Somewhere around the middle of the first decade of praying the rosary my mind often steps out of prayer-mode and turns to what I should make for dinner, or to what chore is next on my to-do list. I’ll still be fingering the beads and saying the Hail Marys, but I’m not actually praying. I’m distracted.
I can imagine how distressing this must be for Our Lady, listening to me mouth the words without the reverence they deserve. If I’m not committed to real prayer, is it any wonder that sometimes it feels my prayers are not heard?
However, I recently discovered the scriptural rosary and it is making a tremendous difference for me. It involves reading a line of scripture that is related to the mystery of the particular decade of the rosary you’re praying, followed by a Hail Mary.
An example:
While praying the Joyful mysteries of the rosary, the first mystery is The Annunciation. After saying the Our Father, instead of jumping right into the 10 Hail Marys, you would instead first read a line of scripture.
If using, for example, the Knights of Columbus’s “A Scriptural Rosary for the Family,” you would say aloud, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. (Is 9:2)” This would be followed by the first Hail Mary.
Before saying the second Hail Mary, you would read the next line of scripture related to The Annunciation: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel. (Is 7:14)”
This continues throughout the rosary, with a line of scripture preceding each Hail Mary.
There are numerous books offering scriptural rosaries available online. I was lucky to discover “Scriptural Rosary” among my mother’s collection of prayer books after she passed away. Inside, I found the inscription by my grandfather. (See below.)
The tiny book was copyrighted in 1961 by the Christianica Center, formerly the Scriptural Rosary Center. My mother’s copy, gifted to her by her father, was in its 26th printing in 1980. It contains the only rosary mysteries that were known at the time: the Joyful mysteries, the Sorrowful mysteries and the Glorious mysteries.
The Rosary Center and Confraternity has an online scriptural rosary guide with links to each of the four current mysteries (Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and Luminous [instituted by Pope John Paul II in 2002]).
I have found that the scriptural rosary provides a deeper, more meaningful experience for me. Hopefully, my prayers will be received in heaven with more clarity and intention.
I am hoping to bring more knowledge about the Virgin Mary to the world, especially during these times when we need her most. Please consider sharing this post, this site, or its social media pages on Facebook and Instagram. I invite you to subscribe to this site (below) to be notified of new posts. Thank you.
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