The month of October reminds me of three things: lots of horror stories and Halloween specials on TV, my dad’s birthday and the month of the Holy Rosary. I remember back in high school, everytime it was October, we’d be asked to decorate our bulletin board for October and put up a small altar at one corner of the classroom and pray all five mysteries for the day of the rosary. I end up leading the rosary on most days, which I don’t really mind, and which is also why I memorized all the prayers and the mysteries.
But…I’d have to admit. I’m not the biggest fan of the Holy Rosary. :-s I liked that I can do it, but I don’t really like doing it. I’m not proud of this, and I’m trying my best to learn to love this form of prayer. I don’t doubt how powerful praying the rosary can be (and it really helped me calm down and be still in God during the time I was waiting for my exam results in my current employer); it’s just that sometimes it can get so repetitive that I get too antsy and I feel like my prayers aren’t getting through.
But I’m trying harder now. I’m trying harder to appreciate the rosary for all it is worth, because I know that it’s a beautiful prayer as a whole. Plus there are also these things, which Mr. Matt Smith from Lifeteen.com pointed out:
- The rosary isn’t all about me. (True!)
- A lot can happen when I pray for 20 minutes (approximately how long praying the entire rosary will take)
- It’s an interactive Biblical experience (gives me time to reflect at the important parts of Jesus’ life — yes, the rosary is still about Jesus, despite the number of Hail Mary’s prayed)
- It can make ordinary situations extraordinary (because I spent it in prayer)
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Like I said, I’m trying harder. Which is why I’d like to thank Jun and Fr. Stephen for starting the Filipino Holy Rosary (or Santo Rosaryo) podcast. For everyone who wants to pray the rosary but is not quite familiar with it, here’s a guide for you. You may download these podcasts, put them in your mp3 player and just pray with it while you walk, commute, drive or work or while going through your favorite hobby shop. You can use this to teach kids or students how to pray the rosary in Filipino, or have a group of friends say the prayer together. You can send these to your Filipino friends abroad too. :)
If you’d prefer the English version, you may download podcasts at RosaryArmy.com. I will be putting these up for download by tomorrow at my Multiply too, so you can also download it from there in case you can’t access the two sites. :)