Help with the rosary..

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Sneaux

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I want to start praying the rosary more often, because I honestly don’t do it very often, because I have trouble concentrating…this makes me feel really bad to admit, but it’s like I can’t really get into it, it’s like when I do it, I try to rush through it…any advice on reminders to pray it and help with concentration? 😦
 
You’re human, so distractions are not unusual.
St Therese admitted to distractions in prayer.
The important thing is to try to recollect ourselves when we discover our mind has wandered, and try again.
Personally I find it easier to say the prayer aloud (quietly so as not to disturb others) and with expression as if Jesus and Mary were in front of me.
Sometimes distractions about others can be a reminder to pray for them.
I don’t doubt that you will receive good advice, but we will probably find our minds wandering at times during the Rosary or any prayer, until at last we are in heaven.
God bless you. 🙂
 
You can pray along with a world Rosary at this site: comepraytherosary.org/
The video of the holy land will help you remain focused.

Or, at this blog, you can click on collections of artwork that represent each mystery of the Rosary: starrymantle.blogspot.com/2011/02/rosary-reflection-finding-of-child.html
Click on the appropriate collections on the right of the page as you scroll down. It brings up a picture of the Rosary. Click on that and the artwork expands for your contemplation. Arrow to the right through the collection as you pray, then X out once done.
 
Don’t leave it for the evening or late at night for you will be tired and not wanting to do it. are to do it some time before lunch or around 3 or 4 oclock.
 
Agree with last poster.
Don’t leave it to last thing, you are tired & cant concentrate & tend to rush it.
(Remember this is an audience with Queen of Heaven)

Make it a proper devotional exercise ( as if in Church). Have a set time. Some folk do it while they are walking/jogging but that can be difficult
  1. Set up a small altar/statue of BVM & flowers in a separate room. (Wood or garden is also fine.)
  2. Light candle, switch off other lights.
  3. Sit quietly for min or so to recollect your thoughts.
  4. Bring the day’s events to Mary (good & bad) & any intentions (prayers for dead etc.)
  5. Now start the Rosary (booklet with pix can help)
  6. You must pray vocally not silently even when alone.
  7. Pause briefly at each mystery & try to picture that scene 2000yrs ago.
  8. Finish with Hail Holy Queen or Memorare.
In all it doesn’t take more than 10-15mins. Not a lot to give to Queen of Heaven.Of course it is much much better if you can share with someone (or even the entire family) as used to be the case in all RC homes (pre-TV Age)
 
Pax Christi!

There’s good advice in this thread. Have a regular routine. Follow along with Laudete app or EWTN broadcasts (or CDs or the like).

Forgive yourself for being distracted, even before you begin.

Practice really helps!

God bless.
 
Start small. One decade every morning when you get up. In a less than a week, you’re done.
Then move to one decade an hour.
Soon, you’re all the way through, but do it when you are alert. Long commutes are wonderful. Say it out loud. No way to get distracted when you are really speaking. One has to be alert when speaking. In your head…not so much. Our minds do wander naturally.
Also, try to find someone to pray with you once in a while. Nice to combine intentions.
Good luck. You’ll soon see a difference. 👍

Also, obtain one of the pamphlets with pictures. They help you to focus. Also online.
God bless you.
 
Imagine you are with Jesus and Mary while praying the mysteries of the rosary. Close your eyes as you pray and imagine the mystery setting in detail – or pray looking at the Crucifix. God bless you.
 
Sneaux said:
.any advice on reminders to pray it and help with concentration? 😦
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Not to sound trite but if I am real tiered or unfocused I say a prayer prior to saying the rosary asking Our Lady to help me stay awake and focused 🙂
 
I recently have made a commitment to pray the rosary every day. So far, I’ve been praying it daily for about 6 months. I only mention this because I’m a newbie and a work in progress.

Here’s what works for me:

Don’t wait until you’re tired and it’s late at night. There have been days in which I’ve forgotten, but I get up and attempt to pray it anyway. Sometimes I fall asleep toward the end, but I always try to make the added sacrifice of if I’m in bed and happen to remember, to do my best to get up and pray. That’s just me though. I know myself well enough to know that if I don’t make this sacrifice, I’ll never make it into a habit.

I have a small treasure trove of rosary meditation books. I like them all, but my favorite ones are the ones that have multiple meditations for each mystery. I’m like you, my mind wanders. If I didn’t have a meditation book to help center my mind, my mind would be thinking of everything else that is going on. Of course, there will be times that your mind will wander no matter what, but the best tactic is to persevere and admit to God that you are distracted. Then offer your distraction up as a prayer. Eventually, it will pass.

I think it’s wonderful that you are making an effort on deepening your prayer life through the rosary. It wasn’t my favorite devotion in the world, but now I love it. I know it sounds silly, but just as I have a close relationship with my husband and wouldn’t feel settled if we went to bed before kissing each other goodnight; I feel the same way now about prayer time with Our Lord with the rosary.
 
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Sneaux said:
I want to start praying the rosary more often, because I honestly don’t do it very often, because I have trouble concentrating…this makes me feel really bad to admit, but it’s like I can’t really get into it, it’s like when I do it, I try to rush through it…any advice on reminders to pray it and help with concentration? 😦
Click to expand...
I pray my Rosary at night before I go to bed. I can clear my mind of all the distractions of the day & guietly contemplate on my Rosary with my night prayers. Everything is guiet & peaceful to do so.
 
svid2 said:
Pax Christi!

There’s good advice in this thread. Have a regular routine. Follow along with Laudete app or EWTN broadcasts (or CDs or the like).

Forgive yourself for being distracted, even before you begin.

Practice really helps!

God bless.
Click to expand...
One of the Saints said that, during prayer, if all that you do is constantly call your mind from distractions back to the Lord - it is time well spent.
 
Pax Christi!

Here’s another way I look at distractions: Yes, they happen. They can’t be avoided. So my Rosaries are never perfect… (think of the Mother’s Day gifts you made when you were little!)

So, during the day, while doing something else entirely, I sneak in a Hail Mary or two. Perhaps while standing in line at the store, or while doing some routine task, I throw in a silent Glory Be or O My Jesus.

If the outside world is going to intrude on my prayer life, it’s only fair to have my prayer life intrude on the rest of the day! Fair is fair…

God bless.
 
Have you read Louis DeMontfort’s “The Secret of The Rosary?” He goes into detail about being distracted. Everyone gets distracted. The problem is when we quit because of it. The important thing is that one keeps trying. If at first you don’t succeed, try try again! Don’t let the evil one trick you into stopping your prayers by using this excuse. As for me, I also like having special rosaries. I have a very nice one that I got from etsy.com/shop/glassbeadrosaries. I got it blessed by a very holy priest and I carry it everywhere. If I’m waiting for a doctors appointment or driving in the car, I can get it out and focus my attentions on it. Sometimes I only get a decade prayed at a time, but over the course of a day it can bring my attention to Jesus several times a day for only moments at a time. It adds up and makes for a holy day.
 
Soul Magazine is a publication by The World Apostolate of Fatima. And in an article about the importance of perseverance in the daily Rosary, it ended with this;
Distractions​
Upon finishing the Rosary, a holy Carmelite nun was disturbed because her thoughts had not remained upon the Mysteries.
Click to expand...
But Our Lady, who saw only the nun’s intention to meditate upon them, reassured her the involuntary distractions that often creep in during the Rosary no more hinder the worthiness of our praise than the flies that buzz around us on a country walk hinder us from reaching our destination.
Click to expand...
Peace, Mark
 
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