Meditating with Mary

Jennifer Thomas shares how the way she's prayed the Rosary has changed over time, and recalls the first time she prayed the Seven Sorrows of Mary.

I learned to pray the Rosary when I was a young girl, probably around the time I was six years old. I remember every Sunday night, my dad would call my older brother and me to get our rosary beads so we could pray together in our small bedroom. We kneeled in front of the bottom bunk of our twin bunk bed, arms resting on the mattress as we held our rosary beads and followed along.

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The way we prayed was same way my dad learned from his own mother. Grandma always called her rosary her "worry beads" and would often get them out anytime she was worried about something, rubbing each bead between her fingers. To the best of my knowledge, she didn't know anything about the Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary, much less meditate on them.

I first learned of the different Mysteries of the Rosary right before COVID. In my efforts to multitask, I decided I would find a podcast recording of the Rosary and was surprised the first time I heard them. I typically found myself going on my walks on the two weekdays that focus on the Sorrowful Mysteries. In the beginning, I found it easy to pace myself to the steady rhythm of the voices in my ears, silently praying with each stride. After a while though, I could feel myself simply going through the motions and repetition of the Rosary without taking time to actually meditate on the Mysteries. After my walks became less frequent, so did my praying the Rosary and hearing the Mysteries.

Recently, however, my friend and Mourning Glory Podcast co-host, Andrea Bear, asked if we could record an episode solely focusing on praying the Seven Sorrows of Mary in honor of Good Friday this year. After reading this beautiful and unique Rosary several times, I felt myself drawn to it and began to actually meditate on each of the Seven Sorrows. I visualized Mary at each stage and imagined how difficult it must have been knowing her Son’s fate all of His life and seeing it actually come to fruition.

As I sat in front of Mary in my little backyard Mary Garden on Easter morning, I found myself smiling and at peace just meditating on how much joy she must have felt that first Easter morning when she realized her Son had fulfilled the prophecy by rising from the dead. I imagined her beaming with pride and relief knowing that she was a part of something so wondrous.

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As we enter into the month of Mary, I hope to grow in relationship with her and feel that same connection I felt Easter morning by spending more time meditating with her. I hope to pray the Rosary more frequently with her and seek her wisdom as Our Lady of Good Counsel and remember that because of her “yes” all those centuries ago, she not only said yes to being Jesus' mother but yes to being a mother to us all.

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