365 Rosaries: What a Year of Praying the Rosary Taught Me About Peace

Last October, Pope Leo XIV invited people to pray the Rosary every day during October for peace.

When I heard his invitation to pray for peace, I knew my family and I could use prayers for peace.

Praying with my fingers

I had already been praying the Rosary several times a week. That Man Is You had helped deepen my devotion to the Rosary, and during Lent earlier that year, I had committed to praying a Rosary for each day of Lent, catching up when I missed a day. But after Lent, I had fallen back into praying it only a few times a week.

So I decided to answer Pope Leo's invitation and make a commitment to the Rosary for the month of October.

October came and went, but I kept going.

At some point, a commitment for a month became a commitment for a year. That doesn't mean I prayed one every single day. If I missed a day, I would catch up. Most days I was probably one or two Rosaries behind. A few times I got about ten days behind and had to work my way back by praying two or three a day.

It wasn't a perfect 365-day streak.

But I kept coming back.

Over time, I started to notice that the days when I prayed the Rosary were simply better days. Not necessarily because anything around me was better, but because I was in a better state of mind. I was more open to God's will and more willing to trust Him. I also began to notice that when I was feeling particularly anxious, stressed or worked up, it was often after I had gone several days without praying the Rosary. The Rosary didn't make the difficult things in my life go away, but it helped bring me back to a place of peace and trust in God. And during some very difficult times, it has helped me find not only peace, but joy. That became another reason to keep coming back.

I don't always have a Rosary with me when I pray. I often pray the Rosary while I'm driving or walking, counting the Hail Marys on my fingers instead of using Rosary beads. The important part for me has been making the Rosary part of my everyday life.

And yesterday, one year later, I prayed my 365th Rosary.

Finding Peace in the Middle of the Storm

I wish I could say that praying 365 Rosaries made life's challenges go away. It didn't. This past year has included some significant personal and professional struggles, and some of the things I've prayed for haven't happened the way I hoped they would.

But I have found more peace in the middle of those challenges.

The Rosary has helped keep me grounded. It has helped me fight resentment. It has helped pull me away from focusing only on myself and what I want. Again and again, it brings my attention back to Jesus.

My prayer has changed over the past few years too. I still ask God for specific things, but more and more, my prayer comes back to asking for God's will, not mine.

The Rosary has helped instill that in me. The first Sorrowful Mystery is the Agony in the Garden, and the fruit of that mystery is openness to God's will. Jesus asks His Father to let the cup pass from Him, but ultimately surrenders to His Father's will (Luke 22:42).

That's become a big part of how I pray. I may tell God how I want something to turn out, but ultimately I pray for His will to be done. That isn't always easy, especially when His will or timing may be different from what I want.

The Rosary continually brings me back to that surrender.

One of the things I love about the Rosary is that it lets me reflect on the life of Jesus through Mary's eyes. Praying the Rosary isn't about worshiping Mary. It's about asking for her prayers while the mysteries of the Rosary lead us through the life of Christ.

There are many ways to deepen that meditation. Since I first started seriously praying the Rosary in college, I have reflected on the fruit associated with each mystery. Those fruits help me move beyond simply reciting the prayers and think about what each mystery is calling me to in my own life.

That's probably another article because the way I learned to pray the Rosary has had a lasting impact on my prayer life.

A Weapon for Spiritual Warfare

In his 2002 apostolic letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, St. John Paul II recalled Pope Leo XIII proposing the Rosary as an “effective spiritual weapon against the evils afflicting society” (§2). He later entrusted to the power of the Rosary “the cause of peace in the world and the cause of the family” (§39).

Over this past year, I've come to understand that description more personally. I believe the family is under attack in our culture and in our world, but I've also come to recognize that spiritual battle within myself, in the temptations toward selfishness, anger, resentment and despair.

For me, the Rosary has become a weapon against those things. It gets me out of my own head, reminds me that I'm not in control and brings me back to Jesus.

Signal Graces

A few months ago, my pastor, Father Michael Lumpe, shared a post about the Fifteen Promises of the Rosary. The first promise says that those who faithfully pray the Rosary shall receive signal graces. That gave me language for something I felt like I had been experiencing.

Looking back over the past year, there have been a number of times when I learned something or was given just enough understanding to prepare me for something that came later. Some difficult realities seemed to be revealed in smaller pieces that I could handle instead of hitting me all at once.

That experience has made me think about 1 Corinthians 10:13: “God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it.”

Looking back, I recognize those moments as grace. God didn't necessarily give me the answer I wanted, but He often seemed to give me what I needed for what was coming next.

Pray for Peace

One of the things I have learned over and over in my faith is that God meets us where we are. We don't have to have everything figured out before we start, and we certainly don't have to pray perfectly.

I started with a commitment to pray the Rosary for one month.

A month became a year.

And now Pope Leo is again inviting people to pray the Rosary this October for peace. At Lourdes this past Sunday, he invited the faithful to pray with the particular intention that wars would cease and peace would be established among people in conflict.

The world needs peace. Our communities need peace. Our families need peace. And our hearts need peace.

If you aren't praying the Rosary, start. Even if it's just once this October. If you pray it occasionally, try praying it weekly. If you already pray it regularly, pray it more often and work toward making it a daily part of your life. God will meet you where you are. Start praying the Rosary more often and see what God does. See how it changes your heart and your perspective.

That's what I did.

365 Rosaries later, I'm beginning another year. Will you join me?

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.

Our Lady of Peace, pray for us.