For my first communion, our CCD teacher gave us each a beautiful rosary. She made sure we knew each prayer used. She taught us the history and meaning of the devotion. And for about fifteen years, I never thought about it again.
Until this year when my (very patient, very wise) husband suggested we pray some novenas. I agreed wholeheartedly! The only problem was, while I still remembered the prayers, I didn’t connect to the mysteries at all. They were dry, historical facts to me.
So I did what I always do when faced with a problem. I searched for books. I’ll admit it; the cover of Rosaries Aren’t Just For Teething is what drew me in. My son (and probably yours too) has the same wooden rosary. I immediately got the impression that the book was for young Catholic moms. And I was not disappointed.
Structure of the Book
Edited by Michelle Chronister, this book is a collection of reflections on each and every mystery of the rosary. Each essay is a short personal narrative about the ways each mystery is lived in the life of a normal mom. The essays are written by popular authors including Kelly Mantoan, Amy Garro, Jenna Hines, and Haley Stewart.
My Favorite Takeaways
We all hate to see our children struggle. It’s super tough to trust that suffering has meaning. Even more so when your child has pain that other children don’t. But if there’s one thing Our Lady knows, it’s bearing your child’s pain.
She saw her beloved son, God incarnate, suffer more than we will ever see our children suffer. Christ was tortured, humiliated, and killed. At every step, she knew He could perform miracles beyond count; yet He willingly suffered to atone for our sins.
His pain was so great, and so was hers in witnessing. If Mary can bear witness to her son’s hardest, most painful work, then so must I.
Why this book?
You aren’t starved for choice when it comes to rosary devotionals. It’s a popular genre with spiritual rosaries, visual rosaries, even sung on CDs set to music. What sets Rosaries Aren’t Just For Teething apart is that it speaks directly to your mother’s heart.
Marian love is a mother’s love. The rosary is far from being a dated story, or a dry list of facts. The rosary is the prayer of a Mother, by us mothers.
To help you stay on track with your next novena, I put together a little printable. It’s available along with many others in the Subscriber Resource Library.