I have heard people denigrate the Most Holy Rosary by stating that it is a bland repetition of prayers; implying by such statements that the Rosary is a waste of time. This objection to the Rosary is not new, and reveals that the objector does not understand the Rosary. Rev. Raymond P. Lawrence addressed such an objection in 1929 in the introductory section of the book Rosary Novenas to Our Lady. Fr. Lawrence wrote:
Monsignor Benson, in one of his early novels, gave us a beautiful explanation of the Rosary. An old nun is trying to make the devotion clear to a young Protestant girl. The enquirer asks:
“How can prayers said over and over again like that be any good?”
Mistress Margaret was silent for a moment.
“I saw young Mrs. Martin last week,” she said, “with her little girl in her lap. She had her arms around her mothers neck, and was being rocked to and fro; and every time she rocked she said, ‘Oh, mother.'”
“But, then,” said Isabel, after a moment’s silence, “she was only a child.”
“‘Except ye become as little children–‘” quoted Mistress Margaret softly– “you see, my Isabel, we are nothing more than children with God and His Blessed Mother. To say, ‘Hail Mary, ‘ is the best way of telling her how much we love her. And, then, this string of beads is like Our Lady’s girdle, and her children love to finger it, and whisper to her. And then we say Our Fathers too; and all the while we are talking, she is showing us pictures of her dear Child, and we look at all the great things He did for us, one by on; and then we turn the page and begin again.”
Those who have profited the most from the Rosary are the ones who have thus understood it. With hearts full of love they have rested close by the side of our heavenly Mother; and, whispering words of endearment to her, they have gazed the while at those wonderful pictures which the changing mysteries recall, seeing always something new and beautiful. And when they have come to the end of the picture-book, with the insatiable interest of a child, they have gone back to the beginning and turned every page over again.
~from Rosary Novenas to Our Lady, printed by Benziger Brothers, Inc., 1926 (reprint available)
May you have a good day.
~SCF
