Our Lady of the Rosary: 9 Catholics Share How They First Learned the Rosary


Published October 7, 2024

National Catholic Register

2. Mary FioRito, the Cardinal Francis George Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center

Like many women, when I hit my mid-20s, I had anxiety about my future. Religious life had crossed my mind, but how was I to be sure it was for me? What about marriage? I had dated a fair bit, but had not met anyone special. During that time, I became friends with a Dominican nun named Sister Natalie. She gave me a gift, a little booklet entitled The 54-Rosary Novena. “I said this right before I entered the Dominicans,” she explained. “I asked Our Lady to help me know for sure this was what God wanted from me. I never missed one day — and I got the assurance I needed.”

Thinking, “It couldn’t hurt,” I began in earnest. Then I missed a day, so I started over again. And quite out of the blue, I was asked out to dinner by a young man at my office — on a Wednesday morning, for a Saturday evening date. Having been cautioned by a friend that I should not be “too available” on such short notice, I replied I wasn’t free, but the following weekend was open. What I didn’t realize then was that the following Saturday was Day 54 of my 54-day Rosary novena. That young man and I have now been married for 26 years.

4. Carrie Gress, fellow, Ethics & Public Policy Center

I’ve been praying a daily Rosary most of my adult life, trying in earnest to follow Our Lady’s lead. Over the years, different mysteries have really come into focus at different points of my life. The Annunciation in particular always held a special place in my heart; perhaps because it is the first, the beginning, that grace breaking-into-the-world moment that gets the Christian story moving. 

The significance of the Rosary became even clearer to me when I wrote The Marian Option. I discovered that, historically, there are small groups called the “creative minorities” that have rebuilt and renewed civilizations over the millennia. For the past 1,000 years, these minorities have largely consisted of those devoted to Our Lady. She is the one, through the humble prayers we recite in her honor, who transforms the darkness into light. In these dark times, it isn’t hard to see her working through those devoted to the Rosary to renew, refresh, rebuild the Church, first at home and then beyond.

Click here to read others’ stories about learning the Rosary.


EPPC Cardinal Francis George Fellow Mary Hallan FioRito is an attorney, public speaker, and radio show and podcast host. Her areas of expertise are human life issues, primarily abortion law and policy, post-abortion aftermath, and the Consistent Ethic of Life. She holds a degree in English Literature from Loyola University Chicago and a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois.

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