St John Paul gave example to the Church and the world, of a tender and heartfelt devotion to Our Lady. His words on the Rosary tell us something of his motivation: “With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love. Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer.”

When it comes to prayer, we are all “at school” in the sense that we do not ever feel we have “qualified” or accomplished a high status as experts in praying. We all know that our prayers are imperfect and we long to do better in our attempts to lift up our hearts and minds to God and address Him as we should. To go to the “school of Mary” is a beautiful way to describe the Rosary.

Praying the Rosary is very simple and greatly rewards perseverance. It is not a prayer that requires a lot of “expertise” and Our Lady herself will teach each of us to pray better and with greater fervour.