Hail Holy Queen

With this being October, it is the month when Catholics are exhorted to especially try to pray the rosary, which St. Pio of Pietrelcina called “the strongest weapon against the evils of the world. Bookmark Fr. Z as he is using the month of October to work his way through the Mysteries of the Rosary, offering insights from the Fathers of the Church and others. (Hat tip: Amy)

If you’ve gotten away from it, or had trouble praying the rosary - sustaining the images from the Gospels for the 15-20 minutes it takes to do the five decades - this is a good time to renew your acquaintance with this beautiful prayer. I’ve personally burned “hot and cold” with the rosary - sometimes it is contemplative prayer to which I feel called, other times it makes me restless - but I am going to try to pray it daily in October. For my money, you do better if you don’t skip the Apostle’s Creed at the beginning. There is a wonderful meditation in that prayer alone and it gives you the springboard you need to get through the mysteries.

There are good instructions, here and some nice artwork for mediation, here. Download the rosary for your computer, here.