Has this book changed your thinking or practice about this devotion?

[Manuel]

Suggested by John:
Add here any comments you may have, to indicate whether this book has changed your thinking or practice about this devotion.

[Doreen]

Not for me it hasn't changed. I've always prayed the Rosary and always will.

[John]

That´s wonderful, Doreen. Did the Book add nothing to your appreciation of the rosary?

[Steven R.]

I have found that it deepened my devotion. But also it helped me teach my children the importance. My son who is 10 does an audio rosary every day. Around the same time I read this the first time I read Shane Kapler's Marrying the Rosary to the Divine Mercy Chaplet and love doing the audio of that each day when i get to work and have my coffee.

[John]

I’m not sure where else to put this, so I’ll add it here. Everyday while we have been walking the Camino (with one exception) we have prayed the rosary. This was a continuation of the rosary we prayed during Lent and have tried to continue with less than complete success since then. Reading one or two or more of the Champion biographies has been especially supportive of our continuing.

We started with the Joyous mysteries, then Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious in turn. Each cycle through has been a deeper reflection. Even the day we missed, a short day to help my wife’s blisters, ended up being a blessing as it resulted in us praying the Glorious mysteries on both Pentecost and today, our last day walking the Camino. Today is the subject of this long comment.

We decided to take an alternative short cut today - something many others at our gîte discussed doing last night. It was poorly marked, but not knowing that we started the rosary once we got on the short cut, because it looked very straight forward. We took a wrong turn. An old man who we had seen several times over the course of the last week followed us, about a half kilometer behind us. A young woman was walking with him. We got to an intersection with a busy road and all of a sudden I realized I didn’t know where we were. Nothing on the map matched. Worse, the road signs would have us walking the side of a very busy two lane road in France - very dangerous - for some reason the French don’t seem to believe in shoulders.

I was trying to decide what to do, when the old man arrived. He showed me on his electronic map that we had taken a bad turn, that we had to walk for about a kilometer along the side of the busy highway to get up to a road that would get us back on track. Then he said to follow him and off he set at a forced march pace. The young woman said she would take the rear. And off we marched with cars and trucks whizzing by, sometimes just inches away.

At one point the old man called out “Angilique?” without slowing his pace or turning his head. And the young woman responded “oui, je suis ici.”

We eventually got to the turn and got off the highway. A couple more kilometers and the old man showed me again where we were on his map. And I recognized it and immediately knew where we were from having studied that portion of my map incessantly. We had just at that precise moment reached the edge of my map.

I was overjoyed. Not only were we “found,” we hadn’t walked any further. In fact our mistake had actually shortened the walk more than planned, though dangerously so. For the first time we introduced ourselves and I learned that the old man’s name was Dominique. Now maybe it is a coincidence that I am reading about the rosary and praying it every day, and the man who comes to save us is named Dominic. And maybe he didn’t call the young woman (whose name was actually Julie) an angel, but some French sentence that sounded like it. But you’ll have a tough time convincing me.

I am comfortable understanding that though my wife and I wandered off the path while praying the rosary, Mary and our Heavenly Father ensured that no harm befell us and sent help to guide us back to the right path.

I thought, given the subject of the book we are reading this month, that you might be interested in today’s events.

[Mariangel]

That's a neat story, John!

Could you share from where to where you have walked this year? It sounds that your finishing stage was still in France, so plenty to continue in the future. ;)

[John]

We walked from Figéac to Condom this year. A little less than I had hoped, but we had to slow down to help my wife’s blisters. Next year we should get at least to St. Jean Pied a Port, though I haven’t looked at the details yet, and at dinner our last night one of the other pilgrims was saying they expected to take ten days at an average of 20 kilometers a day to get from Condom to Roncesvalles. If so, then we might be able to get to Pamplona in two weeks. But we’ll see.

[Sheila]

Read your story, John. Thanks for sharing. I wanted to start praying the rosary again but it was hard saying it alone. Then I discovered the Family Rosary on Relevant Radio. 5 p.m. Pacific Coast time, Monday through Friday. I believe positive things have happened as a result of tuning in with folks across the country. We pray as a family.

[C.D.]

That's a really interesting story, John. Was your guide's name just a coincidence? I think NOT!

[John]

Thank you Shiela and C.D. In Lourdes now. Wow. Wow. Wow.

[Bice]

Oh John thank you for sharing this.
I love Rosary stories.

[Bice]

Has this book changed your thinking or practice about this devotion?
.
I admit I have always had trouble with the Rosary. I just didn’t get it. I knew I had to meditate on the Mystery and pray the Prayers prayerfully.. I just could not seem do both at same time. Either the Meditations were profound and the prayers were just said not prayed or the prayers were prayed slowly with much attention and the Meditation non existent. Often I did not PRAY the Rosary I just SAID the Rosary. It is only in the last six months or so that things have begun to change. It has been a time of really trying to deepen my relationship with the Blessed Mother.

In the last few months it seemed like every where I went on line or heard on Catholic media the Rosary was mentioned. I was gratified that Champions of the Rosary was chosen. I had recently read The Contemplative Rosary with St John Paul II and St. Teresa of Avila by Dan Burke. That book was a great helping in helping me pray the Rosary “better”. Adding a phrase after Jesus in the Hail Mary keeps me focused on Mystery better. Liked learning about that in Champions book too.

Champions of the Rosary helped me appreciate the Beauty and Power of the Rosary. I liked learning the full history and “meeting” the Champions.
The book helped me to seek to pray the Rosary daily. I have even begun the 54 day Novena to help me do just that.

[John]

Thank you, Bice.

I've also struggled not just with consistently praying the Rosary, but with being consistent in daily prayer at all. With the Rosary, my problem is my mind wandering. I loved Calloway's comment that when you notice that your mind has wandered and your mouth is reciting the prayers by rote, don't get flustered or try to repeat "missed" prayers, but to just take it as an opportunity to re-focus on the mystery. As you continue it will get better.

Now that we have returned from walking the Camino, I am trying to continue to say a daily Rosary. I find staying focused when I recite silently by myself to be a challenge or when I am just sitting quietly to be a challenge, but I trust that it will get better.

[Bice]

Thank you John for this post. It was very helpful. I enjoyed your Camino posts too.

I struggle with prayer also. Found the book Into the Deep by Dan Burke helpful.

[Doreen]

John wrote: "That´s wonderful, Doreen. Did the Book add nothing to your appreciation of the rosary?"

I was raised to always appreciate the Rosary and my Catholic faith. It's just something that I know is right deep in my heart and soul. I'm so grateful to my parents for instilling that in me.