During the months of May and October—as well as throughout the rest of the year—the Church advises that we perform simple acts of piety to increase our devotion to the Blessed Mother. One great way to do this: pray the Rosary. This short booklet features meditations by St. Josemaria Escriva on the twenty mysteries of the Rosary. It is a great resource for teaching others to pray the Rosary in private, as a family, in a small group, or as a parish. The book includes: The order of the Mysteries; Brief meditations on each of the Mysteries; The text of the prayers; The Litany to the Blessed Virgin Mary (the Litany of Loreto), which may be said at the conclusion of the Rosary.

Josemaria Escriva was born in Spain in 1902 and was ordained a priest in 1926. In 1928, he received the divine inspiration to found Opus Dei, a Catholic organization of lay people and priests who try to grow close to God through their ordinary lives. St. Josemaria died in 1975 and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2002.

Here is St. Josemaria's meditation on the First Joyful Mystery:

I.The Annunciation

Don't forget, my friend, that we are children. The Lady of the sweet name, Mary, is absorbed in prayer. You, in that house, can be whatever you wish: a friend, a servant, an onlooker, a neighbor . . . .

For the moment I don't dare to be anything. I hide behind you, and, full of awe, I watch what's happening.

The Archangel delivers his message

Quomodo fiet istud,quoniam virum non cognosco—But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?—(Lk 1:34). Our mother's voice reminds me—by contrast—of all the impurities of men, mine too.

And then how I hate those low, mean things of the earth . . . .What resolutions!

Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum. "Let it be done to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38). At the enchantment of this virginal phrase, the Word became flesh.

The first decade is about to end

I still have time to tell God,

before anyone else does, —Jesus, I love you.