Need some rosary help and advice

[ANGELIC_PEACE]

how long does it take you to say a five decade rosary (one set of mysteries)…

how many five decade rosaries do you say a day? do you say it everyday?

do you say it slowly or rush through the prayers…

have you memorised all the mysteries or do you read it from a book?

do you have to meditate on the mysteries before praying the our father, hail marys and glory be…or do you meditate before and during praying…how do you do that…if i am saying prayers i can’t make myself think of anything else at the same time (yet a million distactions that i don’t want to think about rushes through my mind)

i would like to say the rosary (preferably at night before i go to sleep…thats the quietest time when i won’t be disturbed)…but how much about the mysteries do i need to know?..i know the general ins and outs…but i don’t want to be reading from a book when i pray because then i can’t concentrate because i end up thinking about the book…plus i want to say it when i am in bed in the dark because then i can’t be distracted by looking at stuff

have you any advice that could help me?..i know that it’s the case of practise, practise and more practise and things will get easier…but did the rosary seem hard for you when you first started saying it?..does it seem hard now?..

sorry for all the questions…i am genuinely interested in saying the rosary and i figured that i should get some advice on my questions before i started saying it…

ANGELIC PEACE

 

[NewUlm1976_2000]

One of the best ways to start would be to have help to follow along in the beginning. Check out the second link on my signature for a link to a CD version. It takes just over a half hour to get through 5 mysteries. You can just start on whichever track for that day which starts whichever group of mysteries.

If you go through that a few times (take as long as you need), you will get better each time.

The CDs are actually free but they do ask a $10 donation if you choose to give.

 

[Coreopisis]

how long does it take you to say a five decade rosary (one set of mysteries)…

how many five decade rosaries do you say a day? do you say it everyday?

do you say it slowly or rush through the prayers…

have you memorised all the mysteries or do you read it from a book?

do you have to meditate on the mysteries before praying the our father, hail marys and glory be…or do you meditate before and during praying…how do you do that…if i am saying prayers i can’t make myself think of anything else at the same time (yet a million distactions that i don’t want to think about rushes through my mind)

i would like to say the rosary (preferably at night before i go to sleep…thats the quietest time when i won’t be disturbed)…but how much about the mysteries do i need to know?..i know the general ins and outs…but i don’t want to be reading from a book when i pray because then i can’t concentrate because i end up thinking about the book…plus i want to say it when i am in bed in the dark because then i can’t be distracted by looking at stuff

have you any advice that could help me?..i know that it’s the case of practise, practise and more practise and things will get easier…but did the rosary seem hard for you when you first started saying it?..does it seem hard now?..

sorry for all the questions…i am genuinely interested in saying the rosary and i figured that i should get some advice on my questions before i started saying it…

ANGELIC PEACE

Angelic Peace,
You are funny. Too cute. You remind me of my son, he must always have a plan and know all the details of something before starting.

My son and I began praying the rosary while knowing nothing but the prayers it consists of. We didn’t even know what the mysteries were so we decided to pray a decade and then between we talked about what story from the bible we should remember while praying the rosary and then started on the next decade. Then we had the visitor (see the thread entitled “A strange voice saying the rosary”)

Ever since we now have a rosary group and have learned to say it better and better with the real mysteries and so forth. It has been amazing.

I guess in a nut shell I don’t think it matters exactly how you say it and if you say it exactly right, at least not right away. The point is that you start.

5 decades alone takes me about 15 - 20 minutes. I force myself to think about the words I am saying otherwise I am just running through it without thinking.

5 decades in a group takes about an hour (for us anyway.)

We try to say it once a week and we say it after dinner in the living room. (If we say it in bed or around the bed we get so sleepy.) We turn off the ringer on the telephone so we don’t get interrupted.

One thing we don’t do is kneel, we just sit and pray. My son has been going through a growth spurt and his knees and back really hurt him plus another lady that has been praying with us has cancer of the brain so she needs ot sit. We don’t kneel and I still feel like it is a holy thing to do. I suppose we should kneel.

Anyway you see my point? I don’t think you are required to stick to any regimen when you first get started.

 

[Sr_Sally]

Yes, it does take practice. A rosary CD is a nice idea while you learn. Some of them are so beautiful, I love to listen to them!

We say the rosary as a family every morning. It did take a while to get ourselves organized. We timed ourselves several times after we figured out which additional prayers (ie the Fatima Prayer)we wanted to say. We had to know how long it would take so that we could start in time to be finished before school and work. It is now such a habit that the day does not seem right if we skip for some reason! We say 5 decades (one set of mysteries) every day. I try to also say a rosary (another 5 decades) while out walking at lunch.

We use a devotional book in the morning to help the children have something to focus on. When I say the rosary by myself, I just announce the mysteries. I also usually dedicate each rosary to a specific prayer intention, so I often ‘meditate’ on that intention while saying it.

 

[dolphinlove]

For me, it can take me anywhere between 20 min to 1 hour to say the rosary, it depends on what i feel like doing.
There is a great site you can download a virtual rosary
Virtual rosary
On this one, you say 1 hail mary, then reflect on the mystery by a passage out of the bible, then people submit prayers that you can say along with them if you choose, i absolutely love this way of saying it.
The other way I say it is reflecting on the mysteries at the end of each decade.
Here is a guide if you need it.
here
All the best,
I feel the best inner peace when i say the rosary.
And when you first start out, its easy to get distracted (well for me anyway) but dont worry about that, with practice you will learn to quiet your mind.
God bless

 

[BeeSweet]

It usually takes me about 20 minutes to get through a five decade rosary. I’ve memorized the prayers, and the mysteries. Just keep at it, even when it’s not perfect, it’s music to Our Lady’s ears! I used to say mine in the car everyday on the way home from work. I had a little leaflet in my car that I would refer to if I couldn’t remember the order of the mysteries.

If you can say it in a group at a church, it will help. It did for me anyway. You can find a local church which says the Rosary on Mass Times, just plug in your zip code, and tell it you’re looking for devotions, and it will ask you what devotion you want to see. Tell it “rosary”, and then it will take you to where you can choose your state and then city, and then it will give you a list of churches and their devotions.

 

[DJgang]

Exactly 17 minutes! Yep, timed it…

Angelic Peace, dear, hang in there… don’t worry about those things, just pray and let God and the Blessed Mother and Jesus’ life bless you. In no time, you won’t need a book to read, and meditating will not be so difficult.

Pray to the Blessed Mother for help in concentrating.

Aaaww…God bless you dear!

 

[dulcissima]

It usually takes me 20 to 30 minutes to pray the rosary.

Only once have I ever prayed all of the mysteries in one day.

Usually I just pray one set of mysteries a day. For a while there I was off track, and went for a couple of months without praying the rosary. I had such a difficult time getting back to doing it that I don’t want to stray again.

I just meditate on the mysteries and usually think about what it was like for Jesus or Mary at all of these different events in the lives or I think out their meaning in my current life. A couple of time I have prayed the rosary with the Bible open in my lap and have read all of the corresponding Bible verses.

My best advice, try praying the rosary while kneeling at adoration.

 

[Little_Mary]

I pray the rosary every day and in the beginning my mind was all over the place. Once I settled into a routine, it is much easier for me to stay focused. I meditate more and the prayers are more meaningful - not just recited.

Even if you spend the entire time bringing your mind back from distraction, it is time well spent!

God bless!

 

[Linda_Marie]

It takes me about 15 to 20 minutes to say 5 decades. All 20 takes me about 1 1/2 hours, but I have only ever said all 20 at once a couple times. You can say it fast or slow as you like. I personally don’t like to rush it. Our parish rosary group, who prays it publically before Mass, takes about 15 minutes. If you say it in a group, please try to keep together and at the same pace. This results in a much more fruitful devotion. In our group, some say it very quickly and some very slowly and it is sooo distracting that I find it difficult to meditate. When I first started, some 28 years ago, I felt very self-conscious. I came from a secular, somewhat anti-Catholic background (my father was an ex-Catholic, my mother an ex-Baptist) and cultivating a devotion to our Blessed Mother had all sorts of baggage attached. I had to follow along in a book cause I didn’t know all the prayers, or the mysteries yet. I find the CD’s to be a big help with the pace and the counting so you can meditate more deeply. I particularly like The Gospel Rosary of Pope John Paul II

Here is a site devoted to the Rosary and has meditations on each mystery.
theworkofgod.org/Devotns/Rosary/rosary.htm

The Rosary is made up of two things: mental prayer and vocal prayer. Mental prayer is the meditation of the chief mysteries of the life, death and glory of Jesus Christ and of His Blessed Mother.

The mysteries are divided into Joyful, Luminous Sorrowful, and Glorious.

Vocal prayer consists in saying decades of the Hail Mary, each decade headed by an Our Father, while at the same time meditating on and contemplating the principal virtues which Jesus and Mary practiced in the twenty mysteries of the Holy Rosary. The complete Rosary consists of twenty decades, but is more commonly said in five decades.

How to say the Rosary:

1. While holding the crucifix make the Sign of the Cross and then recite the Apostles Creed.
2. Recite the Our Father on the first large bead.
3. On each of the three small beads recite a Hail Mary for an increase of faith, hope and charity.
4. Recite the Glory Be to the Father on the next large bead.
5. Recall the first Rosary Mystery and recite the Our Father on the next large bead. The Joyful Mysteries are meditated on Mondays and Thursdays, Sundays of Advent and after Epiphany until Lent. The Sorrowful Mysteries are meditated on Tuesdays and Fridays, and Sundays in Lent. The Glorious Mysteries are meditated on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and Sundays after Easter until Advent. The Luminous Mysteries are meditated on Thursdays moving the Joyful Mysteries to Saturday.
6. On each of the adjacent ten small beads (also referred to as a decade) recite a Hail Mary while reflecting on the mystery.
7. On the next large bead, recite the Glory Be to the Father. The Fatima decade prayer may also be said.
8. Each succeeding decade is prayed in a similar manner by recalling the appropriate mystery, reciting the Our Father, ten Hail Marys, the Glory Be to the Father, and the Fatima decade prayer (optional) while reflecting on the mystery.
9. When the fifth mystery is completed, the Rosary is customarily concluded with the Hail, Holy Queen.

 

[puzzleannie]

how long does it take you to say a five decade rosary (one set of mysteries)…

how many five decade rosaries do you say a day? do you say it everyday?

do you say it slowly or rush through the prayers…

have you memorised all the mysteries or do you read it from a book?

do you have to meditate on the mysteries before praying the our father, hail marys and glory be…or do you meditate before and during praying…how do you do that…E

whatever works for you, with the suggestion that when praying in a group you go along with whatever the group does. If the way they do it is not helpful for you, pray with another group, or alone.

The method suggested by John Paul II which is described more fully in the papal letter he wrote on the rosary not many years before his death (2002?) is to read or recall the scriptures and mediate with them before each rosary or each decade.

If you have not yet memorized the vocal prayers, yes it will be hard to meditate while you say them, but that comes with time.

 

[ANGELIC_PEACE]

i used to say the rosary by nyself years ago …i learn myself how to do it…but it has een so long that i am a bit rusty when it comes to the mysteries…
when i used to say it before i used to feel so reluctant to say it…as if i didn’t want to say it…but by the end of the rosary i was enjoying it…
now…at the present time…i feel drawn to say the rosary…but at the same time i feel reluctant…there is always some excuse in my head…it’s boring (i found it enjoyable when i used to say it)…i’m too tired…etc…

have any of you experienced this

ANGELIC PEACE

 

[BeeSweet]

i used to say the rosary by nyself years ago …i learn myself how to do it…but it has een so long that i am a bit rusty when it comes to the mysteries…
when i used to say it before i used to feel so reluctant to say it…as if i didn’t want to say it…but by the end of the rosary i was enjoying it…
now…at the present time…i feel drawn to say the rosary…but at the same time i feel reluctant…there is always some excuse in my head…it’s boring (i found it enjoyable when i used to say it)…i’m too tired…etc…

have any of you experienced this

ANGELIC PEACE

I totally understand. I’m going through the same thing right now. My consolation is that when I do say it, I feel so much better about what I’ve accomplished during the day, even if I didn’t accomplish a single thing except praying the rosary! I don’t necessarily “enjoy myself” while I’m saying it, but at the end of the day, knowing I have done it, I actually feel relieved. It’s so hard to plan my day to include a time to pray (I have a procrastination problem), and yet it’s so important. At the end of the day, if I’ve said at least a five decade rosary, the peace and consolation at the end of the day is wonderful. And, it helps me to pray more. The more I pray, the more I pray!

October is devoted to the Holy Rosary. It’s a beautiful thing that you are being drawn to it especially at this time. You may consider joining the Rosary Confraternity, maybe to give yourself an extra incentive to pray for your fellow members.

 

[Ramalama]

Same here. As little as 20 minutes by myself, up to an hour with my wife. We have a few books* on the rosary and read a brief meditation on the mystery before we start the decade. We also discuss the mystery and other faith items because we have only been doing this a few months.

I pray the rosary every evening, usually with my wife, but she is much busier than I am, so sometimes she misses it.

The Nike saying applies here. Just do it!

• Rediscovering the Rosary by Antony Outhwaite
  The Rosary, Chain of Hope by Father Benedict J. Groeschel
  Father Peyton’s Rosary Prayer Book by Father Patrick Peyton

 

[byers]

For all who love the rosary may I recommend one of the most marvelous Catholic books I have ever read. It covers the history and background, an explanation of the promises and writings on the mysteries, by Kevin Orlin Johnson, PhD. author of Why Do Catholics do That?

The writing is brilliant and witty. You can check out some reviews at amazon. I can guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Rosary: Mysteries, Meditations and the Telling of the Beads

 

[mrklikker]

I used to feel a bit amiguous about saying the rosary. Someone I respect and love very much told me his secret to light his spiritual fire. He picked up the rosary and closed his eyes. In his mind, he pictured the Virgin Mary, arms open, in a gesture of welcome. Beside Her was Our Lord, his arm outstretched in wlecome and blessing. After that experience, I couldn’t wait to be with them again in my mind. My 2 cents worth

 

[dove51]

how long does it take you to say a five decade rosary (one set of mysteries)…

A long time. Like half an hour I think.
ANGELIC PEACE;2795050:

how many five decade rosaries do you say a day? do you say it everyday?

I’m bad, I don’t do it everyday. I should.
ANGELIC PEACE;2795050:

do you say it slowly or rush through the prayers…

Not very slowly, not very quickly. I think I try to do it in a normal speaking voice.
ANGELIC PEACE;2795050:

have you memorised all the mysteries or do you read it from a book?

I don’t even have all of the prayers memorized! I go off a little pamphlet that has all the information on it. I also look at the images of each mystery on the pamphlet. I hope to have everything memorized soon.
ANGELIC PEACE;2795050:

do you have to meditate on the mysteries before praying the our father, hail marys and glory be…or do you meditate before and during praying…how do you do that…if i am saying prayers i can’t make myself think of anything else at the same time (yet a million distactions that i don’t want to think about rushes through my mind)

I try to meditate on the mystery while saying the Hail Marys. I have the same problem with saying one prayer and thinking of something else. I almost always start thinking of Mary while saying the Hail Marys, as opposed to thinking of the proper mystery. I hope this will get better with time.
ANGELIC PEACE;2795050:

i would like to say the rosary (preferably at night before i go to sleep…thats the quietest time when i won’t be disturbed)…but how much about the mysteries do i need to know?..i know the general ins and outs…but i don’t want to be reading from a book when i pray because then i can’t concentrate because i end up thinking about the book…plus i want to say it when i am in bed in the dark because then i can’t be distracted by looking at stuff.

Before bed is when I have done it too. I don’t think you need to know every little detail about the mysteries, or read from a book at the same time–I’d go batty! I think if you know what happened and what the mystery is generally about, you’re golden.
ANGELIC PEACE;2795050:

have you any advice that could help me?..i know that it’s the case of practise, practise and more practise and things will get easier…but did the rosary seem hard for you when you first started saying it?..does it seem hard now?..

I honestly don’t have any advice except maybe this: secure.www.pacifier.com/rosary-center.org/howto.htm

. But you sound like you’re above needing that. Still, I like that webpage a lot.

I hope I’ve helped somehow. I’m anxious to see what other people are going to say!

 

[fin]

hi.

i pray 5 decades everyday. i gues it takes around 15 minutes.
when you start praying the rosary everyday, you will get to memorize the mysteries. that is based from my experience.