Keeping concentration when praying the rosary

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Chrismasfetus

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I want to strengthen my prayer life, but I always have the hardest time with praying the rosary!! My mind wanders a lot, and I find myself repeating an entire decade because of my lack of concentration … :banghead: It is really frustrating!

I would love to have a stronger devotion to the rosary, but I just have trouble keeping focus. Do any of you have suggestions on how to stay more focused on praying the rosary? Thanks 🙂
 
I had the same problem and really didn’t like saying the rosary for that reason. I found Virtual Rosary and my problem was solved. Just enter Virtual Rosary into Google and follow the directions.

The Rosary isn’t supposed to be just repetition of Hail Marys over and over. The Hail Marys act as a sort of mantra to keep distractions out of our mind while we meditate on the mystery we are saying. Virtual Rosary gives a picture and a passage from scripture to meditate on.

Aid to Church in Need ( find via Google) produce a beautiful Rosary Book which costs almost nothing.

Hope that helps. 🙂
yin
 
Pauline Books publishes a nice little paperback with Eastern icons for contemplating each of the mysteries: The Rosary: Contemplating the Face of Christ.
 
Just wanted to let you know that everyone has problems concentrating while praying. I heard Dr. Ray say on his show (Catholic radio) that he views his success (at praying) as how many times he pulled himself back from wandering. We’re human… it happens. I do believe that the last few people who responded had a very good suggestion, however. It does help to even have a small passage to contemplate before starting the decade and a picture to look at to keep your focus on the mystery.

Also, there is a CD that I found that may be of some assistance. It’s called “Through Her Eyes: A Journey to Jesus” by Mark Mallett. The way this rosary CD has been made makes it nearly impossible to lose focus on the mystery. You can listen to a few tracks on this website. Listen to “Crucifixion” on Disc 2 and you’ll hear what I mean. God bless! catholicmusicnetwork.com/cmn_cd_detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=50452
 
I enjoy a pamphlet called “Praying the Rosary with St. Louis de Montfort” which you can order from a Catholic bookstore or Montfort publications online. It has a brief meditation for each Hail Mary and THAT has helped me tremendously. Also booklets of “Scriptural rosaries” are helpful for the same reason as they usu. have a verse you read before each Hail Mary to help you concentrate on the mystery. When I don’t use something like that, I find half a decade goes by and my mind is light years away. 😦
 
You do not say if you mediate on the mysteries, if not doing so should help. Beyond that a prayer before you start to clean your heart and mind of distracting thoughts might help. Also don’t give up the Lord rewards perserverance. If you continue to try you will get better 👍
 
Hello Denise,

And God bless you and your efforts!

Staying “recollected” during prayer is a sturggle at times. I suggest you “offer up” your distractions and let it go at that. Everyone who takes their prayer life seriously will be distracted from time to time.

Shoot I remember watching the events of 9/11 and being so upset that I had no idea where I was in my Rasry at times. I just thank God that my first reaction upon getting the news of the event that my Rosary was the first thing I reached for and I know that as the hours passed I had been praying constantly. I wasn’t exactly concerned with a well-said and recollected prayer at that time. Do you see what I mean?

I can also suggest that you read more of the stories of the saints and find out for yourself just how “distracted” some where at times.

For anyone who loves God and tries to make that spiritual connection during his or her prayer time, it isn’t easy when we can’t get where we want to each time we pray. It is an act of love to keep trying in spite of the struggle. The Ascent of Mt. Carmel isn’t always easy, but well worth the climb! May God bless your hiking boots! 👍

Peace and all good,

Thomas2
 
I’m just curious but, are you new or fairly new to praying the rosary? I ask this because when I first started a couple of years ago I had the hardest time making it meaningful and focusing on the mysteries.

One way that I fixed this was using the Virtual Rosary. I second Yin’s suggestion on trying that. It helped work for me. The other, at least when it came to the Sorrowful mystery, was reading The Dolorous Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. I see more of what I read in the book than from the movie The Passion.

Lots and lots of practice is all I can say. I won’t say how long it took me but I finally got it down to where maybe my mind wanders no more then two or three Hail Mary’s.

Good luck :gopray:
 
St Terese had this problem and said that these distractions can be offered up and it is these distractions that can help lead to stronger Rosary prayer. If you are really trying to concentrate while praying the Rosary and you are dedicated enough to say it regularly, then you will have success. I have heard that the book “Dark Night of the Soul” by St John of the Cross addresses this and many other things that we commonly experience in prayer and meditation, however I have not found a translation in that book that I can really follow.

As others have posted, having something to look at or meditate on visually helps.
 
One of the biggest helps is to realize that the intention of the prayer is what really matters. God - and the Blessed Virgin - understand that we often become distracted in prayer, or at Mass, or anywhere we’re attempting to do something spiritual. Many a saint have remarked that the Enemy is active during these times, in an effort to keep us from benefitting fully.

So keep at it, and don’t allow yourself to get too frustrated. My mind wanders during the Rosary, too, and for a long time I doubted its effectiveness in my prayer routine. Now, if I fail to say it, it’s because of laziness. But no matter what you’re problem while you’re offering the Rosary, realize that God understands and that your effort is precisely what he asks for.

As I have heard from others, if you are persistent, the problem will go away.
 
I used to think that my lack of concentration meant that my prayers “didn’t count”, but I found this quote on the vocation.com website which might be helpful: … promise Christ you will be faithful. Then, even if you have to struggle with distraction or tiredness, God will be working. Sometimes our heartfelt effort pleases Him more than an easy victory."
 
My favorite prayer book is called Ten Series of Meditations on the Mysteries of the Rosary by Rev. John Ferraro. Before each Hail Mary it has a quote or saying from a saint, the Bible, or other spiritual work which you can read/meditate on. It gives you plenty to think about while you’re praying.
 
Well, here’s another vote for the Virtual Rosary. It’s great for keeping one focused!

Another tool is a tiny book available from Christianica called the Spiritual Rosary
1807 Prairie Street
PO Box 685
Glenview, IL
60025

It’s a great tool, with nice pics and a verse before each prayer.

I had(and still occasionally do have) the same problem with concentration, and a priest told me that I should incorporate the distractions into the prayer, including them in the intentions, and offering them up.
 
You shouldn’t worry about the repetition of the “Hail Marys”, or on saying the Rosary perfectly (as if you skip a prayer, or add one too many) The focus, through the repetition of the prayers, is on the mysteries. For instance, The first sorrowful mystery is Christ in the Garden of Gethsemene. Focus on his fear. Fear of death, pain, and his fear of his perfect sacrifice not making a difference in the world. What are your own fears? Anxiety is something we can all relate to. Fear is something we all go through. We are similar in the fact that Christ was a man and human. I have to align my sufferings with those of Christ in order to truly understand them. When I do, I discover something new, something about him I hadn’t thought of. I don’t think we need to focus on the picture in our rosary book and try to meditate on that frozen image. I think we need to walk with him as a man, and kneel beside him as he suffers. Hold his hand. Imagine that. Help him to get through a night of internal suffering, stay awake with him as the disciples did not. I think I have learned much from this, and still do. If you have trouble identifying, try reading descriptive texts on the events/mysteries. The Poem of the Man God has great descriptions of the passion. But there are numerous books by saints as well, that describe Mary’s obedience to God as in the Joyful Mysteries, or about the Resurrection, as in the Glorious Mysteries.

Paint a picture for yourself and it will be easier. Certain mysteries still elude me and sometimes I am quite distracted, but as in the other responses, we have to perservere, and just offer it up.
 
And sometimes we find that God Himself chooses to distract us from what we wanted to pray on to lead us to other pastures.

Sometimes a distraction is a good thing.😃
 
You know in cloistered convents and monasteries, the sisters, brothers, and monks walk back and forth while praying. I started doing this and the rhythm did seem to help me to concentrate. It’s especially nice this time of year when I can walk behind my flower garden and pray.

God bless,
oremus
 
Hi Christine:

I found a book several years ago to help in concentrating on the mysteries of each roasray decade. For instance, if you are praying the ‘Joyful Mysteries’ the first mystery is the Annunciation, so when you say ‘Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee, Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus’ at this point, you say ‘whom thou has concieved’ Holy Mary. . .and so on. Do this for each of the remaining Hail Mary’s in the first decade. Each decade for each of the mysteries has a little phrase to help keep you focused on that particular mystery. If you would like a list, email me, I’d be happy to list them out for you.
 
For all of you who offered your suggestions in this thread, THANK YOU!!! :rotfl: There have been times where I used pictures and pieces from Scripture to help me meditate on the mysteries. I have a little handbook of prayers that has pictures and Scripture readings for each of the mysteries. They’ve helped me a lot in keeping my concentration, although I still have found myself thinking about other things instead of focusing on the picture and the mystery. Perserverance and patience are definitely necessary in helping me overcome this little “problem”.
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Angelica:
I’m just curious but, are you new or fairly new to praying the rosary? I ask this because when I first started a couple of years ago I had the hardest time making it meaningful and focusing on the mysteries.

Lots and lots of practice is all I can say. I won’t say how long it took me but I finally got it down to where maybe my mind wanders no more then two or three Hail Mary’s.

Good luck :gopray:
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I’ve prayed the Rosary since I was a little kid (maybe about 5) with my family, but I just recited the Rosary throughout all the years, not really prayed it. I just repeated the Hail Marys, Our Fathers, and Glory Be’s, but really didn’t concentrate or even think about the prayers.

About 2 - 3 years ago, I finally understood that you’re supposed to ***meditate * ** on each of the mysteries… after so many years of just allowing my mind to wander during the Rosary, pretty much training myself on how NOT to pray the rosary, I am still finding it very hard to get myself to meditate on each of the mysteries. The mysteries that I have less problems meditating on are the Sorrowful mysteries. The way Christ’s Passion was portrayed in “The Passion of the Christ” and the Stations of the Cross reflections help me alot in my meditation.

I’ve also been told by priests to offer up my struggles in prayer… I find myself doing that many times! I’ll continue to work on my concentration on the Rosary… thank you all once again for your suggestions! Perfect practice makes perfect!
 
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