Up until very recently, I struggled with praying the rosary. In fact, until a few years ago, I avoided praying the rosary at all. I don’t know why (although it could have been my childhood memories of kneeling on concrete as we prayed the rosary during catechism classes). Nevertheless, I just didn’t enjoy praying the rosary.

Then during Lent a few years ago, something changed or maybe Jesus finally worked his way into one of those cracks in my heart. For those 40 days, every morning I walked up and down my street praying the rosary. I had to look up which mysteries to pray on which day, and I had to learn what the mysteries actually were. Some days I wondered what I was doing, other days I cried (the Sorrowful Mysteries are hard), but mostly I prayed for my children, for special intentions and for the world. And shocker: I came to love the rosary.

Not only has it helped me get to know our Blessed Mother and Jesus through the mysteries, but it has also helped me find some peace in the midst of our crazy world. I learned that Lent what a gift the rosary is and now early every morning my heart softens a little more one Hail Mary at a time.

If you struggle with the rosary, I highly recommend listening to the Rosary in a Year podcast from Ascension Press. Father Mark-Mary helps listeners understand the mysteries and learn to pray the full rosary little by little (poco a poco).