Many have heard mention of the Rosary (both here and elsewhere), and may wonder what it is... it is many hundreds of years old, and is not just for catholics.
It consists of the following scriptural prayers:
-
The Apostoles Creed https://billygraham.org/answer/what-is-the-apostles-creed/
-
The Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) https://www.praywithme.com/the-lords-prayer.html
-
Hail Mary (Luke 1:28, Luke 1:42, +petitioning Mary to pray for us, both now and while we are dying)
-
Glory Be (Doxology/Praising of the Triune God) Glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, in now and will be forever, amen.
-
Fatima Prayer (optional) Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins and save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls into heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.
The above is the "Body" of the Rosary.
The "Soul" of the Rosary is, during prayer, meditating upon a set of 5 scriptural stories. These are grouped into 4 sets, with focus on Jesus' infancy and childhood, his public ministry, his passion, and his glory. Scriptural Meditation is not easy, but consists of bringing yourself into the scene being meditated on. What is little realized, is Jesus, being God, is aware of every one visiting him in this way -- even at the time of the original event (!)
The rosary is a most powerful prayer against the devil and all enemies of God. Two historical examples (there are others) where the tide was turned by praying the rosary:
-
The 1571 Battle of Lepanto - where Christian forces, greatly outnumbered by Muslim naval forces, turned to the spiritual weapon of the rosary, and a powerful wind and storm caused the Muslim ships to be defeated. This staved off Muslim expansion into Europe, keeping Europe Christian, and lasting (arguably), until recent times and the current loss of Christian faith there. https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/history/how-the-1571-battle-of-lepanto-saved-europe.html
-
Austria Saved from Communist Rule - in the early 1950's, Austria was occupied, by communist forces, and every indication was they would suffer the same fate as other iron curtain countries. A priest, recalling the Lepanto victory, roused up Austrians -- at least 10% of them, to pray the rosary for deliverance, and on May 13th, 1955, the Russians packed up and left Austria, without a shot being fired. https://choosing-him.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-rosary-frees-austria-from-communist.html
First, I'm glad you had an adult conversion to Christ -- that is very good. However, from the fact that you became agnostic in college and several other statements you made, it is clear you were not taught the Catholic faith in its fullness -- and I mean, exactly what the Church hands on from Jesus, along with the reasons why. The poor Catholic training is not your fault -- the Church was infiltrated by enemies seeking to destroy her from within, and part of the plan was watering down and obfuscating her teaching, However, as an adult, we all are obliged to continually enrich our understanding, ferreting out and correcting any falsehoods.
We only have a bible because the Church -- the one Church Jesus founded, met and by the authority given to her, selected which books to include in the canon of sacred scripture. You will find reference in St. Paul to the fact that God's revelation was given to the Church, both by word of mouth (e.g. consider the 3 years of almost 24x7 in-person training Jesus gave his first bishops), and by letters (epistles, the gospels, etc) -- so what the Church does, having been given this charge by her founder, is to safeguard and hand on all of revelation, accurately, and without error. If there are disagreements as to what a particular doctrine is, the solution (as indicated in scripture), is to go to the Church, to resolve it. There is no similar authority nor safeguard given, to each believer individually, to safely interpret all of revelation correctly on your own -- and thus we have now, what, 40,000+ denominations, all claiming to be correct.
If you want to know what the Church officially teaches, ask well-formed Catholics. One such source of well written articles on virtually any topic imaginable can be found at: https://www.catholic.com
We only have a Bible we can read in English because the Reformers risked their lives to bring it to us. The Roman Catholic Church did its damnedest to keep the Gospel from the people, and has more blood on its hands than any other organization in the history of mankind.
As far as interpretation of the scriptures goes, I don't care what the 40,000+ denominations or the Roman Catholic Church has to say. I can read for myself, and pray for understanding. As I study, I continuously learn more and more about the Scriptures and my understanding increases the more I read God's Word. I know far more about the Word of God than I ever did as a practicing Catholic, and I got straight A's in my catechism classes.