# The workout rosary challenge
*2017-08-13*

> Bill Young introduces a 'Workout Rosary Challenge' to encourage more frequent prayer and offers a communal recitation of the Luminous Mysteries.

## The Workout Rosary Challenge

Welcome to the Prayer N Lunch podcast and Block Talk radio show. Today, we are doing something special: the Workout Rosary Challenge. The goal of this challenge is simply to encourage people to pray the Rosary more often. 

We are offering this as a sacrificial prayer. One hundred years ago today was the third apparition of Mary to the children of Fatima. In that spirit, we pray: 'O Jesus, this is for the love of You, for the conversion of poor sinners, and in reparation for offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.'

I am extending this challenge to my Legion of Mary group from St. David's in Florida, as well as parishioners from St. David, St. Maximo, and St. Mark, and all local parishes in Broward and Dade County, the state of Florida, the United States, and the world.

## Prayers for Peace and Reconciliation

Before we begin the mysteries, we turn to Our Lady of the Rosary. We receive her promise of peace and reconciliation in the world through our prayers, knowing that her Immaculate Heart will be the comfort and the way that leads us to God. In these times of world upheaval, fraught with war and pain, we consecrate ourselves to the Immaculate Heart. Through our Rosaries, we commend the suffering of humanity to her care, asking that she turn the world back to her Son through her holy intercession to achieve a lasting peace.

## Reciting the Luminous Mysteries

We begin with the opening prayers of the Legion of Mary, invoking the Holy Spirit to fill the hearts of the faithful. We offer our first three Hail Marys specifically for world peace, for hope in the Lord's peace, and for love of our neighbor and our enemies.

We then proceed through the Luminous Mysteries:

1. The Baptism of Jesus: We pray for openness to the Holy Spirit.
2. The Wedding at Cana: We pray to go to Jesus through Mary.
3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom: We meditate on the call to repent and believe the Gospel.
4. The Transfiguration: We reflect on the glory of Christ and the command to listen to Him.
5. The Institution of the Eucharist: We pray for a deeper adoration of the Body and Blood of Christ.

## Consecration and Charity

After concluding the Rosary with the Hail Holy Queen and the final prayers, I want to suggest a charitable component to this challenge. You might consider donating a small amount—perhaps a dollar for every 'Hail Mary' or 'Our Father' prayed—to a Marian cause. I suggest the Marian Fathers at maryans.org.

Additionally, I challenge anyone who hasn't yet done so to complete the '33 Days to Morning Glory' to consecrate themselves to Mary, using the book written by Father Michael Gaitley. I invite all Marian priests to join in this challenge as well.

*Combine physical activity with spiritual discipline through the Rosary to seek world peace and personal consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.*