Holy Mary Mother of God

[suezette]

The Hail Mary is a prayer I learnt as a young child during my catechism. It is a prayer I say when I am scared, when am short of what to say during prayer, sometimes I say this prayer subconsciously. I remember during high school, we had these students who would talk ill of the Catholic Church, especially the Blessed Mother, and like many, I would be defenseless. They would start these conversations in the dormitory (if you can imagine) at bed time. And so in times like this I would cover my head under the blanket, fix my index fingers tightly in each ear, and then start silent Hail Marys till I caught sleep. This was the order every beginning and end of term.
I am writing cause yesterday while in church, I had the Rosary being said differently. They would start with the usual Hail Mary …., then answer, Holy Mary Mother of God pray for…and here they mention the name of say a priest….now and forever. Amen.
This disturbed me a lot. Some years back, I was informed by a friend that the Rosary should not be altered. This communication was from a source I don’t quite remember. Has this changed?

 

[Arbovirus]

From what I understand, the Rosary doesn’t have to be said ONLY in one way and never in another way. It is a pious devotion, meditating on the lives of Jesus and Mary. There are numerous variations of the Rosary out there, but the main purpose is meditation and I suppose intercession can be added. After all, we’re asking the Mother of God to pray for us — I’m sure she won’t mind if we add a few phrases to specify certain intentions. Even St. Louis de Montfort had different ways of saying the Rosary and all are valid - provided we pray with attention, piety, hope and love.

I think you can rest assured

 

[suezette]

Thank you. I felt lost yesterday. I actually failed to follow what was going on; and tried to listen keenly. that’s all I could do. Thanks again.

 

[Limoncello4021]

It was probably a prayer group dedicated to praying for priests, and adding the name of a priest helps them to focus on that person. It sounds like a good idea, for that kind of group intention at least.

 

[Todd_Easton]

Pope St. John Paul II was in favor of adding a clause referring to the mystery being contemplated to each Hail Mary Prayer of the Rosary to highlight the name of Jesus:

Pope Paul VI drew attention, in his Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus, to the custom in certain regions of highlighting the name of Christ by the addition of a clause referring to the mystery being contemplated.(37) This is a praiseworthy custom, especially during public recitation. It gives forceful expression to our faith in Christ, directed to the different moments of the Redeemer’s life. It is at once a profession of faith and an aid in concentrating our meditation, since it facilitates the process of assimilation to the mystery of Christ inherent in the repetition of the Hail Mary. (Pope St. John Paul II, 2002 Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae (On the Most Holy Rosary), paragraph 33.)