Must I restart the rosary if I become distracted for a moment?

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If I’m praying my rosary and the TV is on and something catch’s my attention and turn away to the tv for second would I have to restart the rosary , would I just restart the decade mysteries or prayer I was on
 
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I believe one’s of St. Therese of Lisieux’s goals was to the say the entire rosary without once getting distracted. Much to her chagrin that almost never happened. But we must always strive for it.
 
There is no need to restart. Just keep going and try to do better each time.
 
Kandi2003 said:
If I’m praying my rosary and the TV is on and something catch’s my attention and turn away to the tv for second would I have to restart the rosary , would I just restart the decade mysteries or prayer I was on
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A man asked this question to saint Padre Pio. Pio replied “continue where you left off, you’ll probably get distracted the second time too.”. 😉
 
Kandi2003 said:
If I’m praying my rosary and the TV is on and something catch’s my attention and turn away to the tv for second would I have to restart the rosary , would I just restart the decade mysteries or prayer I was on
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Absolutely not. St Padre Pio once said that if he had to restart the Rosary every time he got distracted he would never be able to finish a Rosary during his lifetime!
 
thistle said:
St Padre Pio once said that if he had to restart the Rosary every time he got distracted he would never be able to finish a Rosary during his lifetime!
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It’s good to know that I don’t have to be a better pray-er than St. Pio.

D
 
My 7 year old and I are say one rosary a week together. Guess how many times we’ve made it through without stopping?
 
This is just me, but I add an extra bead or two or three to each decade on which I am distracted but keep on going.
 
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You might try doing the 5 decades at different points during the day.
Start when you first awaken with the Joyful, giving thanks for a new glorious day.
Or the Baptism in the River Jordan giving thanks for faith
Or the Agony in the garden reflecting on a difficult task you have before you, asking for strength.
Or the Resurrection, giving thanks period.

And so on and so forth.
Another at a morning break
Another at lunch time
Another at the hour of Mercy
Another after dinner
Act of Contrition and Hail Holy Queen at bedtime.

This is how I used to present it to the children. Soon,t hey wanted to forge ahead.
 
No.

The Rosary is a private devotion, not a ritualized Liturgical prayer.

You can add, subtract, change, start and stop the prayers of the Rosary as you see fit for your situation.
 
No way…the Rosary is a great teacher of prayer and returning to God.

God wants us well practiced in returning to Him and His mother…just return to Him like a distracted child and continue…just as you would in a family conversation.
 
I do that too in case I skipped one when I really zoned out, ha.
 
Just my two cents offered, many times I find that the distractions come from someone or something in my life that could benefit from some prayer. I have learned to incorporate the distractions and forge ahead.
 
angelic06 said:
This is just me, but I add an extra bead or two or three to each decade on which I am distracted but keep on going.
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Now I know I’m not the only person who does that.

I have fallen asleep mid-decade and woken up still holding the bead I was holding when I fell asleep.
 
Offer up those distractions.
This may sound odd but sometimes I have the news channel on mute when praying the rosary and offer up the prayers for events going on in the world.
 
A priest once told me that prayer with distractions can be more valuable than prayer without distractions. He told me something along the lines that when you bat away the distractions you are involved in a battle.

That makes sense and it also means that those times in our lives when we struggle to be able to pray easily are in fact battles we are engaged in. Praying when we find it difficult can be more efficacious.
 
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