary Tough” and reach out to Mary to “pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our deaths”!

This article was originally published at CatholicMom.com and is shared here with permission.