Almost immediately, I felt a sense of calm come over me,” says Jansen, author and executive editor at Loyola Press. “And from that calm emerged a knowing that everything was going to be alright. Since then, the Rosary has become a staple in my life. I don’t pray it every day, but I do pray it regularly and I’ve been an advocate for it ever since.”
That advocacy is given voice in his new book The Healing Power of Praying the Rosary, releasing with Loyola Press this month. Jansen blends the spirituality of praying the Rosary with the science behind meditation, breathwork, and rest to reduce stress and thus reduce issues such as cardiovascular disease, mental illness, and depression.
“I wanted to write a book that offers inspiration to those suffering physically, mentally, and/or spiritually and to back it up with a little bit of science,” he says. “There have been enough scientific studies in recent years to show that meditation—and I see the Rosary as a form of meditation—can heal the body and mind.”
Jansen points to the need for rest in order to heal physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The Rosary, he says, is a way of entering into a place of rest by way of reciting repetitive prayers. There’s the physical aspect via the tactile experience of using the beads to keep track of prayers, and there’s the soul aspect invoked by placing complete attention on God. Jansen calls the Rosary the “prayer of wholeness” because it engages all parts of a person.
“Repeating the prayers of the Rosary eventually leads to a certain rhythm, which in turn can help slow your breathing, affecting heart rate and even blood pressure,” Jansen says. “If you’re intentional about it—if you take your time—you can literally change your physical state in just a few minutes by meditating on these prayers. Calm the mind by substituting racing thoughts with repeating prayers, and the body will follow.”
Jansen cites studies from the Mayo Clinic and the National Institutes of Health that report meditation can decrease blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels, improve immunity, and much more. He has also experimented by hooking himself to a blood pressure machine and praying the Rosary. By the end of the session, his heart rate and blood pressure had lowered considerably. He’s also linked praying the Rosary with releasing and processing trauma.
“Simple mindfulness meditation and contemplative prayer can help people suffering from trauma lower their chronic high cortisol levels,” he says. “So, while the focus of the Rosary for the faithful is to put yourself in the presence of God, it can also be a way to release and process stored trauma.”
Jansen’s mission through the years has been to help people develop simple spiritual routines. Two of his books—The 15-Minute Prayer Solution and MicroShifts—support this mission by encouraging readers to incorporate small changes and practices into a daily routine. One of those practices, he says, can be praying the Rosary.
“I look around, and so many people are so stressed out,” Jansen says. “Not everyone believes in prayer, and a lot of people think meditation is weird, but these practices have helped me immensely over the years. I love that science is catching up to what mystics and holy people have said all along: Your faith has made you well.”
