Importance of praying the Rosary?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Pluggedin
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
P

Pluggedin

Guest
Hello,

I am a Catholic who has never been one to pray the Rosary and have always thought of it as “unusual” because I feel that I should direct my attention soley on Jesus. The Joyful Mystery, Luminous Mystery, Sorrowful Mystery & Glorious Mystery seem so weird to me to focus on during prayer. Will someone who believes in the benefits of praying the Rosary be kind enough to give me some encouragement in terms of scripture references or just common sense advice as to why this method of prayer is proper and why it’s the main method of prayer for many Catholics?

Thanks so much.
 
Read the mysteries. The are about the life and death of Jesus…Are you not thinking of Jesus when you say the mysteries. It is a meditation of his life. After all, they aren’t talking about anyone else are they?
Prague
 
I used to be the same way. I wondered why people would pray the rosary. I always wondered why my MIL would pray it everyday. I started praying the rosary too. I told the Lord that I wanted to understand and have an open mind and heart. I wanted to feel what everyone else who is devoted to the rosary feel.
Ever since then I have prayed the rosary with alot of passion and love for the Lord. The rosary is all about HIM. His life.
I say open up your heart. Try to understand what the mysteries are all about. Put yourself in that place or that time that the LORD went thru. It might be awkward in the beginning and you might not feel anything. Keep praying though. Don’t let it stop you and before you know it, you WILL feel what we feel in our heart and soul. The rosary is a very powerful prayer!! I will pray that my words came across. 🙂
 
Saying the Rosary is optional.

It is not mandatory.

And if you do say it, you don’t have to meditate on any of the mysteries.

You can meditate on a specific prayer request.

And if don’t like the Rosary because you think it is too Marian Centric then try my Marian/Jesus Centric version.

Instead of

Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us Sinners, now and in the hour of our Death

use this

Holy Jesus, Son of God
Deliver us Sinners, now and in the hour of our Death
 
I have looked at a number of your previous postings. Are you new Catholic? Did you miss CCD classes?

It seems to me that the questions you have historically asked, show a hidden Protestant agenda.

If I am wrong you have my apologies in advance.

But if I am right, please be fair and let pople know your true intentions.
 
JoeyWarren said:
And if you do say it, you don’t have to meditate on any of the mysteries.

You can meditate on a specific prayer request.

And if don’t like the Rosary because you think it is too Marian Centric then try my Marian/Jesus Centric version.

Instead of

Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us Sinners, now and in the hour of our Death

use this

Holy Jesus, Son of God
Deliver us Sinners, now and in the hour of our Death
Click to expand...
not the Rosary…don’t misguide
 
Hey pluggedin,

I also never really prayed the Rosary much. Now I’m totally sold on it! Try searching the internet for “scriptural rosary” or sometimes the little booklets you’ll find at church have Bible verses printed on them…each mystery is scriptural. I used to have a link to a nice one saved, if I find it I’ll post here.

I started saying the Rosary at a bad time in my life. It wasn’t really my idea, I felt urged to get out my old forgotten rosary and pray it one day. The axiom that Mary always points to Jesus is totally true! By praying the rosary, I have grown so much in my faith and grown closer to Christ. Mary doesn’t keep any glory for herself, she presents our prayers to her son.
 
SFLCatholic said:
not the Rosary…don’t misguide
Click to expand...
Baptised Catholic, Confirmed Catholic, Catholic High School, Catholic College, Godfather, Catholic family and friends. I am here for one reason only, to attempt to reconcile with my Catholic faith to the best of my ability. Protestants certainly ask the same questions that I am asking, but unfortunately so do many Catholics. I need answers to my questions and that’s why I am here.

Regards
 
I guess I’m just chiming in to agree with everyone. Out of the 20 Mysteries, 1 is about the Holy Spirit, 2 are about Mary, and 17 are about Jesus. And just think: Every time we say the Hail Mary, right in the middle of it we worship Christ: “And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”

I began praying the Rosary “experimentally,” even as a Protestant (and felt massively weird doing it). But it’s been a great blessing. I think about Christ a lot more now–whenever I think of Mary, in fact. As she said, “Do whatever He tells you.”
 
JoeyWarren said:
A Rosary is a Rosary is a Rosary, by any other name is still a Rosary…

When the rosary was first started, it did not have the same form it does now…

newadvent.org/cathen/13184b.htm

All things evolve…
Click to expand...
The Rosary as it is now is set unless modified by a competent authority. You’re free, however, to make up other chaplets of your own to pray. I have written a chaplet that I pray often. It’s a great prayer, but it is not the Most Holy Rosary.
 
The Rosary is important because it is a meditation on the Gospel through the eyes of the one who knew Jesus best, who followed Him perfectly, who pondered His truth perfectly because she was free from all stain of sin so her reason was not impared.

Here is my very typical story:

St. Pius V, speaking about the results of St. Dominic spreading devotion to the Rosary said:

“Christ’s faithful, inflamed by these prayers, began immediately to be changed into new men. The darkness of heresy began to be dispelled, and the light of the Catholic Faith to be revealed.”

These couple sentences perfectly describe my personal experience with the Rosary. Before, I figured I was a decent Catholic. I went to Mass on Sundays and stayed away from what I figured were the major sins. On the other hand, I did have plenty of grave sins, although I didn’t really acknowledge them. I also never went to Confession–I could just confess to God I figured. My belief in the Real Presence was shaky at best and my understanding of it was worse. I also really had no clue what we believed in general as Catholics, let alone why. For example, I thought the Immaculate Conception referred to Jesus and things like purgatory, the Assumption, Tradition, infallibility, the meaning of the Mass etc., etc. were not even on my radar screen. All in all, I just saw the Catholic Church as just another denomination and religion as a personal preference.

Then a friend of mine was started up a little group at her college to pray the Rosary daily and she asked if I wanted to pray it with them in spirit (since I was in another state). So I decided to give it a shot. Coincidentally, the women’s group at my parish had been handing out free Rosaries and how-to pamphlets the week before and I had picked one up.

Not long after I began praying it daily, my sins began to become quite apparent to me. I also felt this great need to get to confession. I finally got up the nerve and I went (I had not gone in probably ten years–since I was a kid). It was an amazing experience. After that, I began to develop a real aversion to vice. When I did sin, I knew it and I felt real contrition.

I also began to develop this hunger to learn about the faith. I stumbled across some apologetics articles and it hit me that, hey, there might actually being something more here than I thought. From there I was spurred on to read as much as I could from the Scriptures, Fathers, Popes, Councils, Saints–everybody. I couldn’t get enough–and the strange thing was, everything seemed to make perfect sense. The Catholic faith was no longer some abstract idea or personal devotion–it was crystal clear reality. Jesus wasn’t probably real–He was and is real–He is really present in the Blessed Sacrament. I saw Him through the eyes of His mother. My relationship with Jesus went from something abstract and distant, to that of the beloved disciple resting his head on Jesus’ chest. I feel I have been growing in His grace ever since.

Through the Rosary I truly was inflamed and became a new man as the light and spendor of the Catholic faith was revealed http://www3.christianforums.com/images/smilies/saint.gif
 
Genesis315 said:
Not long after I began praying it daily, my sins began to become quite apparent to me. I also felt this great need to get to confession. I finally got up the nerve and I went (I had not gone in probably ten years–since I was a kid). It was an amazing experience. After that, I began to develop a real aversion to vice. When I did sin, I knew it and I felt real contrition.
Click to expand...
:amen:

Maybe “typical” but certainly not ordinary!
 
I have found, in my limited experience, that when I pray the Rosary mindfully, it never, ever fails to provide me with new spiritual insight.

Example: I am a convert, when I first started praying the Rosary (before I’d entered the Church at Easter vigil), I was struggling with some of the Church’s teachings. While meditating on the Presentation at the Temple, it suddenly hit me- both Mary AND Jesus submitted themselves to the Law, though they didn’t need to- Mary, by submitting to the ritual purity laws, though, because of the Immaculate Conception, she wasn’t subject to them, and Jesus, through circumcision. Well, it hit me like a ton of bricks- if Our Lord and Our Lady submitted themselves to the Law, who in the heck was I to not show the same obedience to Christ’s Church?

Example: While meditating on the Agony in the Garden, I suddenly imagined the whole scene from the Apostle’s viewpoint. I was with them, while Jesus suffered. I was with them as they fell asleep from grief. I was with them when they sprung to action, cutting off a soldier’s ear when they came to take Our Lord away. And I realized that I needed to guard myself from this- to make sure I didn’t “fall asleep” in my faith, only to be awakened when someone tried to take it away from me.

I don’t know. When I’m paying attention, and really opening myself up to the mysteries, I am graced with such insights that I find the Rosary a real help to my spiritual journey.

Cheers,
Cari
 
I think once you get all the Rosary prayers memorized and can “relax” while praying it, you’ll soon realize just how Christ centered it can be. I started praying it before I converted and at first it seemed very alien and “mary centered” because I was focusing on the form, words and rhythm. As the prayers became second nature, and I learned more about the purpose of the rosary, I was able to relax and detach from focusing so much on my articulation and form. It allowed me to truly meditate on the mysteries of Christ as I repeated the “Hail Mary” which almost becomes a mantric cadence for me. It’s an extremely relaxing prayer and the purpose of the rosary is to truly mediate on Christ. I never really understood that until I became familiarized and comfortable with all the prayers. So, my main point is that it might take a little while to truly appreciate the rosary. Stick with it and give it a few weeks before forming a judgment.

Here’s an excellent book that helped guide me in the proper way to pray the rosary. There’s essentially an endless amount of spiritual principles and thoughts that you can meditate on throughout the prayers. Someone actually recommended that book to me way back when I was asking questions and it was a great suggestion.
 
cecilia97 said:
:amen:

Maybe “typical” but certainly not ordinary!
Click to expand...
I read St. Alphonsus Liguori’s book “Glories of Mary” and after each section he tells of some individual who’s life was changed drastically by some Marian devotion and I was astonished at how many of the stories sounded exactly like mine! 🙂
 
A meditation on the life of Christ and you feel it’s less than Christocentric? (At least that seems to be what you are saying.) That and most of the prayers coming nearly verbatim from scripture? It seem like you could stand a closer look at the Rosary. I would perhaps suggest a “scriptural Rosary” booklet that will give you a verse of scripture for every prayer. Takes a long time, but it’s worth it.

Why not pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Doesn’t get more Christocentric than that…nor more intercessory.
Pax tecum,
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top