Be gardens of the most beautiful flowers!

(c) Mateo Ivankovic

It is objected that there is much repetition in the Rosary inasmuch as the Lord’ Prayer and the Hail Mary are said so often; therefore, it is monotonous. That reminds me of a woman who came to see me one evening after instructions. She said, “I would never become a Catholic. You say the same words in the Rosary over and over again, and anyone who repeats the same words is never sincere. I would never believe anyone who repeated his words, and neither would God.” I asked her who the man was with her. She said he was her fiancé. “Does he love you?” “Certainly, he does.” “But how do you know?” “He told me.” “What did he say?” “He said ‘I love you.'” When did he tell you last?” “About an hour ago.” “Did he tell you before?” “Yes, last night.” “What did he say?” “I love you.” “But never before?” “He tells me every night.” I said: “Do not believe him. He is repeating; he is not sincere.”

The beautiful truth is that there is no repetition in “I love you.” Because there is a new moment of time, another point in space, the words do not mean the same as they did at another time or space. A mother says to her son: “You are a good boy.” She may have said it ten thousand times before, but each time it means something different; the whole personality goes out to it anew, as a new historical circumstance summons forth a new outburst of affection. Love is never monotonous in the uniformity of its expression. The mind is infinitely variable in its language, but the heart is not. The heart of a man, in the face of the woman he loves, is too poor to translate the infinity of his affection into a different word. So the heart takes one expression, “I love you”, and in saying it over and over again, it never repeats. It is the only real news in the universe. That is what we do when we say the Rosary – we are saying to God, the Trinity, to the Incarnate Savior, to the Blessed Mother: “I love you, I love you, I love you.” Each time it means something different because, at each decade, our mind is moving to a new demonstration of the Savior’s love: for example, from the mystery of His Love that willed to become one of us in His Incarnation, to the other mystery of love when He suffered for us, and on to the other mystery of His Love where He intercedes for us before the Heavenly Father. (Fulton J Sheen. “The World’s First Love – Mary, Mother of God.” From Chapter 18, Roses and Prayers.)