How does the Rosary work?

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I live in an apartment building and there is a group hosted where they pray the Rosary every Monday morning. I went with a friend this past Monday because I want to understand the Rosary better. I was welcomed to join them and they gave me one and explained the prayers as I did my best to do them, where I was the only one there who was clueless, and they gave me a few pamphlets to read. One is lending me a book that explains the Catholic church better and I plan on attending weekly. How does it work?

I talked to a Catholic friend of mine about it and she said that it takes time. The prayers are confusing.
 
The Rosary is one big prayer made up of a series of individual prayers. The main prayers are
  • the Our Father, which is from the Bible - it’s the prayer Jesus taught to his apostles and said when you pray to God the Father, pray like this.
  • the Hail Mary, which is also mostly from the Bible - the first half is what the angel said to Mary when he came to announce to Mary that she would bear the son of God, and the second half is asking Mary to pray to God on our behalf.
  • the Glory Be, which is just giving glory to the three persons of the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit).
Do you have any more specific questions about stuff you don’t understand about the Rosary?
 
From what I read in a book, Catholics honor Mary, is that correct? If so, does the Hail Mary prayer honor her as Jesus’s mother?
 
How long would I need to do these prayers before I get the hang of them, also?
 
Ogie_Reeves said:
From what I read in a book, Catholics honor Mary, is that correct? If so, does the Hail Mary prayer honor her as Jesus’s mother?
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Yes, Mary is always honored as Jesus’ mother and also as our intercessor with God. By “intercessor” we mean that while we pray directly to God ourselves, we can also ask Mary to pray for us to God and pray with us to God, and in this way help us.

I think you could probably get the hang of the prayers in a few weeks if you did them regularly. Most Catholics start out by just learning the Our Father and the Hail Mary and the Glory Be as stand-alone prayers. Then as they get older they learn to say them in a certain order for the Rosary.
 
Just keep at it. It won’t take long at all to get the prayers down, then you can focus your meditations on the mysteries. It is a good thing to meditate on the important events in the life of Jesus. The rosary is the first “Catholic” thing I learned.
 
My Catholic friend was pretty surprised (in a good way) when I told her that I attempted to pray the Rosary, so I think I made her day.
 
It is always a pleasant surprise when someone wants to learn the Rosary. Many Catholics don’t even say it because they can’t be bothered or they find it “boring”. But I think the more rosaries said, the better.
 
Do you have a smart phone? There are some really good free rosary apps.
 
Ogie_Reeves said:
I live in an apartment building and there is a group hosted where they pray the Rosary every Monday morning. I went with a friend this past Monday because I want to understand the Rosary better. I was welcomed to join them and they gave me one and explained the prayers as I did my best to do them, where I was the only one there who was clueless, and they gave me a few pamphlets to read. One is lending me a book that explains the Catholic church better and I plan on attending weekly. How does it work?

I talked to a Catholic friend of mine about it and she said that it takes time. The prayers are confusing.
Click to expand...
http://www.themostholyrosary.com/15promises.htm
 
wow, you are taking such an important step in your prayer life

there are so many resources out there that can help you understand the rosary

you can watch father pacwa every morning on his “holy land” rosary series on EWTN television

my favorite rosary website is

http://www.comepraytherosary.org/

there, you can pray live w/ people praying the rosary globally around the clock

i will pray for your journey…
 
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There are two main prayers. One is the Lord’s prayer, that he taught us to pray, so most Christians allready know that.

The other prayer is the Hail Mary. It begins with the angelic greeting, the words addressed to Mary by the Archangel Gabriel. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. It continues with the words of Elizabeth when Mary came to visit her. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. These phrases are exclamations of joy and wonder at meeting Mary, the Mother of God.

In The Karate Kid, Mr Miyagi has his student wax his cars, as the first step in learning karate. The endless repetition of wax on, wax off builds up a physical memory that becomes the basis for the fighting style. In the same way, repeating these expressions of joy and wonder buld up your greeting ‘muscles.’ When you meet someone, your reaction will be to see them as the angel sees, the lord is with you. Blessed are you. This wondering recognition is the basis for love. The more we pray, the more we practice being happy when we greet someone, the more we learn the positive approach toward others that Jesus taught us.

That is how I feel it worked for me, pushing me to accept the presence of others with joy. I am sure it affects other is different ways; this is just one way that it works.
 
Try reading St. Louis De’Montfort’s book The Secret of the Rosary, it is very informative, and gives ways to say the Rosary in the back of the book.
 
I read - in the book " The Pilgrim Makes His Way " -
He had rosary beads - out in Russia - the wilderness -
no one was around for miles -
and a wolf came at him -
his only line of defense was to throw the rosary at it !
it caught the wolf around the neck and entangled it it a bush -

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
The rosary is also meant to be a meditative prayer. When you pray each decade, (The Lords Prayer and the Hail Marys, you can think about the mystery ((Subject)) that the person leading the rosary announces.) There are four sets of 5 mysteries which correspond to the days of the week. Monday and Saturday are the Joyous Mysteries, Tuesday and Friday are the Sorrowful Mysteries, Wednesday and Sunday are the Glorious Mysteries, and Thursday are the Luminous Mysteries. You can pray any mysteries on any day, but people who pray the rosary daily use the above as a guide.

Your friends can explain them to you. They are all things that you know from the bible, and most are from the gospels.

I think I would start by reading a pamphlet before reading the books. Don’t overwhelm yourself.
 
Hardly unusual, and pretty basic. Also very orthodox. But let’s let the inquirer decide, eh? He might even try the Crown Rosary, with seven decades and an Ave for every year of Mary’s life! He might decide to pray the beautiful and easy St. Michael Chaplet, or use Jesus Prayer beads. Or a combination, praying the standard Rosary with the group and praying the others on his own. Such variety helps prevent aridity, imho.
 
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