Being a Catholic myself, I found it easy to identify with the author's love of her faith and religion. I have always had a special interest and love for Mary, but never could quite get into praying the Rosary, no matter how many times I tried. But after reading just the first few pages of this book, I decided to pick up my Rosary beads and give it another try. Why? Because the author inspired me. She inspired me with her story of praying the Rosary each day as she sat in a tiny bathroom in Rwanda just hoping to stay alive. Her faith brought tears to my eyes as I imagined what that experience must have been like for her. Her situation was extreme and terrible and almost impossible to imagine, but I think many of us have had some life experience that has either caused us to move closer to or farther away from God. Rather than believe that God had abandoned her in that bathroom, she picked up her beads and prayed with all her might. In spite of everything awful going on around her, she decided to dig her heels in and draw strength from her source. That is what inspired me.
Before reading this book, the mysteries of the Rosary intimidated me because I didn't really take the time to understand each one and meditate on them. In the book, the author explains an easier way to remember each mystery as one is praying the Rosary and I found that to be incredibly helpful. While praying the Rosary, I struggled less with the "rules" of how to say the Rosary and could focus more on the meaning of the words I was praying. There was a sense of calm and serenity that descended on me as I finished, and it was then that I understood the words the author had written early in the book. The author states that the Rosary has "enormous power", enough to change the world and bring lasting peace to our hearts. I can honestly say that I feel more peaceful after saying the Rosary, and I have only been saying it for about four days now. I felt more peaceful, thus I went out to face my day in a state of peace, hopefully bringing and spreading peace throughout my day. From that I understand the other part of what the author said, that it has enough power to change the world. Imagine if more people prayed this powerful prayer instead of watching the disturbing news headlines before going out into the world each day. As Gandhi said, we have to be the change we want to see. If we want more peace, we have to be more peaceful ourselves. I think the Rosary is a wonderful first step to making that happen.
There was another description that the author gave that will stay with me for a long time. She referred to Rosary beads as a rope hanging down from Heaven. It's comforting to think that there is something right there for us to grab onto that will strengthen our connection to the source that created us.
Many people today are moving away from God, are not into prayer, and have let go of religion. Yet, the world is in such a state of chaos and disrepair. Something from the book that resonated with me is that prayer is so powerful because our minds latch onto the words that we repeatedly say and we begin to believe those words. If that is true, and I believe that it is, why wouldn't someone want to say this prayer of beautiful words? Thoughts and words have the power to transform lives, so why not choose the words we say and think more carefully?
I am sincerely glad that the author chose to write this book, and even more glad to have had the opportunity to read it, because it has a powerful message that is capable of transforming hearts and lives, and that can only be good.
Thank you, Immaculee Ilibagiza, for sharing this book with all of us.
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