Do You Struggle with the Rosary? St. Therese Did Too

Do you struggle to pray the rosary? It can definitely be hard to concentrate and keep your focus during the 10 Hail Mary’s in each decade and I’m sure many people, myself included, often struggle with this. We know, however, that it is a very efficacious prayer that is dear to our Blessed Mother and Her Son that gives them great glory and grants us many favors. St. Therese of Lisieux was one who often struggled with the rosary and yet she prayed it because she realized how pleasing it was to Mary and she wanted to show her love for Her. When we make the effort to show our love for Mary by praying the rosary and refocusing ourselves when our minds wander, our efforts are pleasing to Her and She blesses us by asking Her Son to bestow many graces upon us.

Although the rosary was challenging to her and it would have been easy to quit and find other prayers to pray that were easier for her, St. Therese recognized the importance of the rosary and knew that Our Lady in Her many apparitions called for its recitation for the conversion of sinners and for the world. So, she vowed to continue praying it and came to realize that Mary saw the great love and good will with which she made the effort and that this was pleasing to Her and so She used it to bless those for whom Therese prayed and also Therese herself. We can use Therese’s example in our own life when we feel that we are not praying the rosary well enough to make it count. As long as we continue to show up and consciously make a good effort filled with love and affection for God and Our Blessed Mother, these efforts are pleasing to them and we invite many graces upon ourselves and others.

How do we make a good effort? It helps to have a certain virtue or person in mind to pray for during the rosary, and of course we must also try to meditate on the particular mysteries that we are praying. We must also remember that the rosary is important to Our Lady and if we wish to show our love for Her then we need to apply ourselves to the prayer that is dear to Her. In this month dedicated to the Holy Rosary, try to make a greater effort to pray the rosary every day if you don’t already, knowing that it will please Our Lady when done with love.