ROSARY PRAYER: CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER IN THE BIBLE by Atty. Marwil Llasos

The Virgin Mother contemplates the Face of the Lord Jesus

What we do in the rosary is to meditate and contemplate on the paschal mystery of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Meditation or contemplation is clearly taught in the sacred pages of the Bible. In the Old Testament, we are told that “Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide” (Gen. 24”63). The People of God were commanded to meditate on His law day and night: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt mediate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success" (Jos. 1:8). Thus, a true servant of God delights in the law of God and meditates on it day and night (Ps. 1:2). He exclaims: “Oh how I love thy law! It is my meditation all the day!” (Ps. 119:97).

Christians belong to the New Testament dispensation; thus, they are no longer under law but grace (Rom. 6:14) brought about by the paschal mystery of the life, death and resurrection of Our Lord and savior. We no longer mediate on some 617 laws embodied in the Old Testament. Rather, we meditate on the mysteries of our salvation in Jesus Christ when we pray the rosary.

It is customary for families to pray the rosary at night. Fr. Patrick Peyton popularized the adage “the family that prays together, stays together.” Nightly meditation has Biblical precedent. Thus, we read in Psalm 63:6, “When I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches.” Does not the rosary fit this pattern? When we pray the rosary at night before we sleep, we remember our Lord and meditate on Him.

Catholics, too, are exhorted to meditate daily on God’s. As the Psalmist says “I might meditate in thy word” (Ps. 119:148), we have the best opportunity to do just that in the rosary. We may read passages from the Bible appropriate for the mystery and meditate on them as we pray the rosary. Indeed, by meditating on the Word of God, the rosary becomes to us a truly and eminently Gospel prayer. It encapsulates the gospel message as we bring to mind the beautiful and meaningful scenes in the New Testament that greatly impact our salvation. The rosary, with its prayers taken from the Bible, is a powerful tool to help us meditate on God’s Holy Word.

As we all know, the rosary is a mixture of vocal prayer. The rosary wonderfully fits the Biblical pattern expressed in Psalm 19:14: “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.” The “words of the mouth” corresponds to vocal prayer while “meditation of the heart” means meditative or mental prayer. The rosary is vocal prayer because we use our voice in praying. It is likewise a mental prayer because we lift our mind to God when we meditate on the mysteries of our salvation while we recite the set or formulary prayers.

We may also pray the rosary inside the church especially before the Blessed Sacrament. This fulfills what Psalm 48:9 which says, “Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love.” By praying the rosary in the church before our Eucharistic Lord, we meditate on God’s unfailing love for us. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16).

(For further reflection, please read: Ps. 104:34; Ps. 143:5; Phil. 4:8 and 1 Tim. 4:15.)