“Rediscover the Rosary: The Modern Power of an Ancient Prayer”

Book Review: New York Times bestselling author Matthew Kelly again has delivered a book that will warm the hearts of devout Catholics everywhere and lead doubters to Jesus by means of a re-awakened love of Mary and the most holy Rosary.
 
“Rediscover the Rosary: The Modern Power of an Ancient Prayer” is both an informative work on the origins and efficacy of the Rosary as well as a guide to praying this ancient prayer of the Catholic Church.
 
Kelly explains that he began praying the Rosary as a teenager when, as a member of his parish youth group, he “went on a retreat and prayed the Rosary.” He writes that he “doesn’t know how it happened, or even exactly when it happened,” but around that time he “started praying the Rosary every day.” By the time he was 19, he was praying all 15 decades daily.
 
He writes that he is a very practical man and that he “likes things that work.” This is why he loves the Rosary and recommends it so highly. He says that “1. It works. 2. It will fill you with an incredible sense of peace. 3. Don’t take my word for it.”
 
He sees “a certain mystery to it” and writes that, specifically, the Rosary, like all prayer, “helps us hear God’s voice with greater clarity” and “will help you make better decisions.”
 
Kelly traces the history of the Rosary and how it “evolved over centuries.” Christians in the late 3 ^rd or early 4 ^th centuries were using “prayer ropes” to pray the Psalms. Pope Gregory the Great (590-604) “instituted praying the Hail Mary during the Mass on the fourth Sunday of Advent.” In 1214, Saint Dominic was given a vision of Mary in which “she presented him with the Rosary, both the beads and the prayers to be prayed.”
 
Various popes and Church teachings have shaped the exact form of the Hail Mary and endorsed the praying of the Rosary. When Mary appeared at Fatima in 1917, she asked that the Rosary be prayed for the intention of world peace.
 
While Kelly’s work is well worth reading for all that he explains about the Rosary, his book is not titled “Rediscovering the Rosary” but instead is a directive, “Rediscover the Rosary.” Part Two of this very fine book is a prayer guide for doing just that.
 
In Part Two, Kelly lists all 20 of the mysteries of the Rosary, and with each one, he presents a reading from Scripture that is tied to the mystery. The Annunciation, for example, the first Joyful Mystery, has Luke 1: 26-38. The readings are more than just two or three verses, and elsewhere in the book, Kelly invites readers to “place themselves in the scene,” to “imagine yourself there” as a form of meditation.
 
With each mystery, Kelly offers a reflection and a prayer. In the reflections, Kelly asks, “what part of your life needs resurrecting today?” and “what’s keeping you from just giving everything to God?” and “how would your priorities change if you saw yourself as you really are?”
 
Each decade is offered for a special intention: “We pray for anyone who feels trapped in a way of life that is self-destructive,” for “all those who have lost faith in you,” “for our own mothers … and for all mothers,” and “for all those who are lonely today and desperate for someone to visit them.”
 
There’s much more to this little book. Kelly offers a guide for praying a Scriptural Rosary, and in the appendices, he has “How to Pray the Rosary,” “Quotes, Prayers and Hymns about Mary and the Rosary,” and a list of “Marian Feast Days.”
 
Matthew Kelly is an acclaimed speaker, the author of numerous books, and the founder of Dynamic Catholic. For convenience, “Rediscover the Rosary” is available as an audio book and an e-book in addition to standard book form.
 
J. E. Helm is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.