Meditating in the Rosary

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CutlerB

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Dear community,

I am so happy to finally have a Rosary and I intend praying it the first time tonight. It’s a lovely one with a Benedictine Cross and a Saint Benedict Medal, I really love it.

Now, I’m not quite sure what the meditation on the Mysteries involves. What exactly is one to do during the ten Hail Marys? I mean sure, of course think about them, but what exactly should I be thinking about? I’d be happy if you could give me some help with this.

On the side: Do I have to say the Hail Marys during the meditation, or can I leave them for before/afterwards? (I find it somewhat difficult and distracting to meditate and concentrate on praying simultaneously.)

God bless you all.
 
Don’t overthink it, is my advice. Do what works for you, there aren’t a bunch of rules.
 
CutlerB said:
Dear community,

I am so happy to finally have a Rosary and I intend praying it the first time tonight. It’s a lovely one with a Benedictine Cross and a Saint Benedict Medal, I really love it.

Now, I’m not quite sure what the meditation on the Mysteries involves. What exactly is one to do during the ten Hail Marys? I mean sure, of course think about them, but what exactly should I be thinking about? I’d be happy if you could give me some help with this.

On the side: Do I have to say the Hail Marys during the meditation, or can I leave them for before/afterwards? (I find it somewhat difficult and distracting to meditate and concentrate on praying simultaneously.)

God bless you all.
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So far the advice given has been pretty good. Don’t over-think it, try to picture the meditation in your head… and sometimes, I offer a prayer of how the mystery applies in my own life. For example, I may say something in my head before the ‘Hail Mary’s’ like “Sweet and loving Mary, you willingly said yes to be the mother of God. Pray for me that I might be a mother as loving, as willing and as obedient as you.” Or "Jesus, you rose from the dead that we might have life. Help me to live fully and joyfully!" You know, something like that corresponding to whatever mystery I am on.

It’s all a personal thing. Do what works best for you. 🙂
 
Here is an excellent Dominican site (info/link below)…under "Rosary Tab " at top of pg…“How to pray Rosary”…(basics of how to pray it…basic prayers)…then open a page with links for each set of Mysteries…when you open one (e.g. Joyful)…it opens a single page with each of the five Mysteries and a beautiful art depiction of the each Mystery…and (this is the best part)…a series of 10 meditations for each of the 10 “Hail Mary” prayers…for each Mystery. I try to let the Holy Spirit guide me and usually meditate on 2-3 of the 10 as I pray the “Hail Mary”…some aspect of the Mystery that grabs my heart and mind…many times derive another aspect of the Mystery on my own.

Browse the site…also recommend that you consider enrolling in the Confraternity… praying in communion with others around the world…graces abound. Its simply a sign-up and email type service if you like.

Also has and excellent tab on The Secrets of the Rosary (St. Louis De Montfort) and a tab on Fatima (take a look at 15 Promises made by Blessed Virgin Mary).

Welcome to Mary’s Blue Army.

Pax Christi
Rosary Center
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Dominican Fathers
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HEADQUARTERS OF
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THE ROSARY CONFRATERNITY
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Welcome! We are the headquarters of the Rosary Confraternity of the Catholic Church, a world-wide movement of prayer for peace. We are administered by the Dominican Fathers, Fr. Reginald Martin, O.P., Director. We are located next to the Holy Rosary Church in Portland, Oregon, USA, the city of roses. Included is how to pray the rosary. Those who pray the Rosary regularly would do well to be enrolled in the Confraternity to gain extra spiritual benefits for each Rosary they pray.
rosary-center.org/index.htm
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The Fatima Message
From Heaven, a Light for Our Times
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Sister Lucia:
The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Holy Rosary. She has given this efficacy to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all, spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world, or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary.
fatima.ageofmary.com/rosary/
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Pax Christi
 
When I first started praying the Rosary, I used this web page to help me with the mysteries. I announce the mystery, read the summary in italics, then meditate on the scripture cited for each mystery as I pray the Hail Mary’s. After a while, you won’t have to reference the web page as it becomes more familiar to you. I find that if I don’t meditate on the mysteries while praying the Hail Mary’s, my mind wanders terribly.

theholyrosary.org/gloriousmysteries
 
CutlerB said:
Dear community,

I am so happy to finally have a Rosary and I intend praying it the first time tonight. It’s a lovely one with a Benedictine Cross and a Saint Benedict Medal, I really love it.

Now, I’m not quite sure what the meditation on the Mysteries involves. What exactly is one to do during the ten Hail Marys? I mean sure, of course think about them, but what exactly should I be thinking about? I’d be happy if you could give me some help with this.

On the side: Do I have to say the Hail Marys during the meditation, or can I leave them for before/afterwards? (I find it somewhat difficult and distracting to meditate and concentrate on praying simultaneously.)

God bless you all.
Click to expand...
As one converting to Catholicism as well, I can say that praying the rosary has become one of the most rewarding, intimate things I do everyday. At first I overthought it, but, trust me, once you get the hang of it, it is truly meditative.

When you pray the Hail Mary during the decades, try to think about the Mystery you just read. At first it might be hard because you’re concentrating on saying the Hail Mary correctly, but you’ll memorize it quickly, and the purpose of using your fingers to “climb” the beads of the rosary is to make it so you don’t have to concentrate on counting, so your mind is better able to focus on the Mystery. But as others have said, if you find this hard at first, don’t sweat it. You will get there. 🙂

If you’re not sure, Google “How to pray the rosary” for a step-by-step guide. Expect it to take twenty minutes or more the first time you do it if you’re having to stop a lot to check the guide, but, again, there’s nothing wrong with this, and you’ll find, I believe, so much beauty and solace in the rosary very quickly.

God bless you!
 
Just allow the prayers to become background music to accompany your meditation. We cannot say those prayers without being aware of them at some level of our being - even while our mind may be elsewhere. As well, your fingers on the beads makes you physically aware of not only the verbal prayers, but your progress through them. One thing that might help is to view artwork that depicts the various mysteries as you contemplate.

starrymantle.blogspot.com/2011/02/rosary-reflections-crucifixion.html

Is one of the best blogs I have found. On the home page, you will notice that the various mysteries are along the right side of the page as you scroll down, accompanied by a painting or picture. Just click on the mystery you are about to contemplate and an image of a hand holding a Rosary comes up. Click on that image and it will go full screen. At the bottom of the screen you will see a collection of artwork associated with that mystery. Simply use your left-right arrow keys to move through the collection of artwork as you pray. There is much to contemplate in each painting or photo. At the end of the mystery, you can simply X out of the page, or hit the ‘esc’ key.
 
I have learned all the mysteries from reading from a little Rosary pamphlet. This pamphlet had Scripture verses describing each mystery at first I would read the verse then look at the picture whilst praying the Hail Marys. Now I say the mystery to myself and repeat it over and over in my head whilst praying the Hail Marys. It seems to work 🙂
 
CutlerB said:
Dear community,

I am so happy to finally have a Rosary and I intend praying it the first time tonight. It’s a lovely one with a Benedictine Cross and a Saint Benedict Medal, I really love it.

Now, I’m not quite sure what the meditation on the Mysteries involves. What exactly is one to do during the ten Hail Marys? I mean sure, of course think about them, but what exactly should I be thinking about? I’d be happy if you could give me some help with this.

On the side: Do I have to say the Hail Marys during the meditation, or can I leave them for before/afterwards? (I find it somewhat difficult and distracting to meditate and concentrate on praying simultaneously.)

God bless you all.
Click to expand...
I like to spend a few moments after announcing each mystery, imagining myself sitting at the feet of the Blessed Virgin, or at her shoulder, viewing the scene of the mystery from her prospective.

Then I ask her to pray that I live the lesson being taught in the mystery (to make me willingly be the handservent of the Lord, as she did in the Joyful Mystery of the Annunciation; for her to pray that I always recall the joy I felt when I first came into the presence of the Lord, as the baby John did in Elizabeth’s womb during the Visitation, etc.)

Sounds weird, but sometimes I can feel her sighing in pride, or sobbing in sorrow (and even feeling her tears fall on me), depending on the mystery I am contemplating.

And, always pray the rosary with a stated intentions…and when that intention is answered, don’t forget a rosary with the intention of thanksgiving!

Peace and all good!
 
you could also try a scriptural rosary, where you take each mystery a verse or two at a time. (The last two glorious mysteries are more symbolic since they come from Sacred Tradition and are not directly mentioned in the Bible.)
Here’s a good link to one, and they do audio rosaries as well
scripturalrosary.org/
 
I find the audio rosaries on scripturalrosary.org/ particularly helpful because they give me an example of what someone praying the Mysteries sounds like. Particularly useful for someone like me who hasn’t prayed the Rosary in a very long time.
 
Ladygem said:
you could also try a scriptural rosary, where you take each mystery a verse or two at a time. (The last two glorious mysteries are more symbolic since they come from Sacred Tradition and are not directly mentioned in the Bible.)
Here’s a good link to one, and they do audio rosaries as well
scripturalrosary.org/
Click to expand...
👍 A great suggestion. The scriptural Rosary can help lead you through the mysteries at first. I try to meditate on how the underlying virtues of each mystery apply to my life personally and what I can do better through and with the Grace of God and the intercession of the Blessed Virigin, the absolute perfect model of all virtues. God Bless.
 
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