The Secret of the Rosary

I received the seed of the Most Holy Rosary small and delicate and fragile. I planted it tenderly in my soul and began its daily upkeep of water and sun and occasional coverings from the frosty night air. When I neglect its care—through selfish distraction or worldly obligations—some of the branches become thirsty, some of the roots begin to wither, some of the rose petals wilt and fade. But I return to it and prune it and clip off dead branches and dying shoots so that it keeps its full shape and thrives in its ensouled environment. When I cultivate the rose tree, careful to observe the thorns of the Sorrowful Mysteries, the leaves and shoots of the Joyful Mysteries, the colorful and fragrant blooms of the Glorious Mysteries of Incarnate Jesus and Mary, and the necessary elements of sun and water that make the Illuminative Mysteries radiant to the senses, my life takes a new shape that only the Rosary can configure. Amen and Amen.