October is the month of the rosary. For many inquiring about the Catholic faith through RCIA, this provides an opportunity to introduce them to one of the most beloved of Catholic devotions, as well as to address concerns and fears they often have about intercessory prayer to the saints and where Mary fits into Catholic teaching.

This October, as we pray the rosary and invite the intercession of Our Lady, we might consider remembering those who are journeying into full communion with the Church, often at great personal and emotional cost. Here are some simple meditations that are designed to assist in supporting—and eventually welcoming—those who are on the journey into the Catholic faith.

The Joyful Mysteries

The Annunciation: Prepare the hearts of those seeking you in your Church to receive the Word with joy as Mary did.

The Visitation: Move this parish to respond to the Word in our own lives by bringing the Good News of Christ to those around us. Help us to be moved to joy when those around us respond to the call of Christ in their own lives.

The Nativity: May Christ be present in our lives, that we, like Mary, may show him to others, especially those who seek him through RCIA.

The Presentation: May our lives be offered to you so that through us, others may find you. We ask especially that we may serve those who seek you in RCIA.

The Finding in the Temple: Help us to remember that you are always about your Father’s business, whether or not we are aware of it. May all who seek you, find you.

The Sorrowful Mysteries

The Agony in the Garden: Be with those who, because they have chosen to seek you in the Catholic Church, suffer the agony of loneliness and abandonment by those they have loved. Help us to keep watch with them in their sorrow.

The Scourging at the Pillar: Let our hands not be among those who scourge those who seek you in the Church. Make us mindful of the pain that sometimes comes with the choice to seek communion with the Catholic Church.

The Crowning with Thorns: Help us never to disparage the journey of others, no matter how it ends.  Help us to remember that you have promised that anyone who seeks will find.

The Carrying of the Heavy Cross: Like Simon, let us be willing to shoulder the burdens of those who are journeying to full communion in the Church.

The Crucifixion: Every change is like a death. Let us never forget the pain that can come with the decision to enter the Church, and let us stand with those who undergo it, knowing that the Resurrection follows if we live in Christ.

The Glorious Mysteries

The Resurrection: If we have died in Christ, so we are raised in him. Let us celebrate with joy all those who have come to the Church.

The Ascension: Christ goes to prepare a place for us; he leaves us to continue his work on earth. Let us remember both where we are destined to go and the work we have here on earth.

The Descent of the Holy Spirit: Come Holy Spirit, enkindle in the faithful the fire of your love. Send forth your spirit and they shall be created, and you will renew the face of the earth.

The Assumption: Mary our Mother shows us with her life and her assumption what awaits us. Let us ask for her protection and intercession for all those who are in RCIA, especially those who have difficulty accepting her motherhood and intercession.

The Coronation: Just as Mary’s crown came from obedience and perseverance through the sorrows of her life, so are ours. We pray for perseverance for all those still on the journey to the Church.

The Luminous Mysteries

The Baptism in the Jordan: We pray that we recognize in deed and speech that those who are baptized are already one with us in Christ. We pray for those who are preparing to receive baptism, that they may soon join the Christian family.

The Wedding at Cana: We pray for those who have marriage impediments that will delay their full communion with the Church that they persevere in the journey and know the support of their Catholic brothers and sisters.

The Proclamation of the Kingdom: We pray that all who are seeking hear and respond to the Word of God, each in his own time and through God’s grace. May we be conduits of that grace to those in RCIA.

The Transfiguration: May we be transformed in our lives through the journeys of those who are seeking the Church, and may we, in our lives, help transform them, all by your grace.

The Eucharist: We give thanks for the blessing of the Eucharist and pray for those who must wait patiently until they too can come to the table.