Not meditating on mysteries of the rosary?

[hausofferni]

Is it bad if we don’t meditate on the mysteries of the rosary? I find myself praying and saying a decade, but then I realize that I never meditate on the actual mystery itself, I more or less look at a image of our lady and pray and ask her to pray for us. I don’t forget to meditate on purpose, but it’s hard for me to pray vocally the Hail Mary and try to meditate on the mystery at the same time. Is this bad? Do my rosaries still count??

 

[peter26]

I can be rather like this myself. Yes it still counts, you’re just not perhaps getting the full personal effect of meditating on Jesus life, but the prayers are just as effective. A booklet or video with reflections on each mystery might help.

 

[St_Francis]

I found that I had to learn to meditate on the mysteries–it did not come naturally!

First, of course, I had to get used to saying all the prayers, remembering all the mysteries, etc. Then moving on to meditating on the mystery once I had all those down, starting with keeping a picture in my mind of the main point, then moving on to Scriptural Rosaries, which have helped me a lot. I switch versions every so often.

Reading about the mysteries in the Bible is also very helpful

It takes a lt of practice and works best if I do it every single day. I would say that praying one or two decades every day would be better than one whole set of five every other day. The difference is very noticeable!

 

[Phemie]

I have to admit that although we always recited the Rosary at home, there was never a mention of the Mysteries. I didn’t know anything about them until I came to this parish in my mid-40s.

 

[svid2]

Pax Christi!

This question sometimes bothers me as well.

If more podcasts and broadcasts of the Holy Rosary would include substantial meditations on the Mysteries, it would really help me. Even the broadcasts on EWTN often simply state the Mystery and then recite the prayers. (Not Father Mitch’s Holy Land Rosary: he does nice little talks.)

There’s a CD with Father Corapi giving great meditations/reflections, but he’s not on EWTN any more, since his, uh, fall from grace. I miss him.

Sigh.

God bless.

 

[Mintaka]

Praying words and meditating on them at the same time is kind of a mental trick. It’s easy for some people, harder for others.

Also, there are a lot of different kinds of meditation/contemplation. Not everybody has verbally expressed thoughts. Not everybody pictures elaborate cinema quality images and scenes, either. You should meditate/contemplate the same way you usually tend to think about stuff.

So if you’re a hands-on person instead of a verbal or visual person, touching the beads and looking at pictures may be perfectly okay for you. You can get pictures of all the Mysteries, online or in little booklets.

If you want to have more explicit meditations, and you have trouble praying two things at once, then you should just separate the prayers and the thoughts. At the beginning of a Mystery, think about it for a while. Then pray that particular decade in the “afterglow” of your thoughts. Then maybe think about it a little at the end, if you want. (And again, there are tons of little booklets out there with Rosary meditation paragraphs.)

There are a ton of ways to pray and meditate on the Rosary. It is your personal prayer, so feel free to experiment a little with methods.

 

[nuntym]

+JMJ+

Is it bad if we don’t meditate on the mysteries of the rosary? I find myself praying and saying a decade, but then I realize that I never meditate on the actual mystery itself, I more or less look at a image of our lady and pray and ask her to pray for us. I don’t forget to meditate on purpose, but it’s hard for me to pray vocally the Hail Mary and try to meditate on the mystery at the same time. Is this bad? Do my rosaries still count??

Are you peaceful when you pray this way? Does this habit of prayer make you love God and neighbor more?

If yes to both, then do not change a thing.

If no, then try the suggestions made here.

The only right way to pray, you see, is the way that pleases God, and that way is different for everyone. He lets you know if this is so by giving you the grace to stay in Him and love Him more.

 

[littlestsouls2]

Read ‘How to be Happy, How to be Holy’ by Fr. Paul O’Sullivan! It is an excellent book for a number of reasons, but the Rosary meditations in particular are excellent. If I had a teleportation device, I would give you my copy

 

[oldgraymare2]

Is it bad if we don’t meditate on the mysteries of the rosary? I find myself praying and saying a decade, but then I realize that I never meditate on the actual mystery itself, I more or less look at a image of our lady and pray and ask her to pray for us. I don’t forget to meditate on purpose, but it’s hard for me to pray vocally the Hail Mary and try to meditate on the mystery at the same time. Is this bad? Do my rosaries still count??

No, it’s not bad. Please don’t worry. You’re trying your best, and your rosaries do count, as someone else already said.

I use a little Rosary booklet when I pray the Rosary, which helps me to stay focused when praying. It has pictures in it, and I find that helpful, as it helps me to think about the particular mystery that I’m going to pray about.

Maybe something like that might be helpful to you. You can pick one up at a Catholic book store either locally, or online.

God bless you!

 

[dividus]

Praying words and meditating on them at the same time is kind of a mental trick. It’s easy for some people, harder for others.

Also, there are a lot of different kinds of meditation/contemplation. Not everybody has verbally expressed thoughts. Not everybody pictures elaborate cinema quality images and scenes, either. You should meditate/contemplate the same way you usually tend to think about stuff.

So if you’re a hands-on person instead of a verbal or visual person, touching the beads and looking at pictures may be perfectly okay for you. You can get pictures of all the Mysteries, online or in little booklets.

If you want to have more explicit meditations, and you have trouble praying two things at once, then you should just separate the prayers and the thoughts. At the beginning of a Mystery, think about it for a while. Then pray that particular decade in the “afterglow” of your thoughts. Then maybe think about it a little at the end, if you want. (And again, there are tons of little booklets out there with Rosary meditation paragraphs.)

There are a ton of ways to pray and meditate on the Rosary. It is your personal prayer, so feel free to experiment a little with methods.

Really helpful advice which I sometimes do myself if I’m tired.

I have had a problem praying and meditating at the same time, but with practice I am becoming better at it.There are a number of online meditations which you could read through before praying. I am posting one link which I have found helpful below:

catholicinbrooklyn.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=First+Sorrowful+Mystery

 

[Mary_Ellen]

Hi, hausofferni,

No, it’s not “bad” but your experience of the Rosary could be better if you could meditate on the mysteries as you prayed. I have a hard time, too, as I pray it on my own. If you don’t mind I’ll share my method of keeping my mind focused on the mystery as I pray:

While praying each Hail Mary, add some descriptive words after the name of Jesus which bring to mind the mystery. Examples:

The First Joyful Mystery:
"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you,
blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb,
Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Holy Mary…

The Fifth Luminous Mystery:
…Jesus, who gave us his Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity…

The First Sorrowful Mystery:
…Jesus, who sweat blood in the garden…

The First Glorious Mystery:
…Jesus, who rose from the dead…

The Fifth Glorious Mystery:
…Jesus, who crowned you queen of Heaven and Earth…
​

I hope this helps.

Be at peace.

 

[Bookcat]

Yes such is still praying…but not the way the Rosary is meant to be prayed…

But praying all those prayers is still good and an ancient practice.

 

[hausofferni]

Thank you all for your responses! I will try some of these methods, God bless

 

[JRS_88]

I found rosary-center.org several years ago, and they have written little one-sentence narratives/meditations for each Hail Mary in each mystery.
Very simple, one line narratives that you say before each Hail Mary.
I don’t pray this way every time, but it helped me in the beginning.

Example from the Joyous Mysteries:

rosary-center.org/joyful.htm

THE ANNUNCIATION

*1 The time for the Incarnation is at hand. (Hail Mary full of grace…)

2  Of all women God prepared Mary from her conception to be the Mother of the Incarnate Word.

3  The Angel Gabriel announces: "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with thee."

4 Mary wonders at this salutation.

5  The Angel assures her: "Fear not . . . you shall conceive in your womb, and give birth to a Son."

6 Mary is troubled for she has made a vow of virginity.

7  The Angel answers that she will conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit, and her Son will be called the Son of God.

8  The Incarnation awaits Mary's consent.

9  Mary answers: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to your word."

10 The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. *

For the rest of the rosary - rosary-center.org/howto.htm#loaded

 

[Pythagoras]

Is it bad if we don’t meditate on the mysteries of the rosary? I find myself praying and saying a decade, but then I realize that I never meditate on the actual mystery itself, I more or less look at a image of our lady and pray and ask her to pray for us. I don’t forget to meditate on purpose, but it’s hard for me to pray vocally the Hail Mary and try to meditate on the mystery at the same time. Is this bad? Do my rosaries still count??

You can download the PDF of “Methods of Praying the Rosary” by the great Marian Saint, St. Louis de Montfort. It has meditation and vocal prayer all in one.

montfort.org/content/index2.php?action=article&article=30