The Holy Rosary is shrouded in all the mysteries of the Faith. This cannot be overstated, from the Wedding at Cana to the Harrowing of Hell. This powerful weapon has not only strengthened our resolve in prayer but has built a great discipline within it. Miracles have been attributed to it, works of mercy brought forth, and many intercessions made. Every good Catholic will tell everyone, both in and out of the flock, to pray the Rosary.

However, the importance of this weapon seems to be heavily understated in the modern mindset. One outside the faith, within the broader umbrella of Christianity, may ask, “What about prayers that are not the Rosary?” Obviously, God will also listen to these prayers when said dutifully and faithfully. To which our separated brethren might then scoff: why do they need to pray the Rosary then? What makes this more important than the simple plea of one sinner?

The story of St. Dominic acquiring the Rosary from the Blessed Mother is quite touching, and we cannot deny its effect and his actions. There are, however, insights that the Rosary came from disciplines of prayer throughout the ages of Christendom, and its metamorphosis is what we have today through the teachings of the Church.

Regardless of either, or both, it appears the Rosary is something we simply do due to our association with being Catholic. We see this heavy association with Hispanics, which leads to an interesting point: is this what the Rosary is then? Not tied to a racial group, but rather a special session, ritual, and discipline for those who are within the Catholic faith?

Frankly, this feels very superficial despite what many would claim otherwise. Not that it is disagreeable, but it has not answered the question as to why we pray it.

C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity about the importance of imitating Christ. This is very obvious to every practicing Christian, but Lewis emphasized a key feature different from any other writer who speaks on this topic. Lewis speaks of pretending to be like Christ, which is a stumbling factor when discussing our faith. How do we pretend to be like Christ? Are we faking our emotions, putting on a mask, or just trying to fool ourselves? Well, that is precisely the point Lewis makes: when we put on the garments of Christ, we are already changing. We pretend to be these things so that, in short, they will no longer feel like we are pretending anymore.

“You see what is happening. The Christ Himself, the Son of God who is man (just like you) and God (just like His Father) is actually at your side and is already at that moment beginning to turn your pretense into a reality.” (Book IV, Chapter 7, Mere Christianity)

Therefore, if we wish to partake more deeply in prayer and wish to not only take it up but live it, the Rosary is there for us to experience it. Yet the question is still unanswered, and thankfully Lewis has also answered this.

The Trinity in all its mystery is a three-person God which our minds cannot comprehend. God is the Father waiting for us in Heaven. He is also the God-man who came to die for our sins and has redeemed us. Finally, He is the Spirit that pushes us to continue—or pretend—to move forward to meet Him. Lewis points out that all these three are what happens every time we say a simple prayer. The Holy Spirit is within us when we recite, the Son points us toward whom we must seek, and the Father accepts us with all this. “So that the whole threefold life of the three-personal Being is actually going on in that ordinary little bedroom where an ordinary man is saying his prayers. The man is being caught up into the higher kind of life…he is being pulled into God, by God, while still remaining himself.” (Book IV, Chapter 2, Mere Christianity)

Therefore, if this is the power of a simple prayer—to be able to bend the reality of the world right in our very rooms—what is the power of a prayer that is not only longer, but more dedicated to Him? In the Rosary, we pretend to take the role of Our Holy Mother, the being who was closest to our Lord save the Father. There we see the life of Our Lord from His beginning to the end, to the Resurrection and what is to come with every sentence, every word, down to the closing remark.

Here we see and feel the importance of such a discipline, and we allow the Spirit to guide us further toward the spiritual life. In these few moments that we pray, every bead shows us what Heaven will be, and in those precious moments we feel Eternity.