Distracted during the rosary?

[Abira]

for me it’s the opposite. I get very distracted when I’m trying to pray so I started using the rosary because otherwise I would have never ever prayed.

I struggle remembering which mystery I’m up to and in what order. Hopefully one day I’ll memorise i so I won’t have to keep stopping and thinking or checking.

It’s never bothered me if I’m doing everything exactly right…and I don’t pray the hail holy queen prayer at the end either

S x

 

[LilyM]

Larry, Mary is my hope. I hope that she will lead me to her Son. She has been assumed into Heaven, body and soul, completely united with God’s will. I think we should all look at her life and her sweetness and hope to share in it.

Having said that, this isn’t a matter where there is only one exclusive ‘correct’ interpretation of the words of the prayer. You may have noticed we love our both/and situations in Catholic theology, this looks to be one of them

Certainly the descriptives ‘life, sweetness and hope’ can be applied, in the context of the prayer, to Jesus, to Mary, or to both of 'em if you so wish.

 

[jmm08]

It seems that you are having the same problem as me. So do you repeat the parts where you were distracted – or you just let it go?

Thanks for sharing jmm08,
O.O.

I do not expect to be perfect. So I just do the best I can and move on. If I’d been distracted (as usual) I continue. Otherwise, on a bad day I’d never get anywhere.

One of the problems of distraction is this (when praying on my own). Even with a Rosary in my hand I sometimes am unsure with the beads. If I have any doubt as to whether I prayed the current bead, I pray it and not skip. So sometimes it may well be the case that I prayed eleven Hail Marys in a decade.

Romans 8:26 “In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.”

Our Lady knows how each of us pray. And I am confident that Mary works with what we give her, and Mary re-arranges the prayers we place in her hands. And then Our Lady presents them to her Spouse the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit also helps us in our prayers.

Instead of focusing on our weaknesses, we can have confidence through our faith in Mary and in God that our weak prayers become powerful. Such that Satan, our enemy, will do his best to keep us from praying. So do not be discouraged by distractions. Instead be encouraged to continue to pray regularly.

Without any doubt, Our Lady of Fatima wants us to pray the Rosary every day. There are many questions people ask about Fatima. But just think about the simple messages. If we only do what we know we should do. And ignore for now any part that we do not understand. In time we will grow and understand more.

jmm08

 

[o_o_82]

Dear Larry,
Thanks for posting.

Sometimes I end up saying more than 10 intentionally because I don’t feel like I meditated on the mystery – I was thinking about something else.

This is exactly what I do. I just wanted for one or more person to comment on - If this is the correct way to go about it or not. Also I think that doing two things at the same time is difficult – unless you are like some of the ladies who can do half a dozen things at the same time without having a problem with it :D

One hangup I have, even after several years of praying the Rosary, is the expression “Our life…our hope.” (I am a convert from Southern Baptist).

Oh, I am a cradle Catholic here, so I guess I cannot help you. We sallow this “Devotional to Mary stuff” as kids without asking many questions. So I don’t even know your mindset i.e. what belief would be acceptable to you or not or what you would believe or not. Anyway the best explanation to me (with my meager knowledge of Catholicism) is as follows:

First, you should understand the relation between consecration and conformation. The more we are consecrated ourselves to something, the better we try conform to it – and vice versa. This is best illustrated in the old testament when God takes the people of Israel out of Egypt, he consecrates them to himself – but at the same time he gives them the Ten Commandments, so that they would try to conform to his nature. Consecration and conformation go together.

Baptism causes us to the consecrated to Christ. We believe that before baptism, we belonged to the devil, as his slaves. After baptism we have become slaves of Jesus. (I think that the council of Trent made a mention of Christians as Mancipa Christi i.e. slaves of Christ – but I am not sure about this fact.) We therefore should live, work, and sometimes even die for the sole purpose of bringing him fruit. So it should not be a problem to call Jesus “Our Life …. & Our Hope”. Most Baptists should not have a problem up to this point – and would not mind calling Jesus “Our Life …. & Our Hope”.

The Catholics go a step further than that – which you may not necessarily agree. We believe that of all God’s creatures Mary is the most conformed to Jesus. Hence, the more one is consecrated to Mary, the more one is conformed to her nature. The more one is conformed to Mary, the more one is conformed to Jesus and hence more consecrated to Jesus.

So, actually Catholics when saying that Mary is “Our Life …. & Our Hope” are expressing the fact that we are slaves of Mary (just as many Southern Baptist’s would not have a problem with being called slaves of Jesus.)

If this logic does not sound familiar - then this is my summary of the understanding of St. Louis de Montfort’s book on “True Devotion to Mary”. This book is HUGE – especially if you are Southern Baptist. 

If you are not yet got a hold of the Catholic faith, then this book is not for you. However if you have gotten past the basics – I would recommend that you take a quick look at this, even if you may not understand or agree with everything. It also tells you what are the right and wrong forms of devotion to Mary. (This saint lived between 1673 to 1716 – so keep that in mind before you start)

You can just read this out of curiosity to understand why Catholics are so much attached to Mary. The book is only about 80 pages long – so you can get through it in a single day.

You can get a Electronic Version of it as www.legionofmarytidewater.com/docs/true.doc (Yes that is .doc – but it is safe. I downloaded it about 3 months ago, and it did not have any viruses. If you are too concerned I can send you a pdf of it though.) EWTN has it in HTML: ewtn.com/library/Montfort/truedevo.htm

I am sure that you can also get a hard copy of it. But you can flip through the softcopy quickly and if you like it get the printed version. I hope this post was not too long – but your question was not too simple to answer.

O.O.

 

[o_o_82]

So have I misunderstood the Rosary all along? When I say “Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope,” I thought the adjectives “our life, our sweetness, and our hope” referred to the pronoun “Mary.” In other words, I thought there were 5 descriptives of Mary here: 1) Holy Queen, 2) Mother of Mercy, 3) our life, 4) our sweetness, 5) our hope. Mary is our life, Mary is our sweetness, Mary is our hope.

You’re saying that “our life, our sweetness, and our hope” refer to “Mercy,” which in turn is Jesus? Said another way, "Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Jesus, who is our life, our sweetness and our hope.

Do I understand you correctly? Do you have any reference to support this as the meaning of that phrase?

Larry:
I think that your understanding of the Rosary is correct.

LilyM:
I hope you can provide some sources of your interpretation.

O.O.

 

[o_o_82]

Thanks stbruno.

My wise mother who always said a rosary before she went to bed…she taught me that if I become distracted or if I may even fall asleep when I was reciting the rosary…my guardian angel would finish it for me.

Seems like you are misusing your Guardian Angel

Thanks for letting me know that distractions are more common than I thought.
O.O.

 

[o_o_82]

Thanks Vianney.

There was a convent whose nuns would pray the rosary together daily in their chapel. Hung up on the wall near the crucifix was a 5 dollar bill. Ten years prior, the Mother Superior had put the 5 dollar bill on the wall saying, “Whoever can pray the whole rosary without once getting distracted is welcome to take these 5 dollars.”

Oh, so it seems than even nuns have a problem with it. I thought that they would be experts in this area. Thanks for sharing,
O.O.

 

[o_o_82]

jmm08:
Thanks for your advice jmm08. At least now I know that I am not the only one to be facing this – and also that if I am a bit distracted, Mary would still be able to put to use my Rosary.
O.O.

 

[LilyM]

Larry:
I think that your understanding of the Rosary is correct.

LilyM:
I hope you can provide some sources of your interpretation.

O.O.

What freaking sources? It’s A PRAYER, not some freaking doctrine or dogma of the Church, or some passage of the Bible.

Prayers don’t require authoritative sources to be read, analysed or interpreted. The words are there plain as day. It’s not a stretch of any kind, or wrong in any way, to say that they can be applied to Christ, unless you believe he ISN’T our life sweetness and hope or that Mary ISN’T his mother

You’ll be asking me for documents to prove that the sky is blue next.

 

[o_o_82]

What freaking sources? It’s A PRAYER, not some freaking doctrine or dogma of the Church, or some passage of the Bible.

Prayers don’t require authoritative sources to be read, analysed or interpreted. The words are there plain as day. It’s not a stretch of any kind, or wrong in any way, to say that they can be applied to Christ, unless you believe he ISN’T our life sweetness and hope or that Mary ISN’T his mother

You’ll be asking me for documents to prove that the sky is blue next.

Dear LilyM,
I think you need to choose your words when posting. (“freaking sources” does not sound good and most people can guess what you are intending to say.)

If this a prayer – then it does not mean that it can mean anything. The church has got reasons for why it does each of its things. Larry has very politely explained to you why your interpretation is wrong. And to any reasonable person – his logic makes perfect sense.

Regards,
O.O.

 

[Abira]

Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, our hope.

Mary is our life, Mary is our sweetness, Mary is our hope.

Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy; our life, our sweetness, our hope.

the semi colon here would have helped define the object of the line…

I’m coming at this as a potestant whoprays the oary sometimes but have never said this prayer to end.

I think the use of simply commas is ambiguous but to me the object is clearly Mary - hence why I don’t feel comfortable praying it at this moment. If Jesus had been intended He would have been named…?

S

 

[o_o_82]

Mary is our life, Mary is our sweetness, Mary is our hope.

Dear Abira,

Actually the original text of this is in Latin. So when this gets translated, I guess the comma was put in the place of a semi-colon.

I think that you are right in saying that Catholics mean that “Mary is our life, Mary is our sweetness, Mary is our hope”. (We do not have any hidden meanings as far as I know – like that is a shorthand for ‘mother of HIM WHO IS our mercy, life, sweetness and hope’ as LilyM claims above, but without anything to back it up.)

I have discussed a bit of this in my post #24 above.

O.O.

 

[Abira]

The Catholics go a step further than that – which you may not necessarily agree. We believe that of all God's creatures Mary is the most conformed to Jesus. Hence, the more one is consecrated to Mary, the more one is conformed to her nature. The more one is conformed to Mary, the more one is conformed to Jesus and hence more consecrated to Jesus.

why not just consecrate to Jesus?

So, actually Catholics when saying that Mary is “Our Life …. & Our Hope” are expressing the fact that we are slaves of Mary (just as many Southern Baptist’s would not have a problem with being called slaves of Jesus.)O.O.

But Mary has no hold over us… I would not do her will… she is not the one I owe everything to… lol sorry, I’m smiling to myself as every thread that involves mary; this is my sticking point.

S

 

[LilyM]

Dear LilyM,
I think you need to choose your words when posting. (“freaking sources” does not sound good and most people can guess what you are intending to say.)

If this a prayer – then it does not mean that it can mean anything. The church has got reasons for why it does each of its things. Larry has very politely explained to you why your interpretation is wrong. And to any reasonable person – his logic makes perfect sense.

Regards,
O.O.

For heaven’s sake.

No a prayer cannot mean just anything. And I am not saying that it means just anything. The line cannot, for example, mean that the moon is made of green cheese, and I am not suggesting such.

At the same time, absent some official church explication of that line excluding other plausible interpretations (which doesn’t exist), or a statement from the writer of the prayer him or herself (which doesn’t exist), we can offer plausible theories as to its meaning, or allow for more than one possible meaning within reason.

For example the woman in Revelations - taken to mean Mary, Israel, the Church, or all three. Which is it? John probably had something specific in mind when he wrote the line, but he didn’t clarify, the Church hasn’t ruled that the passage only has one meaning.

So we can happily choose to believe that it means one, all, or any combination of those things, or even come up (within the bounds of reason) with new interpretations of the passage if we want.

It’s called studying language, studying a text. And that’s what I’m doing with this prayer. That line has more than one possible meaning, neither absolutely authoritative. So I can choose to believe that it refers to Christ, or to Mary, or to both of them, without being wrong at all.

I’d love to see you with Shakespeare. ’ “The quality of mercy is not strained” means xyz and xyz only! … resistance is futile! … you WILL be assimilated!’

 

[dulcissima]

why not just consecrate to Jesus?

But Mary has no hold over us… I would not do her will… she is not the one I owe everything to… lol sorry, I’m smiling to myself as every thread that involves mary; this is my sticking point.

S

You honor Christ by honoring his mother. There is no reason to make it an either/or issue.

Do you actually think that Mary’s will is ever in opposition to Christ’s? No! Her will is perfectly united to his. She has cooperated fully with God’s plan for salvation, so you do indeed owe her your gratitude for your salvation.

She is not in competition with her Son. Just because we honor her does not mean that we honor Christ less. In fact, because we honor Mary, we are able to honor Christ more perfectly. She was his first disciple and is an excellent model of obedience and devotion for us to emulate. It was her “Yes” that delivered Christ to the world. She is the woman chosen by God himself to bear his Son. What an honor. What a blessing, and from God himself. If Mary has found favor with God, then who are we to say that she is just another woman?

 

[Jennifer_G]

What freaking sources? It’s A PRAYER, not some freaking doctrine…

LILYM!!!
covers her ears

I certainly hope it means something different in Aussie slang.

Anyway, the only time I’ve been distracted during the Rosary is if I wait too late at night to say it (anytime after 10:30pm), then I start falling asleep!

 

[LilyM]

LILYM!!!
covers her ears

I certainly hope it means something different in Aussie slang.

Anyway, the only time I’ve been distracted during the Rosary is if I wait too late at night to say it (anytime after 10:30pm), then I start falling asleep!

Didn’t mean to offend anyone - it’s slightly harsh here, not four-letter or anything really terrible.

 

[Larry1700]

For heaven’s sake.
I’d love to see you with Shakespeare. ’ “The quality of mercy is not strained” means xyz and xyz only! … resistance is futile! … you WILL be assimilated!’

I’m not sure about your point here. If you mean I will be assimilated into the Catholic Church – that has already happened. I fully believe that Jesus gave his authority to Peter, etc., etc.

What I’m merely attempting to do is understand what the Church teaches about this line in the Rosary, because, as I said previously, I’m not comfortable saying that Mary is my life and my hope. Your explanation would have wonderfully resolved my dilemma.

When I asked for a source, I was not being derisive – I truly wanted to know. As a former Baptist, I have witnessed first hand the problems that come from individual interpretation. I was excited when I discovered that interpretation authority rests solely in Christ’s Church. I was hoping you knew of a source document.

Absent the Church’s authoritative teaching on the matter, it is my interpretation against yours. When I read it/say it, I think it refers to Mary, not Christ. Again, please understand, I want your interpretation to be correct, because it would solve my problem. But words DO mean things, and the words you say in prayer, in the Creed, etc., should be said fervently, meaning you believe what you’re saying with all your heart. I can’t yet pray those words fervently until I am either convinced that what you’re saying is correct, or that what I believe them to say is actually okay.

A few years ago I read St. Louis de Monfort’s book, and I read Pope John Paul II’s encyclical on the Rosary. Perhaps I should read them again. I simply thought a quick post to this forum would provide a quick answer (or reminder, as the case may be.) I apologize for upsetting you.

 

[Larry1700]

If this logic does not sound familiar - then this is my summary of the understanding of St. Louis de Montfort’s book on “True Devotion to Mary”. This book is HUGE – especially if you are Southern Baptist. O.O.

Thanks o_o_82,

I was formerly Baptist, and am not 100% Catholic. To me, 100% Catholic means I’m convinced that the Catholic Church is the one established by Christ, and I must follow her teachings, because Jesus said “He who hears you, hears me, and he who rejects you, rejects me.” I do still have a few things I’m not completely resolved about in my heart, but I know that my opinion is not the final criteria.

A good example is the death penalty. In my heart, I’m for it in many cases. The Church condemns it in essentially all cases (I’ve read the Catechism on the subject.) Therefore, If I’m in a voting booth, I would vote against the death penalty (following the Church teaching), even though my heart told me to vote for it.

So I am willing to accept this line (as best I can) in whatever way the Church has taught. I’m just trying to figure out what it is. Like I told LilyM, I read Monfort’s book and Pope John Paul II’s encyclical on the Rosary a few years ago, so perhaps I may need to read them again. I was hoping a quick post here would provide a quick answer.

I am curious though. What do you mean when you say Monfort’s book is HUGE in the Baptist community?

 

[dulcissima]

Hi Larry, I do understand where you are coming from, being a former Baptist myself. I joined the Catholic Church in 2001, but didn’t really start praying the rosary until a year and half ago. While my posts on this subject were mostly based upon my own interpretation and are straight from the heart, the info that Lily M gave you really does coincide with most of what I have read about Church teaching on Mariology. You might find the following passage from Father John A Hardon, SJ helpful:

Neither do we scruple about calling Mary the “Mother of Mercy.” “She is exactly that, because she is the Mother of Christ, through whom we have obtained mercy from God; because she intercedes for us without ceasing that God may be merciful to us, and as the Mother of God she does not plead in vain; and finally because she is in the profoundest sense our merciful and compassionate Mother.” [13]

Calvin and his followers accuse us of divinizing the Blessed Mother when we speak of her as “Our Life.” But they misjudge our motives. “We do not mean to say that Mary is Life Itself, as God is Life by His very essence; nor that she is the principal cause of supernatural life as Christ is ‘the Author of life.’ We mean both that she has given birth to Christ, and that He has appointed her to be the Mother of the spiritual life of all the living.” [14]

So also in addressing Mary as “Our Sweetness,” we are only giving testimony to the innumerable blessings with which she has consoled the afflicted down the centuries. “If Paul could honestly write to Philemon that ‘I have had great consolation and joy in thy charity,’ how much more truly can we apply this quality of sweetness to the Mother of Jesus, through whom not one or another person is consoled, as in the case of Philemon, but in whom all the sorrows of all mankind find their lasting solace and commiseration!” [15]

We call upon Mary as “Our Hope,” because “after the Man-God Himself, there is nothing in which we have more reason to confide than the intercessory power of Mary. Underlying this trustfulness in the Mother God is the principle of our Faith which bids us repose our confidence not only in the Author of grace but also in those who can plead with Him in our behalf.” [16] therealpresence.org/archives/Mariology/Mariology_021.htm