This month, I started a new chapter in my spirituality. I decided to pray the Rosary and focus each
decade on a person needing Our Lady’s prayers including me. I will pray for the same people during the
first four decades and let the Holy Spirit decide on the 5th decade’s
intention. My plan is to pray the Rosary
every day in August and see what effect it has after one month of daily
devotion. Why pray the Rosary instead of
other prayers? I believe Our Lady has finally
led me to it.
During the past few months, my spiritual routine slacked off. Just one day of not meditating or praying turned
into weeks of avoiding time with God. As
usual, the busyness of life and dealing with conflicts were convenient
excuses. However, Mary gently
encouraged me to start this prayer.
In May, I attended a presentation made by a Catholic convert
whose life was changed by regular devotion to Mary. He is now discerning the diaconate. My favorite 89 year-young Irish priest encouraged
my parish to follow St. Louis de Montfort’s path of total consecration. In this method, we dedicate our lives to Jesus
through Mary. I had to start and stop
this consecration three times but the prayers had an effect. I am currently on the 3rd week
where you study Our Lady and end by praying the Rosary.
Mary has also been present at critical stages in my faith
journey. I grew up Presbyterian but
started to attend the Catholic Church at age 20. It then took 10 years to convert. The final straw was a game played at the
young adult group at my Presbyterian Church where they eliminated historical
figures. Everyone was quick to
eliminate Mary which horrified me. I
walked into an RCIA class that same week in 1990 and became Catholic on Easter
Vigil in 1991.
After my conversion, I still was uncomfortable with
devotions to Mary so she had to reveal herself patiently to me. In 2007, I visited the Basilica of Our Lady
of Guadalupe in Mexico City. As soon as
I walked in the square, I was struck by a tremendous amount of energy and knew
that she had appeared there. It was
truly an emotional experience to walk up the hill to the chapel at the top of
Tepeyac. Ironically, I saw hundreds of
images of Our Lady of Guadalupe that day in the various buildings but did not
realize that the real one was in the ugly, new basilica. However, it did not matter because I already
had proof of her presence in my heart.
Chapel at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City
In August 2008, the Diocese of Phoenix celebrated a
beautiful Guadalupe festival with a number of speakers. It culminated with the presentation of a
relic from the tilma. I was awestruck by
the unity of everyone there from different nationalities for Our Lady.
Last October, I was very ill from a severe vitamin
deficiency and had little energy. I
attended a Tom Booth concert at my church where he ended the concert by singing a beautiful
song that he wrote called “My Lady.” As I heard the
song, tears flowed out of my eyes and I felt a strong urge to pray to Mary
because she understood my pain. So I
prayed a most desperate prayer for healing and slowly over the weeks felt
better. This experience was described in greater detail at an earlier blogpost.
Finally, I visited the Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche in St.
Augustine, Florida last month. It was a
very serene place that was significant as the first US mission to the Catholic
Church. I spent a few minutes in prayer
to Our Lady and felt peaceful afterwards.
Thus, my desire to pray the Rosary is to deepen my
relationship with Mary and to see how daily devotion will help me and others
who especially need her intercession. I downloaded a CD in my Iphone with the
soothing voice of Roma Downey praying the Rosary which came with the book Practical
Praying: Using the Rosary to Enhance
Your Life by John Edwards. The
author is a famous medium who prays the Rosary daily. I found his book very down to earth and perfect
for beginners. I decided on my
intentions and will write down the results of my prayer experiences in my
journal.
Our Lady of La Leche - St. Augustine, Florida
The first time I prayed a “practice run” on 7/30, I imagined
Our Lady embracing the people I was praying for during each decade. It was so beautiful that I decided to
continue with this meditation. The
second time I prayed the Rosary, Our Lady gave me a red rose to hold with
thorns. It was again a peaceful and
inspiring experience. I hope to find out
the meaning of the rose as I continue this month of devotions. With Our Lady in charge, it will definitely be a
rewarding journey.
