October brims with the anticipation of all that fall brings. Nature begins to point us towards a slower shift in our routine as the leaves change colors, we change out our summer wardrobe for warmer clothes, and we prepare for a new season that will lead us to a new liturgical year.
October is filled with wonderful Feast Days but it is also the month of the Rosary. Our Catholic Faith is full of traditions that give us an invitation to go deeper in the ways we live out our prayer filled lives. It is fitting that we have a whole month dedicated to praying and asking Our Blessed Mother to intercede for us before we dive into the busy-ness that November and December can bring.
Ways to Honor Our Lady of the Rosary in October
If it's been a while since you prayed the Rosary or found joy in praying it, we hope these liturgical ideas will spur some excitement in praying the Rosary with your family and friends.
Outside with Mama Mary
Enjoy the cooler temperatures without breaking a sweat and bring your Rosary along with you. You can pray as you go for an evening walk with your Rosary in one hand and your water bottle in the other. Kids love to be involved in the Rosary as well.
Assign an older child the task of keeping track of the decades. The count does not have to be perfect—saying a few extra Hail Marys is always a good thing!
Garden Flowers
If you are in a creative mood, cut some flowers and place them in a vase for Our Blessed Mother before you pray the Rosary as a family.
Make the month of October a time for your household to honor the Blessed Mother by your flower offering. It doesn’t matter what kind of flowers you have. Just like mothers delight when their children give them flowers off the sidewalk, our Blessed Mother is sure to love the gesture as well.
Rosary Walk
Find a Rosary garden at a nearby parish. Some parishes have gardens in the shape of a Rosary. Take time out of your day to change scenery by praying a decade or welcome others to pray the whole Rosary with you.
Getting out of the house and onto church grounds can help support you in your intention of praying the Rosary.
Outdoor Rosary
Collect sticks, rocks, and leaves to create your own Rosary outside. Invite Godparents, grandparents, or friends to pray an outdoor Rosary with you.
If it’s not a fire hazard, use votive candles as the Our Father beads. An evening Rosary will allow you to enjoy the sunset, candlelight, and cooler outdoor temperatures to pray together. If you have access to a fire pit, make s'mores to end the prayerful evening.
Hike
Go on a hike and take your beads with you. Experience the beauty of the world while praying the Rosary. Find a shaded spot to say the Hail Holy Queen and set up a picnic to refuel from the hike.
Let your body rest and receive from the scenic view that surrounds you.
Art
Paint a picture that represents Our Blessed Mother. Do you know a friend who is an artist? Grab the necessary supplies and have him/her lead you in a painting of the Immaculate Heart of Mary or a flower that represents Our Blessed Mother. This can be done via Zoom or in-person.
Some paint businesses offer the option to paint something besides the paintings that are normally available. Send them the painting you have in mind and see if you can turn it into a BIS night out!
Scroll to the plant section of this blog post to give you some flower inspiration!
Draw
There are so many benefits to drawing and you do not have to be a kid to partake.
Draw our Blessed Mother a picture or find one on the Internet to print out and color alongside your children, friends, or family while you pray the Rosary.
On the Go
Pray the Rosary on the road. Keep a prayer card of Our Blessed Mother with you in the car.
When you are dropping off the kids to school, going to the grocery store, Church, the gas station, or the gym, pray a decade from when you leave until you arrive at your destination. Pick up where you left off on the drive to your next errand. By the end of the day you have done a whole Rosary without evening knowing it!
Sing
Sing hymns to Our Blessed Mother. You don’t have to be a singer to lift up your prayers!
Singing is a great way to lift up our hearts and honor Our Blessed Mother. Sing along to these ten Marian hymns. Or listen to the Salve Regina in Gregorian chant as a way to quiet your heart and mind before praying the Rosary. The Ave Maria in Latin is another beautiful song that can accompany the ending of a Rosary as well.
Extra Rosaries
Do you have too many Rosaries in your house? Give them away to a friend who does not have one.
It is easy to assume that every Catholic household is inundated with Rosaries, but reach out to your inner circle and see if anyone needs one or two. The gift of giving someone a Rosary is a grace to the recipient and to you as well.
Food
It's not a month of liturgical activities without food! Invite your extended family over for a meal and decorate the table with accents that represent Our Blessed Mother. Place a statue of Our Lady at the center of the table and take turns sharing all the ways Our Blessed Mother has interceded for your intentions in your family. Invite grandparents to share their fondness of the Blessed Mother as well.
End the evening with a Rosary in thanksgiving for the lovely meal and opportunity to gather together.
Learn about a Different Title of Our Blessed Mother
Our Blessed Mother has so many titles. Do you know them all? I certainly don’t! This is a good time to research a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary that you aren’t familiar with and share your knowledge with your family. Godparents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles can benefit from what you learn as well.
Maybe there is an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary that has always intrigued you but you have never researched. Include your children and Godchildren and have fun creating a mini-presentation on the chosen title of Our Blessed Mother. Gather with family and share your findings.
Make Rosaries
Make Rosaries at your local parish and learn how to make them! Join your parish Rosary makers group to learn how to make Rosaries.
We don’t always need an exclusive invitation to ministry life if there is something that piques our interest.
Learn the Rosary in Latin or another Language
Do you have a love for learning different languages? YouTube offers the Rosary in several languages. Maybe you feel most drawn to pray the Rosary in Latin or Spanish.
Regardless what language you say it in, Our Blessed Mother hears us and learning a new language offers us an opportunity to lift up our voices in the diversity that makes up the Catholic Church.
Consecration
Renew your consecration to Our Blessed mother or find out more about it here as well as other books about Mary.
Growing in Your Love for Mary and the Rosary
There are a variety of ways to incorporate praying the Rosary throughout the month of October. We can use any of these practices long after October and include them in our family life as we see fit.
Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us!
Ways to Honor Our Lady in October #BISblog //Click to tweet
Mytae Carrasco Wallace is Las Vegas born and raised and holds a Masters in Public Administration. She and her husband have the privilege of leading Pre-Cana retreats for their home parish. On the daily you can find her raising her three kiddos, choreographing dance moves to entertain her children, and doing her own version of carpool karaoke. She was a contributing author to All She Had. Find out more about her here. Mytae es creada y nacida en Las Vegas, NV. Tiene su Maestría en Administración Pública. Ella y su esposo tienen el privilegio de dirigir los retiros de Pre-Cana para su parroquia. Diariamente puedes encontrarla criando a sus tres hijos, coreografiando movimientos de baile para entretener a sus hijos y cantando su propia versión de karaoke en el carro. Fue autora contribuyente de All She Had. Conozca la mejor aquí..
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