Christ-Focused Prayer for Rosary

[DaveBj]

I’ve read posts by some Protestants who are interested in Catholicism, but are shying away from the Rosary because the vast majority of the prayers are Hail Marys, and they still feel uncomfortable with praying to Mary. There is an Ecumenical Miracle Rosary (or maybe it’s Miracle Ecumenical Rosary–google it and you’ll find it) with Jesus-centered prayers, but that uses different “mysteries” (actually, the miracles of Jesus) from what the Catholic Rosary uses.

I was casting around in my mind at work last weekend, and I composed a Jesus-focused prayer that one could use in praying the Rosary. I used it recently during a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament and found it very helpful in centering my thoughts on the Saviour.

Two caveats: First, this prayer is more than twice as long as the Hail Mary, so if you’re doing a full five decades, give yourself a lot of time. Second, if you’re one who has a problem with Mary, you are on your own when it comes to the 4th and 5th Glorious Mysteries (the Assumption and the Coronation).

Here is the prayer. Positive and negative feedback welcome.

All praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, for Your miraculous virgin birth, Your perfect, holy life, Your agonizing Passion and death on the cross for us sinners, and Your glorious resurrection from the dead. Lord Jesus, You are seated at the right hand of the Father, where you ever live to make intercession for us. Blessed Savior, forgive us our sins, wash us clean from all our unrighteusness in Your Precious Blood, and fill us with the power uf the Holy Spirit, so that we may become more like you. Amen.

DaveBj

 

[mercygate]

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Son of Mary, have mercy on us now and at the hour of our death.

(by Robert Llewellyn, author of A Doorway to Silence: the Contemplative Use of the Rosary.)

 

[JKirkLVNV]

Your prayer was profound and beautiful. There is also the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I love that devotion, as well as the traditional Marian rosary.

 

[Della]

Your prayer is beautiful, but like you say it might be a bit too long to use in place of the Hail Mary, at least doing 5 decades of them. It might be better to do only one decade’s worth of your prayer. Or use it in place of “the Little Crown” or some other shorter devotion.

I also wanted to say that contrary to Protestant opinions (often based in ignorance) the Rosary and the Hail Mary ARE Christ-centered prayer. They are soundly christological through and through. Have you ever noticed that the name of Jesus is smack in the middle of the Hail Mary? And he is also the center, the heart of the Rosary, whose meditations are all based on the Gospel narratives of his life, his mission (especially now with the Luminous Mysteries), and his sacrifice for us. So, the next time a Protestant “protests” the Rosary, explain these few salient facts to him/her and be proud of the traditions of your faith.

 

[Timidity]

A third caveat… by using this prayer in place of the Hail Mary, you’re not saying the Rosary. You’re saying “Dave’s Chaplet”.

 

[puzzleannie]

the Hail Mary IS Christ-focused. What word is the centerpiece of each HM? “Jesus”. It is all about Jesus, it is not about Mary. Everything about Mary is not about Mary, she is all about Jesus. Praying to her and with her is a short-cut to Jesus, not a barrier between me and Jesus. The scriptures we meditate upon during this prayer are about Mary only to the extent that she cooperated with God’s plan for giving Jesus to us. We have no details about any aspect of her person and life except as they relate to her son, because they are not necessary.

Pope John Paul 2 in his message on the Year of the Rosary suggested the technique I read earlier in Romano Guardini’s little book on the rosary, in the middle of each HM add a phrase about the mystery to “wrap around” Jesus’ name.
1st joyful, annunciation
. . . fruit of thy womb, whom thou O virgin did conceive of the Holy Spirit, Jesus; Holy Mary . . .
2nd sorrowful
fruit of thy womb, who was scourged for our offenses, Jesus; Holy Mary . . .

 

[Miserere]

I don’t get it. The rosary consists of the Sign of the Cross, the Credo, the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be, the Fatima Prayer, and the Hail Holy Queen. Of seven prayers (sometimes more), two address Mary, and only one other actually mentions her, less than a majority.

Don’t forget about the mysteries. Jesus is most definitely the focus ot the rosary. I like to think it is looking at Jesus’ life through the eyes of Mary, which is not to far afield from looking at Jesus’ life through the eyes of the evangelists and Sts. Paul and Peter.

Another way to combat reluctance to the rosary is to suggest saying the divine mercy chaplet on rosary beads. This would encourage a person to obtain a rosary, and to hold it in their hands, breaking down the barrier. When the time comes, they can choose to say the rosary in its traditional form.

Keep in mind that the rosary is a private devotion, not necessary for us, but so valuable and helpful and powerful should we come to it.

 

[tru_dvotion]

the Hail Mary IS Christ-focused. What word is the centerpiece of each HM? “Jesus”. It is all about Jesus, it is not about Mary. Everything about Mary is not about Mary, she is all about Jesus. Praying to her and with her is a short-cut to Jesus, not a barrier between me and Jesus. The scriptures we meditate upon during this prayer are about Mary only to the extent that she cooperated with God’s plan for giving Jesus to us.

EXACTLY!

Dear Lord, do not allow the rewriting of this most beautiful and most complete Catholic prayer! Holy Mother pray for us!

 

[Timidity]

Miserere:

…The rosary consists of the Sign of the Cross, the Credo, the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be, the Fatima Prayer, and the Hail Holy Queen. Of seven prayers (sometimes more), two address Mary, and only one other actually mentions her, less than a majority.

I was under the impression that the Rosary proper is only the 20 mysteries and the Our Father, Glory Be, and decade of the Hail Mary that accompanies each mystery. Everything else is “optional”.

My sig says that I might be wrong, and it’s especially true on this matter. Though I just did a quick skim of Rosarium Viginis Mariae, and it seemed to support my thought.

 

[kmktexas]

I

was under the impression that the Rosary proper is only the 20 mysteries and the Our Father, Glory Be, and decade of the Hail Mary that accompanies each mystery. Everything else is “optional”.

From another “Expert” forum, the Rosary begins with the Sign of the Cross and the Apostles Creed. The Hail Holy Queen is the last prayer in the Rosary. The Fatima Prayer and any prayers following the Hail Holy Queen are optional.

The Rosary is a private devotion so we are really free to use the beads any (devout) way that helps us to pray. Some are more traditional, though.

 

[Stylteralmaldo]

DaveBj:

…if you’re one who has a problem with Mary, you are on your own when it comes to the 4th and 5th Glorious Mysteries (the Assumption and the Coronation).

I’m hoping those who have a problem with these two mysteries get over that perceived problem. What greater honor than to be Assumed into heaven and crowned as queen of heaven and earth. Mary was Christ’s #1 advocate and these events would not be possible without Christ - so yes, these events are also Christ-centered.

I love this Bible passage which sums up Mary’s role in our lives so elequently:
Lk 1:46-55:

And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him. He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

 

[mercygate]

4th & 5th Glorious mysteries. For the Assumption, it might help someone who is squeamish about Mary to remember Elijah. For Mary’s Crowning by Our Lord, one day we all hope to receive a heavenly crown from Our Lord; Mary got hers first.

 

[Teresa9]

Dear Dave

Your prayer is beautiful, but I would not recommend replacing the already approved prayers on the Rosary with any that have not be Church approved, you will be denying the folks you mention a proper introduction to the Rosary which is prayer through Our Blessed Mother to Jesus, this prayer then is always Jesus centered and as such for it to be altered by yourself would not be appropriate other than for your own means where you may add prayers to the original format. At the end of the Rosary before mass we pray for the Holy Souls in Pergatory and the prayer to St Michael the Archangel is said. But these prayer do not replace or usurp the prayers laid out in the Rosary as approved by Rome.

Your prayer is lovely though and maybe you would like to say it at the end of your own personal Rosary, but don’t feel tempted to pass it on to others as part of the Rosary. In being a Catholic, part of our creed is the belief in the Holy Catholic church and we have to abide by that, regardless of what others feel about certain aspects, like our Blessed Mother. If you hand the truth to them, they will either come to it in your time or after, maybe never but that won’t be because of you, that is because of them. You would have done what is right by presenting the Rosary to them as it is. I firmly believe that a person who desires truth will sonner or later come to it and despite any internal difficulties they may struggle with as regards our Blessed Mother or any other part of Catholicism, if they are going to be led there by the Holy Spirit and heed Him when He leads, they will come to the truth as it is without alteration.xxx

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa

 

[Edwin1961]

Just thought of putting in my :twocents: worth.
I haven’t tried this yet, but I will. It’s a Byzantine Catholic version of the Rosary.
From what I have read, it’s quite lengthy, but I am sure it is VERY spiritual and contemplative.

angelfire.com/pa3/OldWorldBasic/Rosary.htm

go with God!
Edwin

 

[mtr01]

puzzleannie:

Pope John Paul 2 in his message on the Year of the Rosary suggested the technique I read earlier in Romano Guardini’s little book on the rosary, in the middle of each HM add a phrase about the mystery to “wrap around” Jesus’ name.
1st joyful, annunciation
. . . fruit of thy womb, whom thou O virgin did conceive of the Holy Spirit, Jesus; Holy Mary . . .
2nd sorrowful
fruit of thy womb, who was scourged for our offenses, Jesus; Holy Mary . . .

I don’t know how familiar everyone here is with the Virtual Rosary program, but I’m a pretty big fan of it. It’s not my primary way of praying the Rosary, but they have a module that has St. Louis de Montfort’s method. Instead of a phrase added to the Hail Mary, it consists of an offering for each Hail Mary recited.

For example, for The Annunciation it would be

We offer Thee, O Lord Jesus, this first decade in honor of Thy Incarnation in Mary’s womb, and we ask of Thee, through this Mystery and through her intercession, a profound humility. Amen. To deplore the unhappy state of the disobedient Adam; his own just condemnation as well as that of all his children.

Then the first Hail Mary. Then:

To honor the desires of the patriarchs and prophets, who longed for the Messiah.

Then the second Hail Mary, etc. etc.

If anyone doesn’t have it, I highly recommend getting it, especially those just beginning to learn the Rosary.

 

[asteroid]

puzzleannie:

Everything about Mary is not about Mary, she is all about Jesus. Praying to her and with her is a short-cut to Jesus, not a barrier between me and Jesus.

Query - why do we need a short-cut to Jesus?

Query - is it a short-cut to pray to someone to pray to Jesus for you, and the long way round to pray directly to Jesus ?

 

[DaveBj]

Miserere:

I don’t get it. The rosary consists of the Sign of the Cross, the Credo, the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be, the Fatima Prayer, and the Hail Holy Queen. Of seven prayers (sometimes more), two address Mary, and only one other actually mentions her, less than a majority.

Actually, once around the Rosary, using all the prayers you have mentioned, is 71 prayers, of which 54 (53 Hail Marys and 1 Hail Holy Queen) are Marian. That’s quite a majority.

I thank everyone for their comments, both favorable and un-. The comment that this is “Dave’s Chaplet” and not the Rosary is appropriate; I had forgotten that the term “Rosary” was specifically applied to Mary.

My intent was not to give a replacement for the Marian Rosary, but to give an alternative for private devotion and to give Protestants something that they would be more comfortable using at this time. Hopefully they would at some future time try praying a Marian Rosary and then discover (as I did, after several months of using the Ecumenical Miracle Rosary) that lighning will not fall from the sky. I know that the Hail Mary is Christ-centered, and the vast majority of the time I do pray the Marian Rosary.

DaveBj

 

[rwoehmke]

asteroid:

Query - why do we need a short-cut to Jesus?
Query - is it a short-cut to pray to someone to pray to Jesus for you, and the long way round to pray directly to Jesus ?

Its not so much a matter of needing a shortcut as it is to ask someone else close to the Lord(Mary)to pray with and for us. If many people in my parish and other parts of the world could pray for my life when I had a heart attack, why cannot the faithful in heaven(including Mary) be asked to pray for us when we are in need. It has always seemed to be kind of silly to be limited to asking fellow Christians here on earth to pray for or with us when we have other companions and even relatives in heaven who could add their prayers. It is not either/or but using both ways when we want to “storm heaven” with prayer. So both direct and indirect, not one or the other. By the way my doctors had given up because I was not going to make it.

I did not care for the Rosary until John Paul II came out with the luminous mysteries. For the first time in over sixty years I realized that the Rosary was a meditation from beginning to end on the Gospels. For the first time I understood why friends of mine said Mary and the Rosary poiont us towards Jesus.

 

[Teresa9]

DaveBj:

My intent was not to give a replacement for the Marian Rosary, but to give an alternative for private devotion and to give Protestants something that they would be more comfortable using at this time. Hopefully they would at some future time try praying a Marian Rosary and then discover (as I did, after several months of using the Ecumenical Miracle Rosary) that lighning will not fall from the sky. I know that the Hail Mary is Christ-centered, and the vast majority of the time I do pray the Marian Rosary.

DaveBj

Dear Dave

I know you have good intentions, but…as you are a Catholic and as such accept Mary as your Blessed Mother and have a devotion to her. Why then would you mask that devotion to another Christian just because they cannot accept it presently? It would be far better to leave the Rosary for the time being and concentrate on areas they do accept, then answer any questions they do have about Mary.

I think what it is , is that Protestants and other Christian denominations have a misinformed conscience as regards Mary and what the Catholic church teaches about Mary, some other Christians think we worship Mary in the same light as Christ Jesus, we don’t worship her at all, we have a devotion to her, which is not the case as you know. Your friends have no problem relating to Jesus as the Messiah, I am sure they pray to Him all the time, you are simply handing them another prayer directly to Jesus in the prayer you have written, in the Rosary you would be showing them Mary and how Christ related to her and her to Him all throughout Sacred Scripture, perhaps ask them to look at the Rosary this way, so that they may come to know who we love and know Mary to be. If they are open to looking at Scripture this way, just to ‘taste it and see’

Dave, you are in a wonderful position to be able to share with your friends and Christian brothers and sisters all that you know and can find out about Mary and Marian devotion, in the light that people need time to decide upon things for themselves and within their own hearts. Don’t worry about what to say to them, ask Jesus to help you and the Holy Spirit to guide you and give you the words to say to them, trust the Holy Spirit He will help you.

If all you want to do is simply hand your friends a Rosary so they are familiar with holding the beads and praying upon them, as someone else has said, give them the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy, but even in this is three Hail Mary’s…it remains a fact, you cannot avoid Mary, she is the Mother of God, of Jesus and as no mother can be seperated from their child, so Mary cannot be seperated from Her Son, the Church and God’s children.

God Bless you much love and peace to you

Teresa

 

[asquared]

there are many scriptural rosaries published, for anyone who has an issue with the Hail Mary - which is not required for Catholics, neither is the rosary itself, it is a private devotion. The scriptural rosary can be prayed with or without beads, reading the verse and meditating on it. Those of us who do pray the rosary like the way the rhythm of the prayers focus us for meditation on the mysteries of the life of Christ.

Somebody up above also asked why we need a short-cut to Jesus. I wonder if I made the acquaintance of Barbara Bush, perhaps I joined her bridge group, would I go through her to get the ear of the president and urge him to promote family-friendly pro-life policies? Would that be an example of a short-cut? Of course, Jesus is much more accessible than GWB. Although his secret service is comprised entirely of angels. No, I think the idea of a short-cut is not that going through Mary makes Jesus more accessible, as if he wouldn’t give me the time of day without an intro from his mom. I think it is more like I do not have the nerve to approach him alone when I think of all I have on my conscience, and I would be much more comfortable entering his presence with his mother at my side, helping me think of what to say, and how to say it.