I hate praying, especially the rosary. Help me!

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First, I agree with the advice to limit yourself to one decade each day. It’s much less of a task, and you will have the chance to begin to love it that way.

Also, if you are praying for a specific intention, you can try to relate the mysteries to the intention you’re praying for. For example, this year is the Year of the Priest. I’ve been praying a lot for priests, sometimes using the Rosary. The Joyful Mysteries work really well for this:

The Annunciation: May priests always say yes to God’s will as Mary did.
The Visitation: May they have a spirit of service as Mary did going to Elizabeth.
The Nativity: May they always bring Christ to earth for us.
The Presentation: May they always obey the laws of the Church.
The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple: If they lose their way, may they always find themselves back in the Church.

You can do similar things with your own intentions and the other mysteries. Hope this helps a little!

Betsy
 
I often have trouble saying the rosary also. I find it works better when we say it as a family. The children take turns reading the appropriate scripture or a brief meditation at the start of each decade. That helps keep me focused.

As many have said, the rosary is a beautiful and powerful prayer; however, it is still private revelation and it is not required that any one say it every day (or even ever at all). If you find your prayer life developing more with chaplets, novenas, or other prayers, then that is perfectly alright. Try some of the wonderful helps that others on this thread have given you, but know that it is OK to simply not say it, or not say it very often.
 
allhers said:
👍
You are on your way to understanding the answers you seek in reading his book True Devotion to Mary.

It won’t be long until you delight in praying the Most Holy Rosary. God bless you!
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Wouldn’t ‘The Secret of the Rosary’, also (I believe) by St Louis de Montfort, be more appropriate?
 
I’ll throw in another vote for if the rosary isn’t working and something else is, go with it. I sometimes pray the rosary, but I’ve never been very consistent with it. For awhile, I prayed it every Sunday, for awhile, one of two decades a day, and sometimes not at all. The Liturgy of the Hours, however, I love! I’ve prayed it almost every day (only missing a couple when I was really sick) for a year and a half now, and that is the most consistent I’ve been with praying anything, ever.

There are a bazillion different devotions and prayers and ways to pray out there for Catholics, these is no way any of us could do all of them. So pick which one that works for you and connects you to God and don’t worry about if it is what works for other people.
 
For me, the five-decade rosary flows easily when I’m in a group, but it becomes really hard work when I’m on my own.

Here’s a suggestion: perhaps try the Rosary of the Infant Jesus of Prague. It’s a lovely meditation on the childhood of Jesus, and is much shorter than a traditional rosary. I use this as my daily rosary now, and enjoy praying it; I find it a lot easier to maintain focus when I’m not aware of having thirty-five beads left to go!

Here are the prayers:
mysticalroses.org/Infant%20Jesus%20Prague%20Rosary.htm
 
LilyM said:
Wouldn’t ‘The Secret of the Rosary’, also (I believe) by St Louis de Montfort, be more appropriate?
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👍

Yes, that is written by him too. But since they said that they are already reading
True Devotion to Mary, I think its best that they do the consecration first and then read that one. All and any books by Saints are awesome!!
 
You know, to be honest (and I hate to say this) I go through very regular periods of feeling similar.

What keeps me going is that once I heard a priest say that this is ONE OF THE MOST powerful weapons against evil and that that is the reason why WE feel like we get nothing out of this and that that is the reason we feel so lazy when it comes to praying the Rosary. He said this is THE MOST POWERFUL tool we have and that the devil WILL get us to thinking so negatively and being lazy so that WE WON’T pray the Rosary since it is THE MOST POWERFUL gift that we have been given. Be careful not to fall and give the enemy what he is wanting. One suggestion is to pray a decade of the Rosary for God to give you deep devotion to this WONDERFUL too that we’ve been given.

I will be praying for you. Please pray for me to. 😉

Blessings :highprayer:
 
I truly admire and appreciate your honesty, and I have no doubt that our Blessed Mother does as well. On the surface, the Rosary does seem repetitive and boring. As has been pointed out in the posts here, it really does help to read Louis de Montfort’s books. Also, I found a really good website that helps on concentrating on the Mysteries of the Rosary. The Rosary, when said all together, tells the entire story of our Lord’s life, and there is so much to learn from it. Go to this website and click on the various links to the Mystery. You will see that there is a meditation for each Hail Mary for all 4 Mysteries. My husband and I use it all the time, and I have come to truly love it.

rosary-center.org/howto.htm

I do hope you will keep persevering in the Rosary because it is a wonderful devotion and truly filled with graces. As someone here posted, it’s not how you feel that is important, but what you do.

God bless you, and please let us know how you progress.

Mary
 
First of all, you need not feel any guilt. The Rosary, while the most wonderful of prayers, is not everyone’s cup of tea. While there is some merit to the suggestion that you might want to “soldier on” with the rosary, you can accept the fact that people respond differently to different kinds of prayers.

There are different prayer styles for different kinds of temperaments. I had an evaluation a few years ago, and was told that I am best suited for the “Ignatian” prayer life.

Check out this website. It may give you a clue as to the “best” type ot prayer for your personality and temperament. It can’t hurt.

msgr.ca/msgr-3/personalitytypeprayers.html

Pray for me while you are at it. 🙂
 
AP4Him said:
I have no problem praying before meals, morning prayer, and at bedtime. I can also read spiritual books all day. But I really struggle with setting aside truly meaningful contemplative prayer time. I strive to say a rosary daily. I also would like to work in the divine chaplet and divine office, which somehow is more fulfulling and easier than the rosary for me. Anyhow…here is my problem…

I hate praying the rosary. It is such a struggle. I get NOTHING out of it. The entire time, I have to stop, asking for mercy and for the Holy Spirit to help me, because my mind wanders. Even when I can focus on the mystery, I get no insight there. Really, I hate it. I know that sounds awful, but I am being brutally honest because I really want to do better. When I do manage to say it daily, I feel like it is such a hoax. Like I am just doing something entirely outward with no inner spiritual insight or graces attached, because of how dry and meaningless it is for me. 😦 It is like folding laundry. I don’t know what to do. I switched to the DC, but I felt guilty because it is quicker, and less to think about, which is a lazy solution. So, I am back to trying to get this rosary recited daily.

I say it out of duty, and I have tremendous guilt over how I feel. I know that I should say it even if God does not bestow me with grace and wisdom from reciting it. I don’t expect that of Him, and I know that everyone experiences spiritual dryness. I just don’t want to dread this time in prayer. I don’t want to hate it. I love God so dearly, so how can I feel so awfully about the prayer the BVM desires us to recite? 😦

What am I supposed to do? How can I get over this? Thanks in advance.

I have been reading Merton, and started ‘when the well runs dry.’ I also sought some advice from my Priest. Please help me!
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I have felt the same aridity countless times and I feel for you. Don’t worry about not “feeling” - God is most concerned with your faith. In other words, “do it anyway”, especially if it’s hard! You need to show Him (and yourself) that you pray as well as you can, as He’s told you how to pray. Not that you have wonderful meditations or contemplations each time, not because He gives you consolations, but because you believe.
Also, before praying, ask the Holy Spirit to pray for you. And ask Mary to make your prayers presentable to Him. Then, don’t feel guilty - all He can ask is you do the best you can. Remember St. Therese often fell asleep praying the Rosary, but knew that parents love their children just as much asleep as awake. He loves that you try to pray the Rosary even when it isn’t fulfilling to you, just because you believe. Remember Mother Teresa had only aridity at prayer for over 40 years. Did that stop her?
 
brigid12 said:
Remember Mother Teresa had only aridity at prayer for over 40 years. Did that stop her?
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Oh my gosh, that’s scary.

Thanks for telling me, though! If I ever experienced aridity for anywhere near that long, I’d be seriously wondering if I’m doing something wrong :eek:. Now I know God sometimes puts people through such things. That’s scary, but I’m glad to know!
 
AP4Him said:
I hate praying the rosary. It is such a struggle. I get NOTHING out of it. The entire time, I have to stop, asking for mercy and for the Holy Spirit to help me, because my mind wanders. Even when I can focus on the mystery, I get no insight there. Really, I hate it. I know that sounds awful, but I am being brutally honest because I really want to do better. When I do manage to say it daily, I feel like it is such a hoax. Like I am just doing something entirely outward with no inner spiritual insight or graces attached, because of how dry and meaningless it is for me. 😦 It is like folding laundry. I don’t know what to do. I switched to the DC, but I felt guilty because it is quicker, and less to think about, which is a lazy solution. So, I am back to trying to get this rosary recited daily.
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If you only pray because of what you get out of it, then it seems to me that is at least part of your problem. Consider your prayer a special gift offered to the BVM and our Lord Jesus, just as it would be a special gift for you to go out of the way to do something you particularly dislike doing for a spouse or a parent as a sign of your love. The agony in the garden clearly shows us that Jesus wasn’t jumping up and down in excitement screaming “PICK ME! PICK ME!” when it came time for the cross - He didn’t want it. He did it out of love for us.
 
canne said:
The prayers involved in th rosary are meditations. When Catholics recite the twelve prayers that are the rosary, they meditate on the mystery associated with that decade. If they merely recite the prayers, whether vocally or silently, they’re missing the essence of the rosary. Which clearly you are. It isn’t just a recitation of prayers, but a meditation on the grace of God.

It is quite clear from your post that you see the rosary as simply something to get through.

Quality matters. When repetition is used, meditation is important so that our prayers do not become meaningless. Others may disagree with me but I say, then stop. Pray in ways that are meaniningful to you, find other ways to honor Our Lord’s Mother and in your prayers ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart to the rosary if that is what you desire, the rosary can indeed be a form of beautiful, meaningful meditation.

Read Expressions of Prayer in the Cathecism scborromeo.org/ccc/p4s1c3a1.htm
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I struggle with the rosary as well. I know that meditation is key. However, the meditations can get repetetive as well. In my case, I have a difficult time with vocal prayer and visualizing a scene at the same time.
I’ve come to the realization that, though I dislike praying the rosary, the best reason to say it is because our Mother likes it.
 
I got nervous when reading your post’s topic. You don’t “hate praying”…you just have difficulty doing it. And when that happens during the Rosary, you actually stop to ask the Holy Spirit for help. That’s wonderful. The point is YOU TRY. It’s the effort / intention / desire to succeed, I’d think.

You put me to shame. (I won’t tell you how low on the scale I am in daily prayer.) But I DO begin my day with The Sign of the Cross, The Morning Offering and personal prayer for deceased. I’m always tired - and while the intention may be there, the action isn’t. Not to mention television being an easy distraction. :o

Point being - You TRY - therefore, you’ve begun to SUCCEED.
God and Our Lady are watching you - most likely pleased with you and
may They Bless you.
 
Hello,

A few years ago a priest was visiting Mother Angelica’s TV show…and his ministry was to go around the world promoting the Rosary. There was a question & answer call-in session, and one woman shared that she felt so guilty about her mind wandering when doing the Rosary – that she was sorry for doing “bad Rosaries”.

The priest explained that the only “bad Rosary” is the one that isn’t said. He said that – simply because you wish to do the Rosary, that – in itself – is a prayer (that desire).

I’ve experienced the same thing you have…mind wandering all over creation when I do the Rosary. God knows how we’re made up. He knows that we’re only human and that we can fail to pray perfectly sometimes.

Just ask the Holy Spirit to give you the inspiration you need when you’re praying the Rosary.

Also, be sensitive to everything around you when you’re doing your Rosary. Sometimes God uses smells, sights, sounds, etc, going around in the background – to give us the deepest insights into the mystery that we’re praying at that moment.

Just desire with your heart to do a good job…and it will be beautiful in God’s eyes.

God bless you!
John
 
Pray during a movie or while listening to music. Enjoy and the contemplation comes. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself. You don’t have to pray all the time, just be mindful.
 
I have struggled with this same thing for a long time. In April I went to Austria to visit my brother and his family, he’s going to school ever there, while I was there I went to the Byzantine liturgy with them. In the Byzantine church they have a devotion to Mary called the Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos. Right before I went to the Akathist, we took a trip to Mariazell and while I was there, I asked Mary to either help me want to say the Rosary more or give me some other way to honor her. Then I went to the Akathist and I knew that this is how I was going to honor Mary, because I love to sing and it’s not the same thing over and over. I hope you pray about it before you decide to pray this way, because it may not be for everyone and maybe the Lord and Mary want to teach you something with the Rosary but I would encourage you to consider this as a way to honor Mary.

JMJ+
~Betsy

Totus tuus Maria!
 
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