My friend stopped praying the rosary because it is rote, how can I convince him it is not?

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My friend just informed me that he stopped praying the rosary because it is rote.
How can I convince him to continue praying and why.
 
Saint John Paul II encouraged beginning each decade of the rosary with a scriptural verse related to the mystery being meditated upon during the rosary.
This allows your friend to see the rosary for what it is, a fundamentally Christ-centered prayer that contains the entire gospel. Saint John Paul II goes further in calling the rosary the school of Mary in which the Christian people “contemplate the face of Christ and experience his love.”
I like to pray a Scriptural rosary, using a scriptural verse for each Hail Mary. To maintain my focus on the mystery, I learned in catechist training to add a word or phrase after the name of Jesus in each Hail Mary specific to each mystery.
 
The Rosary is a private revelation. One can be a good Catholic, end up in Heaven and never pray the Rosary.

If he does not have this devotion, do not push him into it. For him it may well be rote, encourage him to pray in the manner he wishes.
 
I also find the rosary to be rote, and not useful to my spirituality.

I will pray it in a group setting, but it has no place in my day to day spiritual life.

And that is perfectly OK.
 
Almost all prayers are rote, or at least part of them are.

The Our Father.
The Rosary
The psalms that Jesus prayed even on the Cross.
Prayers before meals are rote many times… even in protestant circles.

The only other option is a spontaneous prayer which is perfectly fine and encouraged whenever you wish to do so.
 
An analogy I once read was of a garment being sewn. The same stitch is repeated until the garment becomes a whole.
I find it interesting that when somebody complains about a prayer being repetitive, they choose the rosary instead of looking at its richness, purpose, and history. It is a comptemplative prayer that rose out of the peasantry at a time when the common man wanted to join the monks in their more formal praying of the psalms. They lacked the time. The rosary could be prayed while continuing to work in the fields. There are many books written about the graces that come from praying the rosary.
Let’s digress into the Jesus Prayer that comes directly from Scripture. It too has been prayed repetitively through the ages. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me, a sinner” as a means to grow closer to God.
In the parable of the plebican and publican, the only prayer the plebican prayed was one calling for God’s mercy. It is he who in simplicity repeated his cry who went home justified; not the publican who pridefully boasted of his holiness.
God does not look for us to compose lofty prayers each and every time we pray. There is nothing wrong with using the same formulas which we are familiar. What St. Theresa of Avila, and others including my first grade nun warned against was rushing our prayers. Pray from your heart Take time to understand the words that you are praying.
Prayer is after all, lifting our hearts and minds to God. Whether we focus on a simple Our Father, the prayer that Christ himself taught us to pray, or meditate on the mysteries of the gospel as we pray the rosary.
 
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Combine that with the decades we mediate on

It is spiritual bouquet for Our Lady, and a complete prayer as we focus on Jesus while we pray the rosary
 
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That is very nice… I am thinking that he isn’t fully aware of the gifts we receive when reciting the rosary…
 
I guess he meant boring… that is what comes to mind when the word rote is used.
 
That’s how I pray my rosary… I will let him know about this…
 
ZimBoo said:
I guess he meant boring… that is what comes to mind when the word rote is used.
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Yet, that is not anywhere near the meaning of the word “rote”.

Rote = mechanical or habitual repetition of something to be learned.

We learn the multiplication tables by rote, we learn the alphabet by rote, we learn the lines in a school play by rote, the lyrics to songs by rote.
 
That isn’t what comes to my mind. As a home educator rote learning is a basic fundamental of education. And as a sports enthusiast rote muscle memory from repetition at practice is invaluable. If the rosary is boring then one would be stuck in the most basic level of prayer. And it really is like practice. Everyone needs it for the game of spiritual warfare. That being said, one does not need to pray the rosary. It may not be something your friend likes. More concerning than the abandonment of the prayer is the fact that the person feels that their faith relies on being bored or entertained…
 
I personally like the rosary. I find the repetition comforting, like sewing, crocheting, hearing my favorite song over and over, or as one commentator said, it’s like a child saying “Mama, mama, mama, mama” over and over while hugging its mama. I’m also a big believer in repetition as a way to positively change your thoughts and behavior, which would include something like writing out an affirmation “I am not going to overeat today” or “I’m confident and can handle this day” or whatever 50 times to change your habits, and would similarly include praying 50 Hail Marys to fix your mind on God.

But some people find this boring. So tell your friend to pray something else for an hour. Maybe he would like to read the Psalms.
 
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