Hello Rosary lovers! In this post we will ask: why do I feel so good after praying the Rosary?
Ah, great question 🙂 And there’s lots of reasons we could give in response to this.
We often don’t feel great after praying
Let’s first say that it may be the experience of many of us that we do NOT feel good after praying the Rosary. In fact, for many Catholics and Christians, praying in any way is a slog and doesn’t make them feel good after doing it.
It’s important to remember that we are not supposed to pray because it makes us feel good. It CAN make us feel great, but it can also not have any obvious effect on our mood or temporary happiness.
The crucial thing is to pray. Pray always, pray without ceasing, and pray and never give up, as our Lord taught in Luke 18. Pray whether it makes you feel good or rubbish. Pray regardless. God is ALWAYS listening, and he loves you more than you could possibly imagine.
From spiritual childhood to adulthood
I might say that it is usual for God to fill a new convert or new believer with lots of lovely feelings, especially after praying. This was my experience. I think God does this to us when we first begin following him to encourage us.
As time goes by, we don’t get these lovely feelings as much. Partly this is because we become used to praying, but it might also be because God thinks we don’t need nice feelings so much.
A small child needs constant reassurance and encouragement. They need to feel good, they don’t like to feel pain or misery. They get bored quickly and don’t like to be bored. God treats us often the same way, when we are little children.
But when we grow up in the faith, it should not be a surprise if God backs off a bit and lets us find our own feet in the Catholic faith and in our devotions to him. He won’t be there constantly patting us on the head and telling us how wonderful we are for praying, and making us feel all warm inside. He expects us to be faithful regardless of how we feel.
I thought those initial comments would be useful to someone reading this, but let’s now get to the direct issue. Here are some quick thoughts from my own experience about why it is that praying the Rosary often does indeed make us feel good.
The Rosary connects us with Mary
The first reason we often feel great after praying the Rosary is because it has connected us with Mary. The Virgin Mary is our Mother, and she desperately wants us to talk to her and commune with her.
There is no better way in all the world to commune with Mary other than the most holy Rosary. Praying the Rosary absolutely thrills the immaculate Heart of the Mother of God, and she will look upon you and your life with terrific kindness and love if you pray her Rosary often.
The Rosary connects us with God, Our Maker
More than this, however, the Rosary also connects us with God. In fact, the Rosary SUPREMELY connects us to God. The Rosary is one of the highest forms of prayer given to mankind by which we may ascend up to God and relate to him and enjoy him.
God is our Maker. He knows us all inside out, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in him. God alone can satisfy our souls, and without him we can’t have any satisfaction or true happiness within.
To pray well is often to experience the presence of God in our hearts. It is reconnecting with where we came from, from our Maker.
It is no wonder we often feel good after connecting with God like this and the Rosary is a very powerful and time-honoured way to connect with God. Many saints experienced the presence of God constantly through praying the Rosary constantly.
The Rosary is meditation and inner silence
We are so hurried in the western world, running here, there and everywhere. We hardly stop, we don’t pause to be still and know that he is God. We don’t pause our souls, we never speak to our souls, as St David did: ‘Why, O soul, are you so upset within me?’
But praying the Rosary helps the soul to calm down. It helps the mind and the heart to pause and reconnect with the soul. In short, it helps us reconnect with ourselves, by finding union within ourselves again.
We are body and soul, and one of the sad results of sin is that the body and soul pull in opposite directions. This causes disunity within ourselves and makes us feel all the miserable feelings of what it means to be human.
The Rosary can help us reunite with ourselves: body and soul can find time to come together again.
And this can make us feel wonderful, because this is how we are supposed to be.
The Rosary helps us focus away from anxieties and worries
Lastly, the Rosary can help us to stop focusing on things that upset us, or cause us worry or pain.
Suppose we are having a hard time with something someone said to us, or did to us. The Rosary can help heal this and help pour in God’s mercy and love.
Suppose we are worried about something that has happened or might well happen. The Rosary can be used to bring this concern to Mary and through her to God.
Through the repetition of all the prayers and Hail Marys, we can find ourselves ceasing to ponder what is bothering us so much. Our minds focus elsewhere, on Christ and the prayers, and we can find a sense of peace.
Can you offer your own experience with the Rosary and how it makes you feel? We’d love to hear from you.
God bless you, and happy Rosary praying!