Recordings of Rosary led by Pope Benedict now available

Vatican City, May 14, 2008 / 10:50 am

Catholics can now pray the Rosary with Pope Benedict XVI thanks to Vatican Radio, which has released a 4-CD set with all twenty mysteries.

Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See’s Press Office, said on Vatican Radio that the idea for the Rosary CDs came as a response to interest from listeners who were accustomed to praying the Rosary with the Servant of God Pope John Paul II.

“During his last years,” he continued, “Pope John Paul II was not able to pray the Rosary live, but since there were various recordings, the listeners, the faithful, could use their cassettes of the Rosary led by the Pope, thus facilitating their prayer and devotion.”

Father Lombardi said that “with the new pontificate, there was renewed interest in praying the Rosary with the Holy Father,” and the CDs are an effort to respond to that interest.

He explained that the Pope decided to record the CDs in Latin because “we have received requests not only from Italy but from places such as Germany and other countries.  So we have used this language for the Rosary which everyone understands easily and because it is the universal language of the Church.”

Father Lombardi also underscored that Benedict XVI has a “profound Marian devotion.  He prays the Rosary every day with his secretaries while walking, and thus he invites us to us this prayer: simple, humble, daily, which everyone can pray with devotion and which helps us also to meditate on the mysteries of the life of Christ together with Mary, who is obviously the person closest to Christ.”