How necessary is it to pray the Rosary and how well should I pray it?

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Harmony

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Right now there is a lot going on in my life and I am struggling with managing everything. I have always had trouble praying the Rosary because it seemed like we ought to pray it well and meditate on the mysteries. Since I am so distracted in general, it is hard for me to even start, because it seems like a huge tThing I Have To Do, if you see what I mean.

I have been listening to EWTN since we moved, but my schedule doesn’t coincide with the Rosary.

Do you think I could just pray it really badly while doing something else? Because I have been skipping it altogether.

Thanks for any advice for this distracted soul!
 
Harmony said:
Right now there is a lot going on in my life and I am struggling with managing everything. I have always had trouble praying the Rosary because it seemed like we ought to pray it well and meditate on the mysteries. Since I am so distracted in general, it is hard for me to even start, because it seems like a huge tThing I Have To Do, if you see what I mean.

I have been listening to EWTN since we moved, but my schedule doesn’t coincide with the Rosary.

Do you think I could just pray it really badly while doing something else? Because I have been skipping it altogether.

Thanks for any advice for this distracted soul!
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If you have a few dollars why not buy a CD or MP3? I have a wonderful musical rosary from https://quietwaters.us/ and I used it to pray all the time. It’s absolutely beautiful. Initially I just had the Luminus misteries CD but then I purchased them all they were so good.
 
Many people prefer praying the Rosary in church with others. If you have the opportunity and your parish arranges those, try that!

Personally, I pray the Rosary alone once every week apprx. and daily when Lent/Advent. I too want to get better at praying it more often, because I know the peace I feel afterwards.
 
Harmony said:
Do you think I could just pray it really badly while doing something else? Because I have been skipping it altogether.
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I’d say yes. Pray the Rosary even though you’re distracted. The important part is that you’re praying.

Why not pray one decade/one Mystery at a time? You concentrate on that Mystery and that one decade and perhaps you won’t feel so overwhelmed and distracted. Then the next time you have a few minutes where things aren’t as hectic, pray another decade. You can use your Rosary or buy a single decade Rosary or a Rosary bracelet.

God Bless!
 
Thanks everyone 🙂 each of you gave great advice and I will be able to use it all since Advent is coming so soon 🙂
 
Hi Harmony,

I get easily distracted as well, so you’re not alone there.

I like to pray it in a group too, because it helps to keep me focused.

If you think that praying in a group with others might help you, you can see if there’s a Rosary group that meets in your parish, where you can pray with them.

Some parishes have a group that meets before one of the weekend Masses.

At one of the parishes that I attended, there was a woman who used to lead the Rosary each Sunday before the 8:30 a.m. Mass on Sunday mornings.

There are YouTube videos that you can also watch where you can pray along with the video, too.

God bless you! 🙂
 
in my personal experience; praying the rosary every day be boring

but at a certain point you start to pay attention & focus on the “mysteries”
 
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When you pray pray as best you can and leave the rest in the hands of the Blessed Virgin.
 
You are not required to say the rosary.
Prayer is conversation.
If you’re seriously spiritually blocked, maybe just say one decade well for a while, then work your way back up to the full five?
Our Blessed mother is very aware of your struggle. She’s not mad at you.
Just do your honest best.
:pray:t2::pray:t2::pray:t2:for you! (On my next rosary, even!)
 
I am not sure if this will help you too. I usually pray the Rosary and other novenas in the morning or noon because if I pray them at night, it is harder for me to focus since I feel sleepy. I tend to recite the prayers fast so I can sleep. You may also want to consider the other suggestions here.
 
Thanks everyone. I am just watching my life fall apart and it is hard for me to focus on praying…
 
I’m sorry you are having trouble, Harmony. I am praying several Rosaries today and will offer one for you.

Please consider if you cannot do a whole rosary, just doing one decade.

If that is too much, then Our Father, three Hail Marys, and the Glory Be, said sincerely, is better than nothing.

I know what you mean about finding it hard to concentrate properly on a Rosary if you are having stress or hectic life. When I am able, I sit nicely with the scriptural rosary or a Youtube video of the Mysteries and I concentrate and do a good job. When I am not able, I just whip through the Rosary quickly, Irish-style (Irish women have a reputation of praying Rosary very fast). Or sometimes I have to skip a day and then make up the days later by saying 15 or 20 decades.
 
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Perhaps this is the best time to focus on prayer!
I find praying along helps severely.
You can go on youtube and look up “(insert mystery) mysteries rosary” and you can find some that are just a little over 15 minutes if you don’t have time!
It is like exercise: sometimes it feels like too much to do, and you don’t want to do it. But it is healthy, and good! I wish I exercised more, but still!

I think you might need prayer more than usual now at this point in your life, when things are hectic!

The key is to get into a habit.
Our Lady of Fatima asked for at least 5 decades a day I believe, and if you truly truly do not have any time, then perhaps consider praying at least the our Father, 3 Hail Marys, and the Glory Be (maybe include the Jesus prayer too).

But also very importantly, mental prayer and conversation with God. Bring all your issues to Him. This can be even just right when going to bed.
God bless
 
I’m a novice, keep that in mind. I don’t have a particularly strong devotion to the blessed mother, but the voice inside me told me to pray the rosary & pray it often.

I’m at the stage now that I’ve given up fighting & resisting so I’m just doing what I’m told.

I’m going on three weeks now & though I don’t think I’m praying perfectly, I can attest that I’m not nearly as distracted as I used to be while praying.

Still, regardless how imperfectly I prayed, peace always follows.
 
I’m currently in a position where I need to say lots and lots of rosaries. I’m using all kinds of different “study aids” to keep my attention more focused. There are many rosary videos on Youtube to pray along with - these can also be speeded up or slowed down with the Youtube controls to match your preferred prayer speed. I like the Fr. Peyton ones that have old movie footage of Jesus and Mary for each mystery. There are many others to choose from.

I also really like the meditation helps at rosary-center.org (the Dominicans site). Here’s the Glorious Mysteries, for an example.
http://www.rosary-center.org/glorious.htm

You can find lots of other free Scriptural Rosary, Rosary meditation, and other Rosary helps on the web. I use all different ones so I don’t get bored looking at the same thing.

Jesus and Mary value our prayers, even when not perfect. A few months ago someone (maybe MariaChristi) told me that when a mom gets a crayon drawing from her 5 year old, she loves it just as much or more than if it were a beautiful work of art. That made me feel better as many of my rosaries are closer to a crayon scribble than a Leonardo da Vinci. I can keep trying to improve but I may never be the Leonardo of prayer.
 
It is not necessary at all.

One could go their entire life without ever praying a single decade of the Rosary, not even owning a Rosary, not even saying a hail Mary, and still reach great heights of sanctity and go straight to heaven at the moment of their death.
 
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Offer your distractions/problems to Mary (often we may find that they ‘chime’ with the mysteries - how often do we feel we’re burdened by worries and quite by accident have only just realised that we’ve ended up at the fourth Sorrowful mystery?) more importantly persevere in prayer. And that means any prayer; for some, the rosary just doesn’t click with them but something like the Jesus Prayer does or making a Holy Hour.

Maybe split the rosary throughout the day, first mystery in the morning, second mid-morning/afternoon, etc.

If it’s any consolation my intention is always to offer a beautiful bouquet of roses to Our Lady, in reality I seem to frequently end up offering a sad bunch of wilted tulips - but as with all good mothers I hope Mary will accept my offering with love.
 
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