The Rosary- September 13, 2026

Hello all!

As I was praying the rosary on Monday, I was thinking about how the next day would be the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. That kind of sent me into a bit of a spiral thinking about some Mary things during the Rosary and I began to think about a meditation I had during a rosary earlier this year: as I was praying the first Joyful Mystery (the Annunciation), I suddenly found myself wondering what Mary was doing at the time Gabriel came to her.

All it says in Scripture is that Gabriel came to a virgin named Mary in Nazareth. No time of day. No specific place. No mention of her activities. Nearly every image I’ve see of the Annunciation (minus a handful) show it to take place in the middle of the night, waking her from sleep. Maybe. But it doesn’t say that in the Gospels. So, what was she doing? Was she doing laundry? Was she eating lunch? Was she praying? Was she taking a stroll? I thought about that for a considerable amount of time and eventually realized the first decade ended up being around 27 Hail Mary’s instead of 10. But that happens, and it’s alright! And I think it’s by design, in a way.

The rosary is a guided meditation on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It isn’t actually about the Hail Mary’s or the Our Fathers. The beads and the prayers associated with them provide a sort of timed meditation chant. Saying the prayers provides the background music, so to speak. The real purpose is to enter each mystery and truly contemplate it during the “allotted time” of each decade. If you go a little past, no problem! We are entering the profound moments in the life of Christ. The prayers are important, of course, and of utmost power, but the meditations are the primary focus – which actually adds more uumf to the already efficacious prayers because of their association with the meditations themselves.

As you pray your rosary, especially as a group, allow the chant of the prayers to lead you deeper into the life of our Savior, in turn deepening your relationship with him!

God Bless!

Fr. Stoley