One participant said: “Praying the rosary saved my life. After my husband’s death, I couldn’t cope with the pain and emptiness. Every day, I reached for the rosary and it gave me the strength to survive these difficult moments. Without it, I don’t know how I would have managed.”
The research also showed that praying the rosary correlated positively with reduced depression and increased optimism about the future. These effects rival those reported in studies of mindfulness meditation yet come without the sometimes hefty price tags of meditation retreats or app subscriptions.
Why it matters
The study’s implications extend far beyond Catholic communities. As mental health crises escalate globally — with particular severity in the U.S. and Europe — the research suggests society may be overlooking accessible, culturally rooted resources for psychological well-being.
In the U.S., where the wellness industry generates billions annually, the findings raise questions about the commodification of spiritual practices. Why pay for expensive meditation classes when a traditional practice offers similar benefits? The study also challenges assumptions some have that Eastern non-Christian practices are superior to Western spiritual traditions.
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For Germany, where both Catholic and Protestant traditions have shaped the culture but face declining influence, the research offers a potential bridge between secular mental health approaches and traditional spiritualities. German Catholics might find validation in maintaining practices often dismissed as outdated.
The implications for Poland are particularly significant. As the country navigates tensions between its deeply Catholic identity and European Union secularization pressures, the study provides empirical support for the mental health value of traditional practices — potentially influencing both health care policy and cultural debates.
In Italy, where Catholicism remains culturally significant despite declining Mass attendance, the findings suggest that traditional practices like the rosary might serve as accessible mental health resources, particularly for older populations who may be less comfortable with secular therapy.
Breaking down barriers
The researchers noted a striking bias in academic literature: PubMed contains 30,060 entries for “mindfulness” but only 13 for “rosary prayer.” This disparity reflects broader cultural prejudices that often dismiss Western devotions as more primitive.
“From a purely cultural phenomenological point of view, mindfulness is in, glamorous, fashionable and interesting, while the rosary is out, outdated, boring and uninteresting,” the researchers observed. Yet their data suggests this perception is more about cultural fashion than empirical reality.
The study’s network analysis revealed that religiosity impacts well-being both directly and through two key pathways: increasing empathy and reducing religious struggle. The repetitive nature of the rosary — similar to mantra meditation — appears to create a meditative state that calms anxiety and promotes emotional regulation.
Interestingly, the practice wasn’t associated with social isolation or narrow-mindedness, as stereotypes might suggest. Instead, higher levels of rosary prayer correlated with increased empathy, suggesting it enhances rather than diminishes social connection.
“One thing is certain, there is a divide within the Catholic Church, and within other churches, between those who pray and adopt a devotional stance, and those who interpret their Christian faith in terms of social awareness and involvement,” Oviedo said. “It is time to overcome this kind of binary model and adopt a style that combines devotion and empathy towards others. A divorce between the two makes the Christian message and the salvation we offer in Christ less credible and effective.”
The power of repetitive prayer
As societies grapple with mental health epidemics, spiritual emptiness, and the limitations of purely pharmaceutical approaches to psychological well-being, the research suggests benefits from a more inclusive view of contemplative practices. The rosary’s accessibility — requiring only beads and some time — makes it particularly relevant for economically disadvantaged populations who can’t afford therapy or meditation classes.
The study does not advocate for religious conversion or suggest that the rosary is superior to other practices. Rather, it argues for recognizing the diverse ways humans cope with suffering and find meaning.
One researcher concluded: “We count on a broader palette of spiritual or religious expressions with similar positive effects, and so, we can avoid some almost spiritual monopolies and one-sided expressions in the usual counseling and caring interventions.”
Longer-term impact
Oviedo said it is too early to evaluate the reception of this study.
“I was quite surprised that there was media interest in this topic, as it has been neglected in many settings, even within Catholic circles,” he said. “The worst aspect is the theological indifference or even hostility towards such devotional practices, which are considered alien to standard theology. The problem runs deeper, relating to a theology that is unable to connect with believers in how they live and express their faith.”
Oviedo said Catholics need to develop a “lived theology” — or a “theology from below.”
“This theological approach requires us to pay more attention to how believers feel, how they experience their faith, and how they sense salvation in action,” he said. “Indeed, many studies on religion, health, well-being, and flourishing are published every year, but almost no theologians pay any attention to them, even though they reveal the positive effects of religious faith and intense religious practice, or how to recognize salvation as something real. The rosary is a good example of this and suggests a different approach to theology if we really want to make the Christian message more credible.”
