Lent is a time of penitence and reflecting on ways we can improve our spiritual growth. Many monastic communities observe a perpetual “Lenten remembrance,” in which their entire lifestyle is centered around the interior motivations that propel them into a state of meditation and appreciation for Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross.

One way we can grow in holiness this Lent is by incorporating the Rosary into our daily practices and Lenten observances. The Seven Sorrows Rosary will accompany you with Mary to the suffering she experienced as you grow closer to Jesus’ Passion. Meditating on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary will assist you in your love for Jesus and His sacrifice. Finally, there are other, creative ways you can rediscover how the Rosary will become a powerful spiritual aid for healing and hope this year.

SEVEN SORROWS ROSARY
Also called the Seven Sorrows Chaplet, this devotion was made popular after the revelations of the Seven Sorrows of Mary to St. Bridget of Sweden. Here is how you pray it.

* Introductory 8 Prayers on the medal or Cross
* Announce the First Sorrow, then pray the Our Father.
* Pray seven Hail Marys while meditating on the Sorrow.
* After each sorrow is complete, pray, “Holy Mother hear my prayers, and renew in my heart each wound of Jesus my Savior.”
* Repeat the above steps for each of the Seven Sorrows.
* Pray three Hail Marys in honor of the tears of Our Lady on the three final beads.
* Pray the Closing Prayers.
* Optional: Litany of the Seven Sorrows of Mary.

SORROWFUL MYSTERIES MEDITATIONS
First Sorrowful Mystery: The Agony in the Garden
Jesus, I desire to accompany you in the Garden of Gethsemane, to assuage your pain and loneliness by comforting you with my suffering. Help me to be repentant today as I meditate on your mental and emotional agony, suffered on behalf of my sins.

Second Sorrowful Mystery: The Scourging at the Pillar
When I consider that You chose to be handed over to those who spat at You, mocked You, cursed You, and brutalized Your holy Body, I realize that my own pain is worth every moment if I unite it to Yours.

Third Sorrowful Mystery: The Crowning with Thorns
Jesus, help me to have the courage to allow whatever You permit me to suffer in this life, especially when my senses are darkened and I do not hear or feel or see any sign or consolation from You.

Fourth Sorrowful Mystery: The Carrying of the Cross
I am not always so eager and willing to “take up my cross and follow You,” Jesus. Still, that is what it means to love You, to learn what love really means. Give me the strength and patience to walk my Calvary every day.

Fifth Sorrowful Mystery: The Crucifixion
Every act of suffering culminates in a sort of death. I know that I will literally die, that I will return to dust as I came into existence from it. Help me to cling to the hope of all the resurrections that follow every death, including my hope for eternal life with You in Heaven.

OTHER WAYS TO INCORPORATE THE ROSARY INTO YOUR LENT

* When you pray the Stations of the Cross, bring your Rosary along and offer it to Jesus for whatever intentions come to mind.

* Try to visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament during Eucharistic Adoration once a week during Lent. When you go, pray your Rosary when you make your Holy Hour. Offer it up in reparation for your sins.

* Attend Confession at least once during Lent and pray the Rosary, asking Our Lady to assist you in making a sincere, entire confession.

* Pray a decade a day with your family. If you, like me, have young children at home, establish a new habit of praying a decade of the Rosary daily with your family.