How I'm Celebrating Rosary Month!

The 54 Day Rosary Novena  

“Love the Madonna and pray the Rosary, for her Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world today.” – St. Padre Pio

October is Rosary month.  And I'm celebrating by praying the 54 day Rosary Novena.  I'm going to be using the Hallow app, which is a Catholic prayer app (available in both a free and paid version) to guide me through the Novena.

The app is a good resource for me because it helps me stay on track and I like participating in the guided prayers.  But the same content is available via the Hallow website - and elsewhere.

A traditional Novena is only nine days long, so the 54 day Novena I'm doing is actually a series of six individual novenas.  Three novenas in petition (27 days) for a specific request and three novenas in thanksgiving - whether or not we perceive our petition as being granted (another 27 days).  

The 54 Day Novena uses the the traditional Rosary mysteries, the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious.  So by doing one set of mysteries per day, you cycle through the entire Rosary three times for each of the six individual Novena's.

If this is confusing to you, I suggest checking out the Hallow website (below).

Why I Love the Rosary

“The Rosary is a remedy for all our evils and the root of all our blessings.” – Pope St. Leo XIII

I love the Rosary because it draws me closer to Jesus and Mary and because the Rosary gives me new insights into the events in the lives of Mary and Jesus (and the Gospel message as a whole).  An added benefit is that the Rosary centers me and gives me a degree of peace.

For me, the Rosary is also a wonderful spiritual warfare weapon.  Because of my past involvement in the New Age and occult, I've opened a lot of doors and there are times when spiritual warfare is a very real issue for me.  

I do not rely upon the Rosary alone.  In addition, I go to Mass, receive the Holy Eucharist, make a regular confession, say specific Catholic prayers and have begun to read the Bible everyday with Fr. Mike Schmitz.  

Still, the Rosary is a very key piece.  And this isn't just me saying so.  The effectiveness of the Rosary is well attested to by multiple saints, such as St. Padre Pio, Pope St. Leo XIII and, of course, St. Dominic, as evidenced in the quotes I've included in this post

I think that the Rosary is a wonderful way to petition God for a specific (large or small) requests.  Through the Rosary we can intercede for the Church, the world, our immediate area and the people we love the most.

I have been told that the 54 Day Rosary Novena is especially good in this regard.  

The Way Things Sometimes Line Up

“The Rosary is a fortress against evil. It is a sign to Satan that you belong to Our Lady.” – St. Dominic

Modern life can be stressful and (like everyone) I have a lot going on.  While I'm fine during the day, I sometimes worry at night, more than I sleep, and there are times when I struggle with both my spiritual practice and my faith.  

Fortunately, just as these things really began to weigh on me I was reminded of the importance of the Rosary by several seemingly unrelated events.  

These events included:

1. Watching the movie Fatima
2. Gleaning a new perspective on Mary through Fr. Mike's Bible in a Year study
3. Coming across the 54 Day Rosary Novena on Hallow
4. Walking into church blind and seeing the special statue of Our Lady giving the Rosary to St. Dominic set up for the celebration of Our Lady of the Rosary (this Thursday)

It seemed to me that these events were all pointing toward the Rosary - and suggesting that I make an effort to develop a stronger devotion to Mary.  So I'm going to be doing that.  

I will be writing more on the Blessed Mother and her Rosary in future posts!

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Info on the 54 Day Rosary Novena on the Hallow website.

For more on my experience with the movie Fatima and the Year in a Day study, please see the following blog post and video:  The Movie Fatima and Catholic Bible in a Year Study.