How can I make the rosary more interesting?

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I have pledged through my church to do something “prayerfull” each day of Lent, if not longer. I had never done the rosary and decided to take it up.

I have found that I nearly dread doing it everyday. With a baby I can only really concentrate on doing it while she naps. But then I think of all the other things I need or could be doing. I feel terrible doing this and I know it only takes 15 minutes of my day.

Any suggestions? I don’t want to quit doing the rosary. I just need some ideas to keep it interesting. I don’t want to find myself looking for excuses to not do it.
 
Try the Scriptural Rosary…there are little books with meditations and Scripture passages for each of the mysteries. You can search for meditations online or you can buy the book:

Scriptural Rosary
 
You’ll get a lot of suggestions, but I want to say first that the rosary, indeed any prayer, doesn’t have to be interesting to merit being prayed. I’m sure you know that, but I think it’s good to remind ourselves of that every now and then.

Instead of trying to make the rosary interesting to you (a subjective goal you may never achieve), just do it out of love of God and no other motive. Just sit yourself down with it and pray it. Don’t worry if your mind wanders–make your wanderings a part of your prayer. In time you will learn to discipline your mind so that you no longer do wander, but for now, don’t worry about it.

Use a scriptural rosary aid or some other such help, if you want to, but don’t go into it expecting to get anything out of it. It isn’t what you get out of it that matters but the fact that you set aside that time to give something back to God that does. 😉
 
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Sanctus:
Try the Scriptural Rosary…there are little books with meditations and Scripture passages for each of the mysteries. You can search for meditations online or you can buy the book:

Scriptural Rosary
Click to expand...
Co-signed. That can’t be recommended highly enough.
 
I avoided the Rosary for years, it was only after reading this book that I understood the reason why I should say it, one being the devil hates it and wants you to give it up, that’s reason enough for me.

If you join a Confraternity your only required to say 15 decades a week, don’t know if that’s changed with the new mysteries, plus you have other people worldwide praying for you, and you them.

Knowing why your saying it might help. Here

Saint Louis explains in the book about the wanderings of the mind and how to deal with it, I don’t think it’s in the link.
 
You can try this:

From a Catholic bookstore (or the web) you can get pictures of the various mysteries. There are pamphlets out there with the pictures, but you can also get them 4" x 6" (photo sized). Put them into a pocket-sized photo album (i.e., 4" x 6"), and then look at the pictures as you say each decade. It really helps you focus.

Then, as you say it, meditate on the life of Christ as seen through the eyes of Mary. As a mother, you’ll be able to do this much better than I can. If you see it all through her eyes, you’ll gain a unique perspective.

Hope that helps.
 
During Lent, maybe the Holy Spirit desires this prayer time be a sacrificial gift as penance. He knows what is best for all of us.
 
I am not sure if this will make it more interesting or not but it sure helped me learn it, not lose my place, and stay more focused. I joined the church last Easter and had a tough time learning the rosary because my husband would go so fast when we did it as a family. Also, I had a hard time figuring out which mysteries to say when. I felt like I was flipping through my little rosary book like a madwoman. I ended up finding a program that I could download from the Internet that you can say the rosary with. It is great because you can set it up to come up when you boot up your computer the first time everyday. This is a nice little reminder to start your day with the rosary. Also, it tells you which mysteries to focus on as well as scripture readings to go along with it. You can also have it play background music. The other nice thing is that if you have kids and get interupted, you can get up tend to the kids and go back to where you left off without having to start over. You can download it for free at: virtualrosary.org/

It has been great for me because I am a beginner and I get easily distracted.
 
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bobtails:
I have pledged through my church to do something “prayerfull” each day of Lent, if not longer. I had never done the rosary and decided to take it up.

I have found that I nearly dread doing it everyday. With a baby I can only really concentrate on doing it while she naps. But then I think of all the other things I need or could be doing. I feel terrible doing this and I know it only takes 15 minutes of my day.

Any suggestions? I don’t want to quit doing the rosary. I just need some ideas to keep it interesting. I don’t want to find myself looking for excuses to not do it.
Click to expand...
You could do what my friend with small children does-- she only prays one decade at a time, and over the course of the day completes all 5 decades for one set of mysteries.

Scriptural rosaries are good, and also there are Rosaries on tape/CD that you could get. There’s an online Rosary site too that will play music and walk through the prayers.
 
My sister in law got me the most help for me ever…a dvd with beautiful pictures of each mystery. She also added the voices of our three God children praying along. I love using it. I only have the joyful mysteries so far but she has promised me that she will do the rest.
She is such a blessing.
 
Close your eyes and visualize yourself being there at each of the events… do it as a movie… with not a static image, but as the actual events unfolded… you become an impartial observer … you can freeze frame from time to time and actually visualize yourself walking around and through the events…

Near a place where I used to work was a Catholic church that had a life size set of the Stations of the Cross… in bronze, set in the wall of the church building… and that wall was stained glass. You could actually walk the life size stations. And touch them. On the appropriate day, I would say the Sorrowful Mysteries and walk the Stations… it was late in the day and there never was anyone around… It wouldn’t have bothered me, even if there was… and even though it was years ago, I can still reach up and touch the stations…
 
what will do the most to make the rosary more relevant and more essential is raising your children. Parents especially mothers need the rosary, as you become closer to our Lady, and through her to her Son, you come to rely on her more as a Mother. This will happen especially when your child is ill, hurt, in danger or other difficulties. I returned to the rosary when my kids were in a car accident and really got turbo-charged one summer when DD was running wild as I meditated for 4 straight months on the 5th joyful mystery, Jesus lost in Jerusalem and being found.
 
For me and my homeschool children (9 & 7), we pray 1 decade at a time. It allows me to be able to focus just on that mystery and not everything else I need to do. We do a decade after each subject and then complete the rosary with our own prayers each day. I suggest you try different ideas, but do keep with it. Wandering thoughts are normal and Mary knows you have many things to do as a mother, but she appreciates the time you give to her and her Son.
 
JohnnyK - a regular member told me about a rosary guide found at www.rosary-center.org that helps someone new to this devotion focus on each Mystery with little distraction and obtain some meaning from each individual statement incorporated in the Mystery. Believe me, perserve, and Our Lady will give you many graces. God Bless
 
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