Levels of Praying the Rosary

The Rosary is a very rich prayer which can be prayed at many levels according not only to one's own personal nature, but also according to one's mental mood and ability at any given point in time.


I'd just like to state here the various levels, with a view to developing later my thoughts on the Mystical level.


Basic: act of will and patience. I desire to pray the Rosary because Heaven asks it of me, because it please Jesus and Mary, because I know that the prayers I say will benefit myself and my neighbour and glorify God. This is the most basic level because it is that which I fall back upon when my mind is unable to concentrate and I am overwhelmed with tiredness or other difficulties. 

Verbal: becoming familiar with the words of the prayers, understanding their meaning. At this level I begin to consider the words I am praying, to consider what I am asking in each of the petitions.

Meditative: learning to dwell on the mysteries while speaking the prayers. When I am able to pray at this level, then I am aware of each of the mysteries as I pray: I begin to immerse myself in the narrative of each episode. Being able to pray at this level does of course require one to research and read the Scriptural passages concerned.

Moral: allowing the virtues displayed in the narrative and the words of the prayers to form one's soul. At this level I am more open to formation by the Holy Spirit. I may be moved by the sufferings of Our Lord and Our Lady, or shown the way to holiness in my life through the pattern of Joseph, Mary, Jesus, the disciples.

Mystical: to see the theological patterns behind the mysteries, to learn to resonate with the Rosary such that it becomes the pattern of one's soul and leads one to spiritual and theological insights. In this level, which cannot be attained except through patience and the humble praying of the Rosary at the other levels mentioned, one is given great grace and understanding. One espies the grand narratives and themes of the Gospel and of Salvation History as concisely summarised and laid out in the patterns of the Rosary. One's soul begins to become modelled after the Rosary and so closer to Jesus and Mary.