How the Rosary Can Change Your Life

"If you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I do assure you that in spite of the gravity of your sins you shall receive a never fading crown of glory. For even if you are now on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil, sooner or later you will be converted. Heaven will amend your life and save your soul if you say the Rosary devoutly every day of your life." - St. Louis de Montfort

St. Louis certainly gives several compelling reasons why the Rosary is a powerful prayer! Countless saints, popes and lay people have been dedicated to the Rosary
and spreading this powerful devotion throughout the world. Many miracles and life-changing events have been attributed to the Rosary. The following are five more unique ways that praying the Rosary can change your life.

Praying for Others

An intention is a favor or request. Just as you might pray that you find a better job or that your mother is cured of cancer, you can offer a Rosary for a certain intention. Another common practice is to offer each decade of the Rosary for a different intention. When you initially begin praying the Rosary, you will probably tend to focus your intentions on requests that affect you and your immediate family or friends, such as better health, more patience, a change of heart, etc. When you pray the Rosary more frequently, you will be able to broaden your intentions to such causes as conversion of anonymous sinners who have no one to pray for them, an end to poverty, or other more global requests.

Become More Christ-Like

“The Rosary reminds us of major events in Christ’s life. Following the life of Christ scripturally, we can pattern our life on the life of Christ. … The Christian challenge is to conform our life to Christ, and the Rosary helps us to do that.” - Father John Phalen, President of Holy Cross Family Ministries

Each mystery also has an imbedded virtue, or fruit, through which we can learn to imitate Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines virtue as “a habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions. The goal of a virtuous person is to become like God.” (CCC 1803) Over time, a person who prays the Rosary devoutly and meditates on the 20 mysteries grows in and imitates these virtues.