The Rosary helps you give God a bigger place in your heart

The Rosary (I write it with a capital R because it deserves it and also in reverence to Mary) is all new to me! I am happy to say that I began praying the Rosary because of Rosary for the World. (1)

Your invitation to accept this mission of praying for a total stranger was like a little test that seemed easy enough but forced me to examine what is important. The first thoughts that came into my mind were: "What’s this? Do they just enroll people on their good faith? They take prayer beginners? I don’t know the Bible very well…The Rosary seems complicated, how do you say it exactly? Besides, it's very repetitive, and so long! … Am I worthy enough to pray for others? Do I really think that Mary will hear my prayers?"

As I write these last two questions, I have tears in my eyes because something important happened to me. We have all seen images of orphans in war zones who are left to fend for themselves. There is always an older child who you feel takes on a protective role. This invitation to pray the Rosary made me discover a relationship of fraternity and filiality at the same time—fraternity towards my suffering neighbor, and filiality towards Mary.

In my personal journey as a Catholic, there will be a before and after this discovery of the Rosary, associated with the request for concrete help from a brother or sister! I have gone deeper in my faith and in the charity, or the love, than I had been able to do since my return to the Church in 2013. This is a huge grace and I praise Mary, her divine Son Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God our Father!

The Rosary is a wonderful instrument of conversion and action with an unheard of power. The Rosary is an instrument of combat, beginning with the inner struggle to give God a bigger place.

(1) Rosary for the World is a service of the Marie de Nazareth Association.

E.S., a reader of A Moment with Mary

Personal testimony shared with Marie de Nazareth on October 16, 2020