Praying the Rosary
How do you begin your day?
How many times in the movies and on television have you watched the early morning scene of a person smashing the snooze button on a blaring alarm clock in a frantic effort to grab just a few more moments of sleep?
Maybe that describes a few of your mornings! Maybe even more than a few of your mornings…
The fact is that too many mornings begin in a rush with little preparation for what lies ahead. Here’s an idea. Let’s end our battles with the alarm clock and instead resolve to wake up 15 minutes earlier. Give this time to prayer, spending precious moments with God, before you embrace the “busyness” to come. Whether you choose to spend this time in meditation or silence, whether you choose to read the bible or pray the rosary… precede it with a personal prayer of gratitude and purpose.
Here is one possible prayer. What would yours look like?
“Merciful Father, to you I give all praise, glory and honor, my life and my will. Thank you for seeing me safely through the night and granting me this gift of a new day overflowing with possibilities.
“Be with me this day and help me to see those You place in my path, grant me the knowledge and wisdom to understand Your purpose and their needs, fill me with the courage and strength to do as You ask. Deepen my love for you by helping me to love those around me
“Mindful of Your Holy Will, I pray for my salvation; the salvation of my wife and children—my daughter; my son, his wife and their children; my sister and all my family, living and deceased; I pray particularly for the peaceful repose of the souls of my parents and my wife’s parents; for all those people you place in my life and especially for those for whom no one prays. Help me to lead all souls I encounter to You.”
