Why isn't the Rosary required?
A lot of Exodus men ask "Why isn't a daily Rosary one of the disciplines?"
It's a great question, and one we've honestly put a lot of thought into.
A few things to address before we answer:
It is NOT because we don't think it's a good idea to pray it.
It is NOT because we don't think you should pray to the Blessed Mother.
We would love for everyone to pray the Rosary (See below for how to pray the Rosary)
Our main reason (and the main temptation):
The Rosary isn't included in the disciplines because we want the focus during prayer to be on your 20 minutes of silent, contemplative prayer. The temptation for many without an active or disciplined prayer life is to fall onto rote (memorized, repetitive) prayer over silent, contemplative prayer. Obviously if you're not doing either, we won't stop you from rote prayers, especially the Rosary! It is more within the specific character and focus of Exodus 90 to help strengthen your silent prayer with our Lord. We want to remove the crutch of rote prayer so men can enter more fully into the silence and heart-to-heart conversation that God wants for them.
If you have a daily habit of praying the Rosary, keep it up!
If you have your daily habit of 20 minutes of silence, but want to add the Rosary, go for it!
Why is the Rosary important?
"Preach my Psalter"
-Our Lady to St. Dominic, Founder of the Rosary
Throughout the ages, the Catholic Church has championed the Rosary and used to it to fight many evils. The Rosary was given to St. Dominic around the 11th century by Our Blessed Mother to fight the Albigensian heresy. Since then it has fought many evils, most famously preserving Christendom during the battle of Lepanto, when Pope St. Pius V asked all to pray the Rosary for victory.
As St. Padre Pio said, ""Some people are so foolish that they think they can go through life without the help of the Blessed Mother. Love the Madonna and pray the Rosary, for her Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world today. All graces given by God pass through the Blessed Mother."
If we want to grow in Holiness and to combat evil, we need to use the weapons that Christ and His mother gave us. One of the most powerful sacramentals (sacred signs instituted by the Church that prepare men to receive the fruit of the sacraments and sanctify different circumstances of life) is the Rosary.
When David fought Goliath, he used five stones; When Christ fought Satan, he used five wounds; when men fight the evil of the day (you name it), we use the five mysteries of the Rosary.
At Fatima, Our Lady identified herself as "The Lady of the Rosary" and asked that the Rosary be recited every day.
Follow the links below for the many graces and promises attached to the Rosary:
How to pray the Rosary?
Follow the link below to go to the website of the Rosary Confraternity, which has many incredible resources surrounding the Rosary.
"Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world"
-Pope Pius IX