The Rosary and Contemplative Prayer

At the dawn of the New Millennium, St. John Paul II wrote an apostolic letter on the rosary as an aid to his great pastoral program: contemplating the face of Christ.  He presents this contemplation as both Marian and Eucharistic, a loving gaze that discovers the gaze of Christ through the Church.  Twenty years later, the Church faces a crisis in Eucharistic devotion and at the same time, a crisis in personal prayer.  Having lost a sense of the Real Presence of Christ, many Catholics are adrift in the chaos of secularism, and they are searching for something sacred to hang onto that will help them regain a sense of hope.  Contemplation in the Catholic spiritual tradition as expressed in the rosary offers a life line for these disciples. These lectures propose Marian devotion to Christ found in the rosary as a powerful tool for spiritual revival.  A biblical, historical and practical exploration, participants reflect on the meaning, mysteries and power that this contemplation unleashes for fuller and more conscious participation in the liturgy, renewal of Eucharistic devotion, and spiritual transformation.