In the Catholic tradition, October is ‘the month of the rosary’. In the words of Saint.John Paul II:

 

"To pray the rosary is to hand over our burdens to the merciful hearts of Christ and His Mother; the rosary does indeed 'mark the rhythm of human life', bringing it into harmony with the 'rhythm' of God's own life, the joyful communion of the Holy Trinity, our life destiny and deepest longing."

 

How to pray the Rosary

 

As many will know, the main part of the rosary is divided into parts or 'mysteries': the Joyful, the Sorrowful, the Glorious, and Mysteries of Light. Each of these 'mysteries' is divided into five 'decades' (ten beads), usually following one 'Our Father' and ending with 'Glory be'. All are taken from sacred scripture and tradition, and encompass our main beliefs in who Jesus Christ is and what he's done for us. All involve Our Lady, Jesus's mother Mary, in some way or another. When we pray the rosary we're invited to see Jesus with the eyes of Mary and to be drawn into his divine life. As Mary was closer to Jesus in his life on earth than anyone else she points the way for us and shows us that we, the Church, God's family on earth, are also called to be like her eventually in the glory of heaven but also in our lives here on earth.

 

Jesus, Mary and Joseph knew about family life first hand; they knew about being displaced (the flight into Egypt soon after Jesus's birth ); they knew about conflict (when Jesus, as a teenager, was lost and when found by Mary and Joseph, he implied that he now had to make his Father's will a priority). If our family life includes similar tensions and more we can be sure that real help and support is right there in the prayer that is the rosary. Placing our trust in the Lord, we are sure to find a way through what seems humanly impossible.

 

The Joyful Mysteries

 

Please click on the link below for a resource for praying the rosary with children.

 

https://www.tentenresources.co.uk/primary-subscription/2020-10-parents-joyful-mysteries/