Hello Rosary lovers! In this post, we will look at the question: should I pray with a Rosary? I can imagine this is a question many ask themselves, especially when they see others doing it.

Well, this website exists to constantly promote the Rosary and Mary and finding God through the Virgin and her sweet, immaculate Heart. In fact, one of my favourite prayers is ‘Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation.’

So, in one sense, we would answer this question with a resounding YES! 🙂 It is a GREAT and glorious thing to pray with a Rosary.

For one thing, you get an indulgence every time you pick up a blessed rosary and pray with it. Even if you don’t pray the Rosary meditations with it, even if you simply hold the rosary and say nothing to God, you just sit or stand in silence before him.

So it’s always a good idea to reach for the rosary beads every time you are going to spend a few moments in set-aside prayer.

But do you HAVE to pray with a rosary?

Absolutely no, you do not. The Church NOWHERE commands or obligates Catholics to pray with a rosary. There is total LIBERTY here for Catholics.

But it is definitely a good idea to pray with a rosary, and it would be misleading if I told you that the Church does not encourage the faithful to pray with a rosary, and to pray the Rosary.

The Church, through her saints, and in many public messages from the Pope, often commends the Rosary to Catholics. Mary has also appeared many times all over the world, and seems to always direct attention to the Rosary as one of the great answers for Catholics and the world.

St Padre Pio (died 1968), one of the greatest saints in the history of Christianity, said: ‘The Rosary is THE WEAPON for our times.’

Pope Francis says: ‘The Rosary is a prayer that always accompanies me; it is also the prayer of the ordinary people and the saints… it is a prayer from my heart.’

Notice that, the Pope says that the Rosary is ‘THE PRAYER of ordinary people and of the saints.’ It is one of the main prayers of the Catholic faithful throughout history.

St Pope Pius X said: ‘The Rosary is the most beautiful and the most rich in graces of all prayers; it is the prayer that touches most the Heart of the Mother of God…and if you wish peace to reign in your homes, recite the family Rosary.’

And St Louis de Montfort said: ‘No prayer is more meritorious for the soul and more glorious for Jesus and Mary than a well recited Rosary.’

This is all extremely high praise for the Rosary and clearly the Popes and the saints thoroughly recommend it to us.

But with all this said, Catholics are free to choose whether to pray the Rosary or not. Catholics are also free to choose whether to own a set of rosary beads, or not.

Should you wish to own a set of rosary beads, we at rosarylovers.com always recommend these fabulous little rosaries. Click here to find out.

If a Catholic chooses by their own free will never to own a set of rosary beads, there is no sin involved at all. If a Catholic chooses never to recite a single Rosary all their life, there is no sin in this either.

However, it is worth being aware that anyone who makes the decision to never pray the Rosary or own a rosary may make it harder to achieve holiness of life.

The Rosary is such an easy way to pray and yet such an incredibly powerful means of grace and miracles that it is a very easy way to become a saint and to get to heaven.

So that is well worth bearing in mind.

Perhaps you would do well to listen to these testimonies of Catholics who do pray the Rosary daily.

This video helped inspire me to begin praying 4 rosaries a day. You can read about my experience doing that here.

God bless you!