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How to pray the Rosary every day for the rest of your life

Unless you’re a nun in a convent, praying the Rosary daily can be a challenge for anyone. Over the years, many people have asked how I manage to pray the Rosary daily or even regularly, and how they can become more prayerful and develop the habit themselves.

The Rosary, with its prayers and meditations, touches every aspect of our lives, inward and outward, so that praying it daily really does change your life. It isn’t just a habit but a lifestyle. It makes sense, then, that when you do begin praying the Rosary daily, other people tend to find out after a time. I’d been praying the Rosary daily for only a few months when the people around me began to notice. Part of that was due to the fact that I was astounded by the changes in my life due to this practice, so I was pretty vocal about them, in person and online.

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St. Dominic suggests envisioning the Rosary as a ladder to heaven in order to help us cultivate an attitude of ascendance. Our progress in praying the Rosary daily will always mirror our progress in the spiritual life in general. Another helpful mindset to adopt is one of total dependence. As Pope Francis recently told us, we should “make ourselves needy.” It’s true that the higher we ascend in our spiritual lives, the more we realize how dependent we are on God’s grace. Ask yourself, what is it that you are most desperate to change in your life or in the world? What problems feel most pressing or imminent? If you know and believe when you take those problems to Mary through the Rosary that your prayers will be answered, then by the time you receive those answers, it’s likely that you’ll have developed the habit.

Things to keep in mind when reading this list: The tips aren’t necessarily in order; you can rearrange them in any way you think is best. Do try to implement as many of them as possible! If you take one or two pieces of this advice, it will become much easier to try the rest in time. The pacing is up to you; just remember that it’s most prudent not to go too fast or too slow when making a change of habit.

17 tips for praying the Rosary

  1. Buy rosary beads, ideally more than one set. Put them in different places; the three best places are: 1) beside your bed, 2) in your jacket pocket, and 3) somewhere around the entrance of your home. Don’t spend too much money on expensive beads, but do try to find ones that feel special to you, and make sure to get them blessed.
  2. Read about the Rosary. I highly recommend “The Secret of the Rosary” by St. Louis de Montfort and Pope St. John Paul II’s encyclical Rosarium Virginis Mariae.
  3. Tell other people that you are praying the Rosary and ask for their prayer intentions. This will keep you accountable and, more importantly, help foster a habit of praying for others.
  4. Make a sign, or multiple signs, or even post-it notes, reading “Pray The Rosary Daily,” and put them on your walls at home.
  5. Write it in your calendar or day planner in advance every single day!
  6. Memorize the 15 promises that Mary gives to those who pray the Rosary daily; internalize them and know how much she loves you.
  7. Join the Confraternity of the Rosary. There are many benefits. They even send you a certificate that you can print out and frame, which would also work as a daily reminder. The friars also pray a novena of Masses for the members a few times per year.
  8. Join Rosary groups in person or online, or even start one in your parish or online.
  9. Connect your Rosary to the sacraments. Pray it before Mass and while you’re in line before confession. And every time you receive the sacraments, pray a Rosary in gratitude for them afterward.
  10. Connect your Rosary to other prayers. For example, if you find the Creed difficult to get through but you love praying the Magnificat or the Memorare, you can begin your Rosary with one of those.
  11. Learn it in other languages. I learned it in French using a booklet and praying along with the French priests at Lourdes, who upload the Rosary daily. The Hallow app also has the Rosary in Latin.
  12. Subscribe to free Catholic YouTube channels that pray the Rosary and upload videos regularly, and make a Rosary playlist. I have a playlist with Bishop Barron’s Rosary videos that I sometimes pray with.
  13. Promote the Rosary and give the Rosary as a gift. By this I mean you can pray the Rosary for others, such as on their birthdays, and tell them you’re doing so, or not. You can also give them rosary beads and an instruction pamphlet and offer to teach them how to pray if they are not already familiar with the Rosary.
  14. Tell your pastor and/or spiritual director, and every other priest or member of clergy whom you know, that you’re trying to pray the Rosary daily. Ask them for their own tips and for their prayers.
  15. If you have a very specific and important personal problem, pray the Rosary with that intention every day.
  16. Consider praying not just one mystery per day, but all four — Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious! Sometimes we can “trick” our brains into achieving an initial goal by aiming for one that’s higher.
  17. Most important: Pray to God that he’ll grant you the grace of praying the Rosary daily! Just like my tip to pray the Rosary in gratitude for the sacraments, don’t forget to thank God for the Rosary itself.
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