Customer Reviews

The Rosary Handbook: A Guide for Newcomers, Old-Timers, and Those in Between

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The Rosary Handbook is a must have for everyone - even if you already pray the Rosary. Since I had fallen out of the habit of praying the Rosary as so many of my fellow Catholics have, it reminded me of all the reasons to return to this practice. If you are an old hand (not to make a pun) at the rosary you will find much of interest in the chapter on the origins and history of the Rosary. If you are new to this practice you will benefit much from the instructional aspect. All will benefit from the wonderful meditations on the mysteries of the Rosary. As always, Mr. Finley manages to convey profound truths in simple reader-friendly language. I love all of his books but this one really shines.

This is a wonderful book for people who are just learning the Rosary. It gives the history of the Rosary, and goes step-by-step through each prayer and mystery. At the end, it gives you the actual instruction on how to pray the Rosary, and then a short segment from someone about how to personalize it and make it special to you.
HIGHLY recommend this. Quick read, easy to understand, and very enlightening!

I bought this book to learn more about this ancient practice and I was not disappointed. Finley gives background on the Rosary and expounds on the 20 mysteries. I found the explanation of the prayers - the Our Father, the Apostles' Creed and so forth, to be very helpful, even if one is not Catholic or does not pray the Rosary.

The Rosary Handbook is a wonderful book, it has a surprising amount of information to be only 141 pages. I love how this book shows the depth and meaning of each prayer. I also like the section that explains the mysteries of the Rosary which includes Bible verses and thoughts for mediation. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about the Rosary. Reading this book has has given me a greater appreciation of the Rosary.

Contents

Introduction
The Rosary and you-A Perfect Match

The introduction section tells the author's story of how he came to know and love the Rosary, why he wrote The Rosary Handbook, and answers the question of who can Pray the Rosary. Which of course is anyone, but the author has a very interesting way of showing this point.

Chapter 1
What's in It for Me: Why You Should Pray the Rosary

This section is devoted to enplaning how the Rosary is a balanced, comprehensive, Christ-Centered prayer which is Spiritually nourishing.

Chapter 2
Separating Fact from Myth: The Origins and History of the Rosary

This section separates the facts from the myths, showing the historical origin of the Rosary and how over the centuries the Rosary developed into the prayer we have today.

Chapter 3
More Than Just a String of Beads: The Prayers of the Rosary

In this section the author brakes down each prayer of the Rosary to show the true meaning and depth behind each prayer. Showing the depth and meaning within the Lord's Prayer, the Apostle's Creed, and other prayers of the Rosary.

Chapter 4
Moments for Mediation: The Twenty Mysteries of the Rosary

This section explains the meaning and depth of each of the twenty Mysteries (or Scared Events) of the Rosary. These events center around the Life, Death, And Resurrection of Jesus. The author includes Bible verses and thoughts to contemplate for each Mystery.

Chapter 5
Getting Down to Basics: How to Pray The Rosary

This section enplanes how to pray the Rosary in a easy to follow way.

Appendix
Putting It into Practice: Making the Rosary Your Own

This section is about how to making the Rosary your own and how to put the practice of praying the Rosary into our life.

A Quote From The Rosary Handbook by Mitch Finley
"In a very real since, the Rosary has everything that is most basic to a Christian outlook on life and the world around us."

I have had the pleasure of having a devotion to praying the Rosary for the past 6 years now. I was a Cradle Catholic (although my family was not practicing) I made my adult Confirmation in 1998, and had no prior introduction to how to pray on rosary beads. Over the past 6 years, I have learned more about the rosary. I was on some spiritual quest, seeking understanding - and it's been an interesting journey to say the least. Of course, I never really asked anyone for help! I suppose that the Holy Spirit enlightens us as we go, in His own time! Anyway, I have to say that I have read some books -- I learned how to really pray by using a CD because I am more of an auditory and kinesthetic learner. I just couldn't really understand by using the pamphlets or books, until now. It's my opinion that The Rosary Handbook really lays out a lot of information that one can easily grasp. The bottom line for me is that I was always afraid that I wasn't doing it right, and now I have come to understand that there is no wrong way of doing it. I highly recommend this book for clarity. I found it to be helpful, well written, and interesting.
This would be an excellent gift for someone in the RCIA program or someone who is interested in understanding the Rosary. The Rosary Handbook: A Guide for Newcomers, Old-Timers, and Those in Between

Everyone will get something out of this book. However, it seemed the author was trying to be neutral and present a fact-based book, while leaving out the deeper faith based understandings. In short, the rosary has far more power and significance than this book reveals. As a result I must state that I feel this book is limited or lacking in a significant area. For example, there is no mention of the more recent renewal of praying the rosary that began from the Fatima Apparitions and continues.

One book that I like is: The Rosary Book by John Cardinal Carberry -$4.50 Amazon. This book is simple, easy to read and presents the background, the how-to and some example meditations on the rosary prayers.

The Rosary Handbook is accurate, academic in tone, and informative. But it is not complete since it does not reveal the Catholic belief in the rosary's true power-- which is to take hopeless, desperate situations and thru this prayer bring about miraculous, unexplainable changes. As well as the fact that it has been give a unique power and promise to transform and convert individuals who have lost their faith, hope and trust.

The author could have also mentioned the fifteen promises for those who pray this prayer to give an example of its unique value and why it is not just another prayer form.

For those not familiar with the Fatima apparitions the following book is one suggestion.Calls from the Message of Fatima

This Rosary Handbook is just what I was looking for. As I'm new to praying the Rosary, this book was very informative and helpful for me. It explains the whole process and reasoning behind praying the Rosary with easy and understandable text. Praying the Rosary, while knowing all about it, has become very important and meaningful to me.

I am a new convert and this book is very helpful. I am interested in the history of the rosary; very, very helpful in that department. I haven't finished all of the book, but so far I like it.

The Rosary Handbook is easy reading, but captures everything you need to know, both in background, understanding and actual practices of praying the Rosary. I am a life-long Catholic who never learned the Rosary since I came of age during and after Vatican II. After much time spent trying to have a closer relationship with God and needing to rely more on faith in my life, I found that a more meditative time was needed. Found this book on Amazon and read it twice before finally making the commitment to start praying the Rosary. The book gives enough information to undertand how the Rosary came to be part of the Catholic tradition, how it fell out of favor after Vatican II and now is making a resurgence, without going into an unnecessary disertation. It covers all the prayers and specifies what each part of the prayer actually means...thereby making the prayers come to life instead of just words to be repeated. Finally, the book shows EXACTLY how to use the Rosary beads and prayers to pray the Rosary. I strongly suggest you try this during a quiet time when you will not be interrupted for at least 20 minutes...it will make a difference.

This book is very helpful for me as a non Catholic to learn how to perform the Rosary. It is very educational and is something that I look forward to every day. It is well written and the author draws from his years of Catholic faith to make this a very well put together handbook.