Sacred Story Rosary: An Ignatian Way to Pray the Mysteries - Standard Black and White Edition - Softcover

Watson SJ, Rev. William M

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1511738049 ISBN 13: 9781511738040

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015

Synopsis

Fidelity to a spiritual discipline requires more than sheer willpower. Many people have begun a new spiritual regimen with dedication but in time the passion wanes. This has happened to me countless times. I knew the Rosary was important when I started praying it but sometimes became bored or distracted when I prayed. Many times I took heart in the comment attributed to St. Therese of Lisieux that she oftentimes fell asleep before she finished the Rosary. She had a child’s joy however, because she said the Blessed Mother would finish it for her! Others could never fall asleep praying the Rosary. After my “Marian awakening,” I became friends with Fr. Richard McSorley, S.J. He was known as the “Peace Priest,” for his “career” protesting against war. He lived at Georgetown University, as did I, and was deeply devoted to the Blessed Mother and the daily Rosary. There was something both holy and humorous in the way Fr. McSorley prayed the Rosary. He was totally serious in his praying but could rattle off an entire Rosary in less than 8 minutes. He always wanted to pray a Rosary when we drove places and we could oftentimes get in two or more, even on short trips. If I fell asleep with my own praying of the Rosary, Fr. McSorley would get speeding tickets from Heaven for praying his. He prayed so fast I could not understand the words to the Paters and Aves. I mention these two examples as I believe they capture many people’s experience of this great prayer. Some get bored or distracted in praying and others rattle off the Mysteries to “get through them” before boredom can set in. Both are better than no Rosary at all. Yet, if I was going to draw some fruit from this most popular of devotional prayers, I needed to find a way to make it my own. I was searching for something more contemplative and spiritually nourishing. The Rosary’s Mysteries should engage my heart and my mind without compelling me to race through them (or make me fall asleep). Twenty years of praying aided by hefty doses of graced inspiration have led me to a profoundly fruitful practice of this great prayer. I hope it helps you, too, find a new path to God's graces through this most popular of Catholic/Christian devotional prayers.

About this title

From the Author

I would like to share with my readers the reflections of Jesuit brother, Juan Vicente Cordoba, who wrote the foreword to the Spanish edition of Sacred Story Rosary. Fr. Bill Watson, S.J.
The genius of Fr. Watson's book is to integrate the graces that Mary offers us through her intercession and join them with Ignatian method of discernment by simply praying the Rosary's mysteries in this new way. Fr Watson instructs us to pray the Rosary with an Ignatian method of contemplation. We are to engage mysteries of the life of Jesus Christ: to enter into them, to live them and receive the fruitful graces of the spiritual exercise of the Sacred Story Rosary.

Another original aspect in Fr. Watson's work is the contemplation of the mystery of the Rosary uniquely applied to one's own sacred story. In this application--this contemplation--the events of the Spirit in the heart of every person, his or her personal story, the direction of his or her life and conversion, lead to concrete changes resulting from the action of the grace in following Jesus and in doing the will of the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

This is a simple style of prayer that the author presents us with. It is way of praying the Rosary that does not hold us in a static reflection on God but takes us further, making the mysteries an instrument of discernment to transform our lives, even in the big demands God's love can make of us.
 
By concluding the book with Marian prayers and reflections of the Popes John XXIII, John Paul II, Blessed Paul VI and Pope Francis, Fr. Watson unites us with Mary and under her loving intercession, with the Magisterium of the Church, 

As St. Ignatius Loyola, we are on a spiritual journey of faith lovingly following Jesus. This book also invites us to follow Jesus and accompany him in his saving deeds, through the intercession of Mary. For in the Spiritual Exercises and the Rosary, we placed with the Father's Son, Jesus.

As the Ignatian Exercises and its method, the Sacred Story Rosary is an instrument of holiness, because it allows the creature to open to the creator and let Him lead one's life. I admire and appreciate the spiritual creativity of the author. It is clearly an action of grace working through him that he has shared with us.
Juan Vicente Cordoba Villota, S.J.
Bishop of Fontibon, Colombia

From the Inside Flap

SACRED STORY ROSARY
 
Sacred Story Rosary is a beautiful example of how the good practices of the past help us travel the roads of the future.
Javier Melloni, S.J., Th.D. Author, The Spiritual Exercises in the Western Spiritual Tradition
 
Fr. Watson's book is more than simply the latest reflection on the Mysteries of the Rosary; it is an invitation to enter into the Mysteries in a new way.
Fr. Reginald Martin, OP From the Foreword
 
This booklet will change not only the way you pray the Rosary, but how you live your life.
Mary Cunningham Agee, President and Founder, The Nurturing Network
 
In an admirable and creative manner Bill Watson integrates into the praying of the Rosary the Ignatian suggestions for praying the Scriptures, especially the Gospels (the Preludes and the Points).
David Keith Townsend, S.J. From the Foreword
 
Find a quiet corner, take a deep breath, and give yourself over completely to this book.
Barbara Mujica
Author, Sister Teresa and Teresa de Avila, Lettered Woman
 
I was struck by the way Sacred Story Rosary connects with Saint Pope John Paul II's letter on the Rosary.
Denis Vincent Wiseman, O.P., S.T.D. Author, Salvation and Mary in the Writings of Catherine of Sienna; Theologian, Tangaza University College Nairobi Kenya
 
Here is a prayer practice that inspires us to be missionary disciples for the new evangelization.
Margaret M. Turek, S.T.D.
Director, Office of Faith Formation and Evangelization Diocese of Oakland, California
 
Father Watson has given us an exciting, new way to pray the Rosary. No more rattling through the beads. Now each mystery can open for us a door to heaven.
Most Reverend George V. Murry, S.J., Bishop of Youngstown, OH

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1511738049
• ISBN 13: 9781511738040
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 166
• Illustrator: Thul OP Sr. Mary Grace