Hello Rosary lovers! In this post, let’s look at the query: does the Rosary strengthen faith?

A really hard time

Let me begin with a story from my own life. This happened 2 years ago.

I was going through a very hard time. I had lost my father, we had just moved house, we were just coming out of the COVID lockdown, we had a new baby (along with our very active other son), and to cap it all I had to pull out of my higher-level education which I had spend 3 years on (another big sense of loss).

It was an incredibly stressful time, and I was suffering from a form of depression. Around that time, I cried a lot and had little control over it, mainly because of losing my father.

The grief at times was awful. Honestly, I experienced crying the likes of which I didn’t even know was possible. It was as if my mind was cracking in half, and the tears came from the very depths.

What kept my head above water during this time was the Rosary. Nothing else.

I wasn’t on medication (I should have been, and did go on some later). I wasn’t able to get to Church often, certainly not to daily Mass. I wasn’t seeing any friends really. I didn’t have a hobby (I had absolutely no time).

You get the idea. All I really had to keep me sane was the Rosary.

And it did a pretty darn good job too, since most days I was actually rather happy and jovial, despite carrying all this stuff inside that came to the surface every so often.

The devotion that gave me faith

I had taken up the habit of praying 4 rosaries a day. This devotion, I believe, saved me. I kept a journal and with all the things going on in my life and in my psychology, the Rosary is an absolute constant. It was my constant and closest companian. It was my delight, my joy, my survival.

On one particular day, I hadn’t really had the time (or made the time, rather) to even begin the Rosary. I remember praying in the shower: ‘God and Mary, I give you my spirituality today and I’ll do as you wish, even if it means no Rosary today.’

So I just didn’t do it.

But as time passed and we came into the afternoon, I began to feel a dark sense of hopelessness. It was a dark sense of doubt, even. I hadn’t had any doubts in ages because I had been praying the Rosary daily. But here it was. It was a new experience.

Then I began to think of my situation and things started to bother me.

Not knowing what else to do, I began the Rosary. I stayed there, in my bedroom, until I had prayed 7 decades.

Would you believe it? After those 7 decades, my faith was completely restored, and I had a great day with the family, and all my doubts went away.

I always remember that, because it shows how much the Rosary attacks doubts and lack of faith. The Rosary can fill you with faith in God.

That’s the whole purpose of praying it, isn’t it? I mean, what good is the Rosary if it doesn’t improve your faith, if it doesn’t increase your faith in God?

The happiest year of my life

I mentioned above how that year was a dreadful year in many ways. But do you know, because I prayed 4 rosaries daily that year, it ended up being the very best and happiest year of my life. Seriously. I came to the end of that year and I said to my lovely wife, ‘I know it’s been a very hard and distressing year, but it’s truly been the happiest of my life.’

It really had been. Still, I look back at that year and I’m not sure I would like to go back there, but I was certainly often the happiest and most fulfilled I had ever been.

Having our new son no doubt played a part in this, but the Rosary was definitely a major factor in this. I’ve got my journal to prove that. Almost every entry relates how much I love the Rosary, Christ God and his blessed Mother.

You can read some of my journal here, just before I took up the 4 rosaries a day. Even with just one or two rosaries a day, you can see my love for it.

The Rosary Maximises Faith

That’s what the Rosary does, my friend! It maximises faith. The more Rosaries we pray, the more faith we have.

I guess this is why Our Lady of Fatima told St Francisco Marto (one of the Church’s youngest canonised saints) to pray as many rosaries as he could if he wanted to reach heaven. The boy saint replied: ‘O my Lady, if you want me to give myself to the Rosary, then I’ll pray all the rosaries I can!’ And from that point on, he prayed the Rosary all the time, until he died a short time after.

What is it that gets us into heaven? Faith. Faith, hope and love, but Faith is the fountain of hope and love. Faith is the fountain of all the virtues, as the Church teaches. Without faith, we cannot please God, as Scripture says. Without ME, Jesus said, without faith in me, you can do nothing.

So did the Rosary help strengthen St Francisco’s faith? It must have done, because he went straight to heaven when he left this world. And the reason why is because he had great faith from praying a lot of Rosaries.

The Rosary can probably help you with your faith. It’s helped many millions of Catholics with their faith.

For a gorgeous selection of long-lasting and well-made rosaries, check out this link.

And if you have any questions, then please get in touch.

God bless you, through Mary Immaculate!!