Help Praying the Rosary

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I have mentioned in some of my other posts that I do not pray the Rosary often at all, for several reasons. I am wondering how to overcome a “fear” (for a lack of a better term) of praying it because of the amount of times you say Hail Mary. It makes me nervous because it is said 10x as much (correct me if I am wrong) than the Our Fathers. It’s not that I don’t CARE about the Virgin, or that I don’t believe she is the mother of God, but isn’t God the deity that created her?

I also must admit I am kind of lazy… any tips about how to get motivated into doing it?

Also, I am curious on how many times one “should” pray the Rosary. Is there anything in church doctrine? I have also heard that Our Lady of Fatima recommended the one boy to pray many so he may be saved. Thanks in advance, God bless.
 
To motivate you, first read the “Secret of the Rosary” by St. Louis de Montfort.
 
You have to consider the Biblical context from which the “Hail Mary” prayer comes. It is the Joyful Mystery of the Annunciation: the announcement of the Incarnation of God to the Mother, and by extension, to the world, and the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. Every time we utter a “Hail Mary” in faith, we are echoing & personally confirming the words of the Archangel Gabriel. Mary’s Motherhood & Queenship isn’t something that just exists for its own sake, in the way the ancients bowed down before the Babylonian & Persian godkings for their gratification and for fear of their tremendous temporal power.

My method of saying the Rosary is to do it while going on walks. That’s the kinesthetic / athletic temperament within me… saying the ~15-20 minute prayer just by sitting in a chair or kneeling would be a very difficult habit to condition into me, unless it was a Rosary in a social setting. It might be good for you as well.
 
The rosary is not about the Hail Marys; it’s a biblical prayer about meditating on the different mysteries of each decade. The best way to get yourself started to pray it with someone else or maybe join a rosary group. I have a CD of the rosary that I like to pray along with in the car or sometimes before I go sleep at night; EWTN has a couple versions for sale in the Religious Catalog and also on the air during the day. Try looking up the bible verse for each mystery before you begin, then it will be on your mind and you will find it a little easier to concentrate.
 
I had exactly the same feelings for years. Then one day – I credit my guardian angel with this inspiration – I asked Jesus to help me love His Mother to the extent that He loves her. I figure there could be nothing wrong with loving her that way. I placed my love of Mary into Jesus’ hands with complete confidence, and never looked back.

I’ve been praying the rosary several times a week (can’t say everyday yet) for the past 18 months or so. Meditating on God’s plan and work for our salvation has changed me, to be sure. I highly recommend it.

God bless you!
 
Hi,

I’ve been praying the Rosary nearly every day for about a month now and I have no intentions of stopping. It has already begun changing my life for the better. I do it at night when I am alone, although I am going to start incorporating my 5 year old daughter in my daily prayers too, where I can.

What I do is this: I open 2 tabs on my computer: the first is for comepraytherosary.org, and the second is a live online display of the Blessed Sacrament (you can google it; there are several sites where the Blessed Sacrament is displayed live, although some of them go off at certain points in the day). I have the audio from the first site playing in the background while I am gazing at the Blessed Sacrament on the second tab. This is, of course, only when I am not at church.
 
Try a DVD or CD, and recite along with it…my favorite from EWTN has the Mysteries illustrated by stained glass windows.

There is a purpose to the repetition of the “Hail Mary” – it gives the chatterbox part of the mind something to occupy its attention so that the contemplative part can ponder each Mystery.

In the Rosary, Mary invites us to contemplate her Son’s life with her – remember “she treasure these things and pondered them in her heart.”
 
To motivate you, I would strongly recommend a book, CD or video with reflections/scripture readings for each mystery. Also, to have an intention in mind (if you can’t think of anything else, do what I do and pray each decade for someone in authority in the church e.g. pope, local bishop, parish priest etc.)
 
First, I understand your “fear,” KC1. Altho I might use the word doubt. I sometimes wonder if I could substitute the Fatima Prayer (“Oh my Jesus”) for the Hail Mary, but wasn’t sure if that was “right.”

Second, if you want something more Jesus-centric, have you tried the Chaplet of Divine Mercy…?

Third, youtube has LOTS of audio of the Rosary…Gregorian chant, Latin, music, etc. 🙂
 
Magdalen2013 said:
Try a DVD or CD, and recite along with it…my favorite from EWTN has the Mysteries illustrated by stained glass windows.

There is a purpose to the repetition of the “Hail Mary” – it gives the chatterbox part of the mind something to occupy its attention so that the contemplative part can ponder each Mystery.

In the Rosary, Mary invites us to contemplate her Son’s life with her – remember “she treasure these things and pondered them in her heart.”
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One of my favorite things is a cassette tape (it must be 25 years old) of Mother Angelica reciting the rosary. My mother gave it to me, and I treasure it.
 
One thing to bear in mind is that the Hail Mary praises God in at least two ways:

(1) Everything that we praise Mary for is, in fact, a gift that’s been given to her from God. This can be an aspect of our meditation while we pray.

(2) Whenever we praise Mary she, in turn, purifies, sanctifies, and presents our praises to God. She keeps nothing for herself.

I would recommend the following article for more information: calledtocommunion.com/2014/10/objections-to-the-hail-mary-leo-xiii-the-rosary-and-christian-unity-part-5-of-10/
 
AttendeDomine said:
One thing to bear in mind is that the Hail Mary praises God in at least two ways:

(1) Everything that we praise Mary for is, in fact, a gift that’s been given to her from God. This can be an aspect of our meditation while we pray.

(2) Whenever we praise Mary she, in turn, purifies, sanctifies, and presents our praises to God. She keeps nothing for herself.

I would recommend the following article for more information: calledtocommunion.com/2014/10/objections-to-the-hail-mary-leo-xiii-the-rosary-and-christian-unity-part-5-of-10/
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I like this advice. 👍
 
I’m a convert to the faith, so I think I can chime in on this despite me never having a strong anti Mary backround.

The Church teaching on Mary is Intense. We need to realize that from both a RC perspective or even an Eastern Orthodox perspective she is someone VERY special. As my deacon told me in RCIA if you open your bible trying to justify the whole Mary issue it really isn’t gonna happen. At best you will get some very vague justification.

I trust the Churches teachings and that includes Mary. I might not understand it, I might be shocked at some of the teachings surrounding her. But I converted to Catholocism and that is enough for me. I’m trusting the Church with my soul and will be the best Catholic I can. ROSARY AND ALL.

As for the whole, greater number of hail Mary’s issue…it’s kind of a fallacy in and of itself. If we wanna be scrupulous about it (which is what this thinking borders on) one could conclude how Biblical and Godly the rosary prayer is because the BIGGEST beads are reserved for the Our Father. See what I mean? It gets a tad silly.

The Rosary is simply a prayer and a devotion that was given to the church by Mary. However you make peace with that is up to the individual. And if you don’t feel comfortable dont pray it! last time I checked none of the precepts of the Catholic Church require us to pray it. But it would be such a shame. I pray it every night as I go to bed. It’s such a beautiful tool and a wonderful way to stay connected in prayer. Not to mention a Rosary, Bible, Cup (containing blood), and Bead (The real body of Christ under its appearance) are pretty much the universal signs of all things Catholic hehe
 
KidCatholic1 said:
I have mentioned in some of my other posts that I do not pray the Rosary often at all, for several reasons. I am wondering how to overcome a “fear” (for a lack of a better term) of praying it because of the amount of times you say Hail Mary. It makes me nervous because it is said 10x as much (correct me if I am wrong) than the Our Fathers. It’s not that I don’t CARE about the Virgin, or that I don’t believe she is the mother of God, but isn’t God the deity that created her?

I also must admit I am kind of lazy… any tips about how to get motivated into doing it?

Also, I am curious on how many times one “should” pray the Rosary. Is there anything in church doctrine? I have also heard that Our Lady of Fatima recommended the one boy to pray many so he may be saved. Thanks in advance, God bless.
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Maybe saying the Rosary is just not for you. There’s no requirement to pray the Rosary.

That being said, the links below might be helpful. Each of the Mysteries has a short meditation (usually one sentence) for each of the 10 Hail Mary’s, which helps one to focus on the scriptural element to the Mysteries.

The site: rosary-center.org/howto.htm#loaded

An example using the Joyful Mysteries: rosary-center.org/joyful.htm
 
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