My parents saying the rosary every morning when we were in the car on vacation, praying for a safe drive. I'd always fall asleep half way through! Thanks for the memory.

often wondered if they even knew what they were saying or what it meant.

Even I had no clue until I looked at some articles to post here. Cults believe some crazy shit.

if only more people do it more often?

So, my proposed experiment runs as follows: Trump and Pence spend the next two years locked in a room mumbling and chanting. Then we compare that to the previous two years.

There is mindful and mindless meditation. Chanting is of the latter variety.

I called her, Bayside Veronica.

Anyway, the Virgin Mary visited her once every few years and would tell Veronica to ask people to pray the Rosary for world peace. ---- basically harmless in itself.

The three of them would drive to Queens on Fridays and hope that Mary would come and less them. So my mother comes home with Polaroid photos, take at night. There would be one or two dots in the photos. This was common with Polariod taken in low light. "See? There's something there."

Another time, my cousin took a voice recording of Veronica telling what Mary was saying. There was crackling in the recording, also common with cheap voice recorders. "That's the angels trying to make clear for Mary to say what we need to hear."

---whatever.

_______________________________________

Long about 50 years ago, was a woman in New Mecico who was making tortillas. The face of Jesus appeared in one of her tortillas. Now. damn. That is impressive. It made the N.Y.C. news. I was inspired to begin a hymn,

"Oh Sacred Tortilla,
We're longin' to see ya,
I was plannin' to eat ya,
but the world needs to greet ya.

Your face on a flour box,
Will bring inspiration,
Spread your word to the world,
And defeat Commie heathen nations."

This is open copyright (Copyleft) so if anyone wants to use it, its ok.

Then they started using it as punishment.

Ah, catholic school.

These are just my thoughts, but I see praying the rosary as being beneficial if it is used for self-reflection.

In other words, I do not view prayer as being equivalent to an incantation that can change how others act or change the course of events - but rather as a means of self-examination that reminds me to act on what I profess to believe: to love others, and to help and support those who are in need, those who are suffering, those who are lonely, those who have experienced a loss.

So can praying the rosary save America?

Perhaps...but only if those of us who pray realize that the power to do so resides not in the words we recite, but in OUR ACTIONS that result from our prayers.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on this topic - thanks again for posting!

Wishing you well and peace.

Tim