Can we pray the Rosary any way we want?

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A poster commented" you can pray it any way you want, meditate on any mysteries you want, say any prayers you want afterward, you don’t even have to say “hail Mary” on each bead,

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=93531

As far as I know, you cannot pray the Rosary any way you want!?!
For each day of the week, there is a Mystery, and you say Hail Mary on each bead of the Rosary in all of the decades, as well as the first 3 beads. Since when can we delete the Hail Mary?
 
Why would anyone want to…it is perfect in its simplicity and it is all encompassing…
 
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Marilena:
A poster commented" you can pray it any way you want, meditate on any mysteries you want, say any prayers you want afterward, you don’t even have to say “hail Mary” on each bead,

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=93531

As far as I know, you cannot pray the Rosary any way you want!?!
For each day of the week, there is a Mystery, and you say Hail Mary on each bead of the Rosary in all of the decades, as well as the first 3 beads. Since when can we delete the Hail Mary?
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I think there is some wiggle room. I don’t think you have to focus on the mysteries. If you are a contemplative then you can just push all thoughts out of mind and focus on the words with love.

For it to be the rosary you must say the Hail Mary. If you don’t say the Hail Mary you aren’t saying the Rosary.
 
The only variation I ever make is sometimes I pray the “Franciscan” Rosary.
 
Well, the late Pope thought that meditating on mysteries not included in the Rosary was a good idea.

You may “use” a Rosary for other devotional practices – but then, you would not call it a “Rosary” – you would be using your beads as a chaplet – as in the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

I use my Rosary to “count” the verses of Pss 51, 54, and the 1st 32 verses of Ps 119, which I must pray every morning. The number of verses, with the Gloria Patri at the end of each Psalm, comes out to exactly 59 beads.

You may pray the Jesus Prayer on your Rosary. Sometimes I pray: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Son of Mary, have mercy on us now and at the hour of our death.

The set of beads is a tool. THE Rosary is a codified form of prayer with a little flexibility. One would suppose that the indulgences attached to praying the Rosary would not apply to the variations.
 
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Marilena:
A poster commented" you can pray it any way you want, meditate on any mysteries you want, say any prayers you want afterward, you don’t even have to say “hail Mary” on each bead,

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=93531

As far as I know, you cannot pray the Rosary any way you want!?!
For each day of the week, there is a Mystery, and you say Hail Mary on each bead of the Rosary in all of the decades, as well as the first 3 beads. Since when can we delete the Hail Mary?
Click to expand...
Leave out the Hail Mary’s? :confused: Then it wouldn’t be a Rosary, but it sure would have appeal to Protestants!
 
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paramedicgirl:
Leave out the Hail Mary’s? :confused: Then it wouldn’t be a Rosary, but it sure would have appeal to Protestants!
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One cannot leave out the Hail Mary, therefore I did not get why the person who made the comment would say such a thing?
 
I sometimes don’t use the mysteries and try to pray a more contemplative way.
 
Interesting bit from www.rosaryarmy.com

A Brief History of the Rosary

It is usually suggested that the rosary began as a practice by the laity to imitate the monastic Office (Breviary or Liturgy of the Hours), by which monks prayed the 150 Psalms. The laity, many of whom could not read, substituted 50 or 150 Ave Marias for the Psalms. Sometimes a cord with counters on it was used to keep an accurate count. The first clear historical reference to the rosary, however, is from the life of St. Dominic (+1221), the founder of the Order of Preachers or Dominicans. He preached a form of the rosary in France at the time that the Albigensian heresy was devastating the faith there. Tradition has it that the Blessed Mother herself asked for the practice as an antidote for heresy and sin.

One of Dominic’s future disciples, Alain de Roche, began to establish Rosary Confraternities to promote the praying of the rosary. The form of the rosary we have today is believed to date from his time. Over the centuries the saints and popes have highly recommended the rosary, the greatest prayer in the Church after the Mass and Liturgy of the Hours. Not surprisingly, it’s most active promoters have been Dominicans.

Rosary means a crown of roses, a spiritual bouquet given to the Blessed Mother. It is sometimes called the Dominican Rosary, to distinguish it from other rosary-like prayers (e.g. Franciscan Rosary of the Seven Joys, Servite Rosary of the Seven Sorrows). It is also, in a general sense, a form of chaplet or corona (also referring to a crown), of which there are many varieties in the Church. Finally, in English it has been called “Our Lady’s Psalter” or “the beads.” This last derives from an Old English word for prayers (bede) and to request (biddan or bid).
This brief history comes from EWTN’s Frequently Asked Questions Page and was written by Colin B. Donovan, STL*
 
The point being made on the thread link in the OP was not that the Rosary was prayed “any old way”. The points were that the Rosary is a private devotion, and as such, there was a lot of leeway for personal use, such as which mysteries on what days and what runs through a person’s contemplations as one prays; and that a rosary is not necessary to pray the Rosary (the usual substitute being the ten digits on the hand).
 
The Rosary is a traditional prayer of Holy Mother Church. Just because a silly poster says you can pray it any way you want - doesn’t actually mean that it is rightly prayed so. If you see a post that says: THE END OF THE WORLD IS ON JUNE 6, 2006 - it doesn’t really mean anything aside from the fact the person who made the poster is a goof !!

No, the Rosary is a traditional and beautiful prayer of the Church and if you wish to know how to really pray it get a little book on it from Fr. Benedict Groeschel or the famous ‘Secret of the Rosary’. I got my kids to read it long ago and they enjoyed it.

Further to that, praying the Rosary without saying the Hail Mary prayer is kind of like driving a car without gas! You not going to get too far.

However, I do know that some people like to say different prayers at the end of it or even before beginning it… which is fine. Also I was taught by some Third Order Fransiscans to sing between each decade, which I really like. You can sing ‘O Sacrament Most Holy’ or ‘Ave Maria’. All the same, it is my conviction that it should always be prayed with reverence and with careful contemplation upon the mysteries of each decade. This is how Jesus wishes to teach us about the beautiful mysteries of our Faith.

Pax et Bonum
 
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paramedicgirl:
Leave out the Hail Mary’s? :confused: Then it wouldn’t be a Rosary, but it sure would have appeal to Protestants!
Click to expand...
The rosary is very appealing once I started digging in learning about it and doing it. Although I have not done it very often such as on a daily or weekly. I was wondering if one could replace the Hail Mary’s with the Psalms and rotate both of them.

For example
Day 1 - Psalm 1-50 (Joyful)
Day 2 - Psalm 51-100 (Luminous)
Day 3 - Psalm 101-150 (Sorrowful)
Day 4 - Hail Mary’s (Time is short but still want to get a Rosary in before bed. 😃 / or do it for the Glorious since the assumption and coronation is applicable to Mary.)

It is my understanding that a long time ago the monks would pray all 150 psalms. People could not read so the Hail Mary’s were born so that those who could not read were able to participate.

Personally I do not see the above example wrong. What are your thoughts?

🙂 Melissa
 
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