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Dear Friends,

This is a question I've always wanted to ask!

For those of you who have a devotion to the Rosary, what impact do you feel it has on your spiritual life/life in Christ?

What do you believe you gain spiritually from praying it that no other form of prayer would give you?

Alex

I have found the spiritual benefits of the rosary to be a constant deepening of my relationship with the Virgin Mary. Even though I don't usually pray it in the 'traditional' way I have found that it is a source of the joy and peace that are not of this world. Sometimes when I pray the Jesus prayer I get a bit bogged down in my sinfulness. But praying to the Virgin Mary and entering into her silence always lifts me up and gives me great confidence in God's mercy for I know that she is in Heaven already, praising and glorifying God and 'doing' what I so much desire to do. So I join her on earth in this prayer as best I can in my sincere but feeble efforts until I can do so fully when we meet. I can't describe the joy it gives me to know that she is there, in a sense, glorifying God for me..it gives me immense hope.

In Her,
Marie

Dear Marie,

How beautiful - thank you for sharing!

Your point on the sense of sinfulness in praying the Jesus Prayer is something that certain Eastern saints have also addressed in their counsels to their spiritual children.

St Theophane the Recluse had a charge who was constantly depressed by his sinfulness when he prayed the Jesus Prayer - and he recited it daily, in formal fashion, 500 times in accordance with the "Rule of Optina."

St Theophane then counselled him to add "Glory to You, O Lord, glory to You" at the beginning of each Prayer as a way to counterbalance the prayer, in overt manner, with the glorification of Christ and to break the young monk's sense of being enclosed in his own sinfulness . . .

However, the words "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God," are in and of themselves words of glorification and praise/thanksgiving followed by the petition/act of contrition.

But Spiritual Father knows best!

Alex

I've found the Rosary possibly the best tool I ever had in conversion. At times when I find I am gaining no fruit from scriptural meditation, I add in the Rosary and it seems to givr me back a hunger for more prayer. And I find that it, or the Jesus Prayer are the best things to say on a walk after work say. Not neccesarily the mysteries in the formal sense. Just vocal, repeated prayers. I think the mysteries have value in our world, as they do condense profound truths into propositional ideas, which become more profound when dwelt on.

NW

Dear Ned,

You've really made my "decade" with this!

The "Hail Mary" does indeed bring home the truth of the Incarnation of OLGS Jesus Christ!

There was one Orthodox Elder who ONLY recited the "Hail Mary" instead of the Jesus Prayer and was called the "Elder of the Theotokos."

The Fruit of the Hail Mary is truly the Lord Jesus!!

We should, I believe, recite it when we read scripture and saying a Hail Mary at the end of each psalm is truly spiritually invigorating as well!

It is the "Hymn of the Incarnation and of the New Testament!"

I returned to the Rosary/Rule of the Theotokos in a big way soon after my first visit to Paris where I went into the Church of St Sulpice where St Louis de Montfort said his first Mass (there is a statue of him near the altar).

I saw people there saying their Rosary very slowly and meditatively.

When I got back home, the experience stayed with me until, one day, as I was waiting in the car for my wife to come out of a store, I began to say the rosary on my fingers, using St Louis' "phrase method" of additing a few words to each Hail Mary that reflects the Mystery under consideration (thereby making the Hail Mary a kind of refrain that really holds the attention and leads one into meditation).

I've never looked back since.

Sometimes I will stick to one refrain for a decade - sometimes two or three - and sometimes I'll come up with a different refrain for each of the ten Hail Mary's.

When I don't "feel like praying it" the inner beauty of this Divine form of prayer draws me toward itself and I realize that I cannot be without it - it would be a day without real communion with Christ our God through His Most Holy Mother.

Alex

Dear Friends,

I would like to thank those of you who have privately communicated with me your spiritual/mystical experiences in connection with your devotion to the Rosary - you know who you are and I respect your privacy, of course!

Your sharing of those private experiences has been truly enriching to me and I know that God and His Most Holy Mother are using you for their sacre purposes throughout your lives.

Thank you, once again!

Your servant,

Alex

Good morning all(gee it's nice to be home!),
About a year ago Alice suggested that I pray the Rosary. I was rebelling at the teachings of the Church on the Theotokos and she suggested that I take my issues directly to the Lady I had trouble with (she said it much more elegantly than that). I was skeptical at first; the whole Rosary idea sent shivers up my spine. But I did start(because I'm *always* obediant sure...). I was also struggling with some pretty major purity issues at the time so I asked the Theotokos for help. I don't pray it in the traditional form, instead I make it a special time each day to petition for her intercession and help to honor Jesus with purity in my life. It is amazing how much changes when I give up saying the rosary. I tend to get out of control with my depression and my other struggles. I'm very grateful for the prayers of the Theotokos and her love and help. I also find that my prayers are even more effective when I pray the Jesus prayer along with the Rosary. Having Mary lay my petitions at the feet of Jesus and adding my worship is...powerful in a way I never thought it could be.
That's my story,
God bless,
Sarai
"Through the prayers of the Theotokos, o Savior save us!"