Edward Sri - Praying the Rosary Like Never Before: Encounter the Wonder of Heaven and Earth

E ncounter the Wonder of Heaven and Earth is, no doubt, a surprising subtitle for a book on the rosary. While Ive certainly met people who say they love the rosary and find it easy, comforting, and even exhilarating to pray, Ive met countless moreyoung and old, laity and clergywho experience the rosary with anything but awe and wonder. Words such as long , boring , difficult , and old-fashioned are more likely to describe their impressions of this powerful devotion.

Maybe youve been there. Maybe you are one of the many Catholics who have tremendous respect for the rosary but struggle in praying it. You get distracted. You get bored. You prefer other forms of prayer.

Or perhaps you resonate with those who say they dont get much out of the rosary. It feels too mechanical. Does repeating all these words really make a difference? Maybe you are one of the many young adult Catholics who think of the rosary as something their grandmother prays or as the funeral home prayernot a devotion that speaks to our lives today. Or maybe you identify with those who sincerely would like to pray the rosary but cant find time to do it. It takes too long.

A good Catholic friend of mine summed up what I think is the sentiment of many: If you could help a simple, ordinary guy like me understand what the rosary is all about and inspire me to find time to pray it, that would go a long way. I just need to figure out how to pray it in a way that will be meaningful to me .

Thats what this book aims to do: inspire ordinary Catholics to turn to their beads more often and help them pray the rosary in a way that is meaningful for their livesin a way that is truly life-giving. And in the process, I hope theyll discover what many great saints and ordinary folk throughout the centuries have experienced: a deeper peace, joy, and encouragement that comes from the subtle but profound encounter one can have with Jesus and Mary in this prayer.

Indeed, when prayed with the wisdom of its tradition, the rosary is anything but rote prayer. The Church offers practical insights to enable us to enter more profoundly, and from the depths of our hearts, into what St. John Paul II called the wonder of heaven and earth over the mystery of Christ that every Hail Mary in the rosary is meant to express ( RVM , 33).

This work is different from other rosary books in that it seeks to meet people where they are. I dont aim just to celebrate the glories of the rosary but also to address peoples real felt needs with this devotion: their struggles in praying it, their wandering minds, their difficulties in finding time for it. This book also considers common questions people have about the rosary, such as the significance of the Hail Mary, whether the attention given to Mary distracts us from God, the meaning of all the repetition, where the rosary came from, what to think about for each of the mysteries, and whether one should focus on the prayers or the mysteries.

This book also seeks to provide a variety of practical ways to pray the rosarysuggestions that come from the rosarys tradition and, most especially, St. John Paul II. These are helpful tips that we can incorporate in the different seasons, moments, and challenges we face in our lives. These tips can benefit beginners, serving as easy on-ramps for those who dont pray the rosary regularly. And they can motivate avid devotees of the rosary to go deeper with the Lord in this devotion.

Praying the Rosary Like Never Before is based on my 2003 book, The New Rosary in Scripture , which was published in the wake of Pope John Paul IIs introduction of the Luminous Mysteries. This new edition significantly reworks much of the original material and includes additional chapters as well as many new insights to help draw people into a richer encounter with God in this prayer. Ive also added reflection questions for each chapter, to provide a valuable resource for small group studies.

Through Our Ladys intercession, I pray that that this book will be a helpful introduction for beginners, an inspiration for those who dont pray the rosary as regularly as theyd like, and a helpful guide for those hungering to go deeper with Jesus and Mary through praying the rosary.

Edward Sri

September 8, 2016

Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary