I stopped praying the rosary when

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The Rosary is a bit more than a ‘habit’. It is an invite into the Holy Mysteries. The Holy Mysteries consist of the events in the life of Christ, mystically present in the very Immaculate Heart of our Blessed Mother. Considering that the Rosary has been given to the Church as a sure means of keeping us close to the very reason that we are Catholics, in the first place, is surely a sign to take notice of, a gift to accept with gratitude, and a sure means, too, of keeping us on the narrow path, and out of the jaws of the lion, who roams around looking for Christians to devour. While it might not be understood as ‘sinful’, to not pray the Rosary, it could be considered neglectful, of God, Our Lady, and of our own souls: of God, because He ordained it; Our Lady, because we belong to her, in God; and our souls, because we ought to do whatever we can to make sure we stay on track to Heaven. Is it not rude to turn down an invite, in any respect, when that invite is from the Highest Heaven with the Holy of Holies, the Ark of the Covenant, the Mother of God?
 
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The rosary didn’t exist for the first millennia or so of Christianity. If it were necessary for our salvation I think Christ might have mentioned it directly to put it on par with the Our Father.

Again, nothing at all wrong with praying the rosary. Pray the rosary. It’s a great spiritual practice. But it’s not the only great spiritual practice, and if people do something else, they’re not necessarily wrong.
 
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p6.htm

'II. DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN

971 “All generations will call me blessed”: "The Church’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship."515 The Church rightly honors "the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of ‘Mother of God,’ to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs. . . . This very special devotion . . . differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration."516 The liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, an “epitome of the whole Gospel,” express this devotion to the Virgin Mary.'
 
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The Our Father also isn’t “necessary for our salvation”, if you want to get technical.

The Rosary also contains 6 Our Fathers.
 
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Fair point. I just meant the Our Father is mandated directly by Jesus.
 
None of that contradicts anything I’ve said. Even the language “such as the rosary” suggests that the rosary is only one example of Marian devotion.
 
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Nope.

The only prayers that are required to be prayed word for word are those prayed by priests when confecting sacraments.

Prayer is talking to God. If you fall asleep, He understands (there is a pious tradition that when one falls asleep while praying a rosary or another formal prayer, your Guardian Angel finishes it for you).
 
The Catechism doesn’t only suggest anything. It clearly states that ‘devotion…is intrinsic’, with the Rosary stated as being one of the ways in which we are to show intrinsically essential devotion (hence, why I highlighted the areas in bold).

You have freewill. You don’t have to do anything. There are some things, however, that we ought to do.
 
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friardchips said:
one of the ways
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Exactly! Not the only possible way.

And yes, of course you have free will. But some things the Church has mandated you must do or commit sin, like attend Mass on the Sabbath unless you have a good reason not to. That’s fundamentally different than a spiritual practice like the rosary which is acknowledged as worthwhile and good but not mandatory. There’s a pretty clear distinction here.
 
You are missing the point. The Catechism does not specify one means of devotion over another (although attending obligatory feast days would presumably come first), and therefore, all are to be considered intrinsic to Christian worship.

(Just received a notice suggesting over-posting, on this thread, so will bow out now, unless invited back by the OP).
 
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I often find myself getting drowsy when praying the rosary. Makes for some interesting Hail Marys and meditations.
 
Is it bad that I love falling asleep whilst praying? I feel the most comforted and at peace than at any other point in the day.

Do you get angry and offended when a child falls asleep in your lap whilst talking to you?

This is a nice illustration:

adam4d.com

Falling asleep while praying - Adam4d.com

Is it bad to fall asleep while praying?
adam4d.com adam4d.com
 
I can’t help but point out that although the Rosary is called a Marian devotion, all the holy mysteries that are meditated on are focused on our Lord Jesus Christ. The only ones focused on Our Blessed Mother alone is her Assumption and her Coronation as Queen of Heaven. And that is how our Lord desired to honor His Mother.

No one knew our Lord better than His Mother, it is like taking her hand as we walk through all the mysteries in our meditation.
 
Just to make this super clear (thought I already did, but just to be 200% sure) I am NOT trying to talk the OP out of praying the rosary. Pray the rosary, by all means. All I was saying is that the rosary is not obligatory, so if someone doesn’t say it/doesn’t finish it for whatever reason, they’re not sinning. I’m by no means saying the rosary isn’t worthwhile or that people shouldn’t do it.
 
friardchips said:
You are missing the point. The Catechism does not specify one means of devotion over another (although attending obligatory feast days would presumably come first), and therefore, all are to be considered intrinsic to Christian worship.

(Just received a notice suggesting over-posting, on this thread, so will bow out now, unless invited back by the OP).
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For the benefit of other readers, it is the devotion itself - the attitude - that alone is intrinsic. Not the particular form(s) of prayer.

Nowhere has the Magisterium mandated that we must pray either the Rosary or any other formal prayer - either to Mary or anyone else - apart from the prayers of the Mass (which prayers refer to the Blessed Mother and so are part of our devotion to her).

St Teresa of Avila had much to say about what she called “mental prayer” (which is informal, and was viewed with some suspicion in her time, at least when employed by women). And there is absolutely nothing wrong if one wants to restrict one’s Marian prayer outside of Mass to informal - even wordlessly contemplative - communication with the Blessed Mother.

Certainly most of us do benefit at least at times from the structure of formal prayer, but it is not to say that it is in any way (outside of the Mass) mandated.
 
Redrose13 said:
Hi,

Last friday night, I was praying the rosary and I was really sleepy. Then, I realized I prayed the 2nd sorrowful mystery on the 3rd decade. I totally messed up. I just finished it and asked pardon to God for what I did and that I couldn’t finish the remaining decades and went to sleep. I promised to pray it the next morning and I did finish it the next day.

Did I commit a sin for messing up with the decades of the rosary and not finishing it?
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The Rosary is just a type of prayer, it is not a liturgy which rubrics you must follow closely. You can start and stop any time with the Rosary. It is not a sin at all. You should be grateful that you are praying. Perhaps next time when you pray, choose a time when you are more alert and fresh, and maybe a nice conducive spot, if possible.

Praying is more for you that it is for God.

God bless.
 
Seeing that you are different poster, I will comment once more on this: there is nowhere that says in explicit terms that praying the Rosary is an obligatory practice - in other words, ‘obligatory’ is not a word used in direct reference to the Rosary; however, the Catechism does state that devotion to Our Lady is ‘intrinsic to Christian worship’ and then goes on to state that liturgical feast days, Marian prayers such as the Rosary, express this devotion. So, please notice the link between:

‘…devotion to the Blessed Virgin is instrinsic to Christian worship…’ and ‘…the Rosary…express this devotion.’

It strongly implies a kind of obligation.

‘Mandatory’ and ‘mandated’ seem to be incorrect words to use in this context of denial as to what is intrinsic expression. St. Dominic was given the task of preaching the Rosary, directly. ‘Mandated’ seems a most applicable word.

The Rosary is made up of Hail Mary’s which are prayers we must give our assent of faith to, just as another poster mentioned the Rosary consists of six Our Fathers, it also contains the epitome of the whole of the Gospels, as well as doxologies; everything in there consists of the tenets of the faith to which we must give our assent.

I was urging a bit on this subject, because sometimes, it seems that people want to point down towards the banal, rather than preach of things in the highest: someone speaks of having lost an appetite for prayer, and so some say: well, don’t bother anyway, you don’t have to etc etc…what?😮 We could say that to everyone about everything and let them just give up. Someone else noticed that. Is it not better to preach with a can-do be-attitude. Why not say: really, yes, pray the Rosary, don’t wait around, it is glorious and amazing and a gift for the Church! - as is Our Lady! How Good is God for giving us all of these great gifts!
 
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