Loving Mary leads to loving Jesus

I am so excited to have my lovely friend Susana posting here today!!  She is one busy Momma with 2 little boys (+ 1 baby girl on the way!), works in ministry, throws a mean party, and is the crafting queen.  Go show her some love, where she is serving up a beautifully crazy, caffeinated life...you'll leave her lovely place on the inter-webs feeling inspired and refreshed:)

Today Susana is reflecting on her devotion to the Rosary and how her love of Mary leads to loving Jesus...take it away, lady!!

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I remember the first time my family sat down to pray a rosary. We gathered at the kitchen table, my mom lit candles, turned off some of the lights and passed out these ropes with beads on them. I was around six at the time and had no idea what was going on. However, I was content because mom gave me a notebook to draw in while we prayed. After about 10 minutes I realized that I liked the rosary. It was calming, peaceful and it just felt….right.

Fast forward about 10 years.

My mom is pregnant with child number six, she sits on the couch, puts her feet up, and starts the usual evening call for the family rosary. Instead of being in awe and wonder like I was ten years earlier, I’m dragging my feet. I’m making a big deal about how it was already 9:00 at night. I had to get up early the next morning for swim practice so why should I have to stay up another 40 minutes (saying the rosary can take a while in a big family) just because we couldn’t sit down to do it sooner?

I begged my parents for us to just say Night Prayer instead of a full rosary. They said no. I suggested a chaplet. They said no. We were going to say a family rosary and that was that. But I wasn’t done. I turned up the volume on my angsty teen switchboard and began to make the whole family miserable with my attitude. Finally my mom had had enough. She sent me to bed and told me to think about my priorities. Victory was mine! I could finally go to sleep and be well rested for swim practice….or so I thought.

As I tried to fall asleep, all I could focus on was the gentle sound of my family's prayers. Suddenly I was wide awake. There was no going to sleep, not as long as my family was still praying. Sadness filled my heart as I realized that I needed to be out there with them. Too prideful to admit defeat, I pulled a rosary out of my desk drawer and finished the rosary with my family from the walls of my room. It wasn’t until we had finished that I was able to find rest.

I learned a lot that night. I learned a lot about my faith life and the things that I was putting ahead of it. There is no doubt that life can get crazy and priorities can be easily out of order. However, ever since I was a child, I have found that the rosary will put me back on track. I have always enjoyed praying the rosary and asking our Blessed Mother for her intercession. My love for this form of prayer has only grown in my adult life. In high school, the rosary became a way for me to enter into true discernment of where God wanted me for college.

Then when I was in college, it helped me focus on my goals and strengths, all the while reminding me that I am only an instrument and that it is through God that I accomplish things. It reminded me to say “yes” just like Mary did so long ago. There were a lot of trials and challenges that I faced in college but the rosary was always there to help guide me towards God’s Will for me...even if I wasn’t thrilled with the result. The rosary helped me find my now husband and one of my favorite things is when he and I say it together with our little boys.

I love that the Catholic Church has such a rich and beautiful prayer that centers me and guides me in my day-to-day life. Even in my parenting I can tell the days that we didn’t say the rosary from the ones where we did. The boys are better behaved and I’m a gentler parent. We laugh and smile more, too. At the end of the day when my house is a disaster, I don’t panic because we said the rosary and that’s more important.

Many Catholic families that I’ve spoken with explain that there just isn’t time for a whole rosary during their day. They mention that it would be impossible to get everyone to sit down and pray. But impossible things are Mary’s business and with her intercession you can expect miracles. Give her the opportunity to come into your family life and help guide you closer to her Son.


All you have to do is try. Our Lady will take care of the rest…