The Traveling Rosary: Connecting the Catholic Community in Prayer
I hate to start off this article in the cliche way that so many have started of late, but: man, COVID has changed so many things. Last year, there were blessings and burdens of proportions no one could have imagined, no doubt, but one of the things that I found myself struggling most with was the loss of my Catholic community.
While watching Mass online and Bible studies over Zoom definitely helped me get through the pandemic, it also hindered me from connecting and growing in my faith community. Sometimes you just need to physically be present, even in silence, with others. “Where two or more are gathered in my name”…you know the rest!
So missing out on that for a whole year, I realized I needed a tangible way to connect with my brothers and sisters in Christ…to physically pray alongside others…even when a physical presence wasn’t possible. So, I came up with an idea!
The Traveling Rosary
To put it simply, the traveling rosary is exactly what it sounds like; you send around a rosary, and each person prays for the last person’s intention.
How did I do this? I gathered up names of local Catholics I knew, posted on social media for volunteers, and organized a list of 48 names and addresses of those who were interested! I picked 48 because I wanted to hit an even 50, one for each Hail Mary including my first and last prayer!
Honestly, more people responded to this than I thought! Everyone was itching for a way to pray collectively for their community…and many wanted to amp up their prayer intentions list!
So, here are the steps:
1. Pick or buy a rosary! Preferably one you would feel comfortable sending in the mail!
2. Get a tiny notebook for intention keeping!
3. Create your list of 48 names and addresses (always make sure to ask if people are okay with their address being given to someone they may not know). I would keep this list only to people you know and trust.
4. Send it out to the first person on your list with your intention and instructions written in the notebook…and tell each person to pray for the last intention, add their own, and connect with you when they are done praying! Then, you can send out the next address for them to send to!
5. After the last person prays, I also invited everyone on to a final Zoom call to pray the final rosary together! Each Hail Mary was dedicated to one of the intentions on the list!
I’ve found this to be a great way to connect people of faith…it allows them to pray for new people and intentions, form new bonds, and tangibly lift up their prayers TOGETHER even from afar!
Why the Rosary?
The rosary has always intrigued me…it is sometimes a calming repetitive presence…and at other times, it can also be one of the most heartfelt cries out to our mama Mary out there! Sometimes, it can be a struggle to get through…and others…an adventure, a climb up the mountain toward our Lord.
Apart from its physical and tangible nature, the rosary binds and connects us through the prayers that we, as Catholics, know by heart. We cry out for meaning and answers in the repetition of the prayers we ALL can say together. It’s a beautiful connection…and it binds us to those who have prayed these same prayers over time…and still do every day.
The Power of Prayer
I have always struggled with prayer, I’m not going to lie. I’m not sure if I have difficulty focusing…or if I sometimes feel like I’m shouting into the void…but I struggle!
Reading the Bible, great! Talking to people about the faith, sure! Mass, definitely! But sometimes, I forget that my prayer life needs just as much attention.
For me, I’ve never been one to be ‘smacked in the head by Jesus’…if you know what I mean! I have known so many prayer warriors who have said they have seen physical and visible signs…or they have felt certain ways in their prayer life! That was really never me…until I had a POWERFUL prayer experience this past Lent.
I was overcome by the difficulty of Lent…and a few things going on in my life as well. There was one particular intention that was just eating away at me…and one day, on the phone with a friend for our Lenten prayer session, I felt (and I mean REALLY felt) the weight of a knot on my chest. I couldn’t shake the feeling of a knot in my heart…and the word ‘knot’ just overwhelmed me…until she said, “we need to pray the novena to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots!”
I didn’t understand what that really meant, but for nine days, we prayed the novena. And on the 10th day, I seriously can’t explain it, but my prayer was VERY visibly and clearly answered. I’ve never had that happen to me…and I broke down and wept.
Prayer is SO powerful. And I can hear stories like that again and again…and God can even SHOW me at points in my life, but sometimes I still struggle. Truly, though, the power of prayer is so beyond what we can even comprehend. That’s why, I encourage you…in this moment…if you are struggling with your faith…or if you have been wanting to get down on your knees and pray for some time…DO IT!
You never know what kinds of doors God will open up if you let go of your doubt and anxiety…and offer it all up in prayer. And you don’t have to go it alone. That’s why I love the traveling rosary…it’s just a great reminder that we lift EACH OTHER up in prayer…and the Catholic community, with all its flaws and feelings, comes together as the body of Christ united in prayer.