What is a rosary? Isn't this a pagan practice of Catholics some form of Mary worship?

The Rosary is one of the most misunderstood prayers of the Catholic Church, and outside of the Holy Mass † the rosary is the most powerful. Why? I will tell you in a few minutes, let me address the other 2 questions. The rosary is not a pagan worship of Mary or a bunch of repetitious meaningless prayers. The Rosary can be summed up as I heard a holy person once say (I cannot recall the saint who said this) that the way to carry the gospels in your pocket is to carry the rosary.

The rosary is a prayer we say to meditate and think of the mysteries of the life of Christ through the eyes of Mary His mother. It makes me think of going to a museum and having a guide and this person is leading you through the museum and explaining all the beautiful artifacts, and if you were to go through it yourself, you may miss something very important and significant. We are all children of God, and Mary is the mother of Jesus. She was given to us by Jesus as our mother and as a mother leads a child, so does Mary lead and guide us to Jesus. As we pray the prayers, the Hail Mary, the Our Father the Apostles creed, and the Glory be we are thinking about each mystery. (see below to learn about each mystery of the rosary) and focusing on one certain part of Jesus life, for example the very first mystery in the rosary is the 1st Joyful mystery which is what we call the "Annunciation". This is the moment the Angel Gabriel comes to Mary and tells her she is to be the Mother of God and once Mary gives her Fiat, that very moment Jesus was in her womb! You can read about it starting in Luke 1:26 (NAB).

I will help to guide you in understanding a little bit just what the rosary is and help you to see how beautiful the prayer is! Oh how I wish all Catholics and Non Catholics would pray the rosary. It is more than a treasure of Graces, but a real gift, and is so scriptural! Come with me and click on the links below and let us take a closer look at each mystery of the Rosary, let us learn the prayers too.

How do I pray the Rosary?