Praying the Rosary Like Never Before by Edward Sri

This is an amazingly thorough book on the rosary which includes so much for meditation. I knew a lot of the information in the front half of the book — history, prayer techniques, why pray the rosary — but it was well put and easy to read.

The second half of the book, focusing on the mysteries, was simply amazing. It has Edward Sri's trademark excellent Biblical connections which lead us into salvation history. It pauses for moments of reflection which open the heart of the person praying. I really appreciated the fact that Sri used St. John Paul II's teachings as touchpoints throughout this book. I have always loved JPII's apostolic letter on the rosary and Sri not only used this but mined other homilies and works for deeper meaning from this saint.

I also loved the way that Sri didn't focus on just one moment for each mystery but would look at it from many angles. For example, in the Presentation we are shown how Luke is pointing us toward the story of Samuel, how Simeon is responding to the Holy Spirit, and how Simeon's phrasing has special prophetic resonance.

The cherry on the sundae, so to speak, was when I found a scriptural rosary guide included at the end. Each mystery is given ten short verses from the Bible, one for each bead of the decade. These can be used in a variety of ways — simply for reflection before beginning the decade, to help keep focus on the mystery, to be said before each bead, or other options as they strike the person praying. I only recently came across this idea but really like it a lot and Sri's selections are more thorough than others I've seen.

I will add here that I rarely pray the rosary myself, but I like to read different meditations on the mysteries just to use for my own contemplation. This is an excellent resource for that as well as saying the rosary.

I read the Kindle version which is fine for reading but which doesn't have chapters linked from the book's TOC or have the footnotes linked, which is a major problem for moving around inside the book. I'll be getting the print version at some point because I want it around for anyone in the house to pick up.

It wasn't perfect and there were a few things I didn't love. None of these are deal breakers but I wanted to mention them.

First, the reader is never instructed in how to pray the rosary, with the actual prayers. I realize this book is high level, but it wouldn't have taken that much space. There was an illustration under the heading How to Pray the Rosary but it simply showed the order to say the prayers with the beads. As someone who is a convert I can say that you simply have to put these prayers in an easy to find place for the eager beginner who picks the book up.

Second, I read the Kindle version which is fine for reading but which doesn't have chapters linked from the book's TOC or have the footnotes linked, which is a major problem for moving around inside the book. I'll be getting the print version at some point because I want it around for anyone in the house to pick up. 

Lastly, the group study questions sounded as if they were written by someone giving a quiz to be sure the readers paid attention and then jammed in at the end of the chapters. Ugh. The author gave plenty of prompts through the material and these questions really broke the mood for me.