June 15th, 2015 I found myself sitting next to my wife of 29 years as she lay in Hospice. She looked up at me and said “I just want you to know that I think I’m dying, that I love you and I’m going to miss you”. I told her “I love you too and I am going to miss you”. It was our 29th anniversary that very day and I held her hand and rested it upon her chest as I lay next to her. She in her bed, I in the easy chair next to her. She breathed in, our hands moved up. She exhaled, and our hands moved down. We both fell asleep for a couple of hours. I woke up and looked at the clock. The hands had moved past midnight, it was no longer our 29th anniversary. Just then, our hands stopped moving up and stopped moving down. She did not want to leave me on our anniversary. She waited. I crawled into bed next to her and knew she had moved on to a better place, a place without pain and sorrow.
My wife and I had a very special relationship, much of which was obtained through the power of the rosary. We were never without one and completely enjoyed praying it together. First it started out very structured, once a week, every Sunday at the same time. Then, as most journeys through prayer evolve, we started saying it more often, in response to the daily trials and tribulations that life brought our way. Whether it was our job, our family life, our personal challenges, whatever, the rosary was a great way to be proactive in addressing our problem of the month, week or day! We then realized how easy it was to say anytime, anywhere. Sometimes we would find ourselves sitting together in the living room with nothing to do, no shows on TV, and too tired to read a book. Twenty minutes later, we finished saying the rosary together. That quickly grew into yet another stage of prayer. Not one that was invoked when we had nothing to do or needed something, but one that took priority and was something we looked forward to saying, just because.
I have always been drawn to the rosary and the power of prayer. While strong in my faith, I am not one to draw attention to myself when praying. Rather, I think of it as a very private, relaxing personal experience between me and God; me and the Blessed Mother. I was a business traveler that traveled many days of the week on an airplane. What a perfect time to say a rosary, perhaps 5 decades for one of the mysteries (Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious or Luminous), or perhaps 20 decades for all 4 mysteries. Either way, those long lonely flights were just the perfect time to quietly and discreetly talk to God. The discrete size and shape of a prayer ring allowed me to do just that.
It was not many years ago that I found myself with a failing startup business. Times were very tough, money was exhausted, and the outlook was quite grim. God helps those who help themselves so I did everything I knew to take the right steps to get the business back on track. But, in addition, I prayed the rosary every single day. I started my morning at a local Paneras with a cup of coffee and a rosary, for one solid year. My hard work paid off, my prayers were answered, and the business is doing just fine. There is no one, no one in this world who will ever convince me the same outcome would have happened without the power of praying the rosary every single day as I had done.
I am not a scholar that knows all about God, rather, I am a person who simply knows God; knows God as a friend. I cannot recite the 15 promises Blessed Mother gave us for praying the rosary, Google can do that. Rather, I can simply tell you what has happened to me when I prayed the rosary. I talk to God and in return, he talks to me; not through my ears, but inside, through my heart and my soul.
It’s an amazing, amazing feeling if you have never experienced it before. In our world today, we have many tugs for our time and quite often find ourselves caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. For me, I wanted to maximize my ability to say the rosary anytime, anywhere; and do so in a private and discreet way. A prayer ring or rosary ring would be just the perfect way to do it. It easily fits in my pocket and is with me whenever I need it. While praying is really developing a stronger and closer relationship with God, it is amazing the attachment that occurs between you and the prayer ring as you use it to say hundreds or thousands of prayers to get you through life. As such, I wanted to develop a prayer ring that was quality, would last forever and could even be passed down from generation to generation. Often times just the presence of the prayer ring in my pocket was all the comfort I needed at a particular moment, knowing it would be there for my prayers at a later time.
God loves you and wants you happy and to succeed in everything you do. God does not make mistakes, he is there for you and what you are going through is part of his plan. I challenge you to grow closer in your relationship to God through the power of the rosary. Say it every day, once a week, once a month, or simply start by carrying it in your pocket, hanging from a chain around your neck, or attached as a zipper pull to your backpack. You will not be sorry and in fact, you will begin a whole new journey in your life that you will never, ever regret. God bless you. God loves you.