Our school is imposing the rosary

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hansard said:
Okay. One last time.

Those who disagree with me: What, exactly, is the purpose of praying the same prayer over and over again?
(I don’t want a throw-away answer like “it brings us closer to the virgin” or “it calms us in the stillness that is God”, or any other almost-meaningless platitudes).

I would like (if you would be so kind) a specific answer about why repetitive prayer is any better than personal prayer.
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Hello, I am not sure if this has been said as I have not read every post on this thread. However a little history of the rosary may help here. Have you ever stopped to think about the reason the prayers of the rosary are set the way they are?

The Creed on the Crucifix: Our profession of faith as we start our prayer.

Each Our Father: straight for scripture and a model of wish we should us to base our prayers to God.

The Glory Be: This is a Doxology to conclude any prayer.

Now the one you seem to be having a problem with the Hail Mary: To each set of mysteries we say 50 Hail Mary’s there are also three said right after the Creed each one stands for more than just the prayers itself.

First lets look at the First three they are said to remind us of the three theological Virtues (Faith, Hope, and Love). Then we have five sets of ten within each of the three mysteries for a total of 150. Guess what this is not by random chance.
Many, many moons ago in the early days of the church (and still today in many) the monks in the monasteries would gather the recite the Psalms each day the people of the towns would know when they were gathers to do this as the Bells would ring to gather the monks for this. the people had a desire to join the monks in prayer even if they could not be physically there with them in the Church to do so as they had work in the field or what ever to do. They also being mostly unable to read could not pull out written copies of the psalms to pray along with the monks. guess what they did know? the Hail Mary, ( which is if you look at the two parts of it the first come directly form scripture and the second part is asking her to pray for us. So As the monks Prayed the Psalms the people in the surrounding towns would pray the a Hail Mary to standing in for each Psalm. 150 Psalms = 150 Hail Mary’s
This is the reason behind the Rosary being set up the way it is.

Also as a teacher in a catholic school it is your responsibility to teach and help develop in the student all aspect of the faith, regardless of weather or not it is a private devotion or not that you are not required by the church to have.
Although the Rosary is known as a Marian devotion there is so much more to it than that and you are doing yourself and your students a disservice if you resist this. I am in no way saying that you have to make this part of your personal devotions. What is am saying is that unless you are taught the discipline at the school age it is unlikely that you will ever develop it. does this mean that everyone will continue to have this devotion after they are no longer in school were they are required to participate? No. However, they have much more likely hood of developing the habits of continuing with some form of personal devotion throughout the remainder of their lives.
 
Again, there is a big difference between teaching what the rosary is and enforcing the saying of it.,
 
The mere thought that my 5 year old would say an entire rosary is hilarious!

I don’t think she would get through a decade.
 
paperwight66 said:
Again, there is a big difference between teaching what the rosary is and enforcing the saying of it.,
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I would agree if they were trying to say you had to say each night at home before you go to bed. However having the all the students come together in a communal praying of the Rosary is different than that and there is nothing wrong with that.
 
paperwight66 said:
Again, there is a big difference between teaching what the rosary is and enforcing the saying of it.,
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Please explain what you think is the difference. All kids should be taught it so they can call on it all their lives. You seem to forget about teaching them to meditate on the Mysteries. That is the soul of the Rosary and that is not routine. Many, Many things to meditate on. God Bless, Memaw
 
hansard said:
What I have a problem with is forcing children to say a repetitive prayer (counted off on the beads, of course - we wouldn’t want to count incorrectly) when they could be offered the opportunity to make a more personal, meaningful prayer.

For example, when I am required to say a prayer at a meeting, I always ask people to offer quiet prayers of a personal nature. This is in keeping with Matthew 6:6 (“go to your room” etc).

Another concern: if prayers are forced, they can’t be genuine. Therefore, they will not “get through” at all.

Surely a carefully considered prayer is of more personal and spiritual value than a dull, repetitive, forced prayer.
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You have issues with forcing kids to pray. I wonder, do you also have issues with forcing them to learn the multiplication tables, or do homework, or eat peas, or bathe, or go to school, or clean their bathroom? If it’s OK to insist that kids to do all those things until they develop good habits and do them voluntarily, why should it be not OK to compel them to pray?

You know Mt 6:6. I presume therefore that you also know Mt 6:7, but for the edification of others I’ll quote that here:
(King James Authorized Version) 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
(NIV) 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
(RSV) 7 And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
(GNT) 7 When you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that their gods will hear them because their prayers are long.
(NAB) 7 In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.

Take note of the highlighted words. The scripture passage does not condemn repeated prayer. It condemns vain, empty, meaningless babbling. In fact, when you read the whole passage, it condemns lengthy rambling as well as vain repetition.

I suspect there are a lot of Catholics here who would have issues with the suggestion that the Hail Mary is a vain, empty, meaningless prayer. The first half of the Hail Mary is Luke 1:28 and 1:42. The second half is a request that Mary pray for us. That is hardly meaningless.

In fact Jesus praised repeated prayer in Luke 18:1-8, the parable of the widow and the unjust judge.

I wonder if you belong to a Christian community that encourages tongue-speech, because in such groups I have heard a lot of people engaging in what (on the surface) sounds like vain, empty, meaningless babbling. A good friend of mine belongs to such a group and she took me on retreat with her. At the call for everyone to stand up and pray I noted that there were a lot of women whose prayers were certainly very heartfelt, but the words amounted to endless repetitions of eight or ten unintelligible syllables. Furthermore, every time they stood up the same women repeated the same unintelligible syllables they had used before.

Tongue-speakers are very militant about defending and justifying their mono-syllabic prayers. I know their hearts are devout because I can hear the vocal intonation behind the syllables: the tone of voice conveys joy, sadness, anguish, glee, excitement, despair. If we can justify the repetition of such prayers, I fail to understand why repetition of the Hail Mary should be despised.
 
ringil said:
The mere thought that my 5 year old would say an entire rosary is hilarious!

I don’t think she would get through a decade.
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I knew a woman who watched her grandchildren. She’d take them to daily Mass and teach them all sorts of prayers, including the Rosary. They loved it so much they’d ask to pray it- 5 decades. By the time they were 5 or 6 they could lead it. I was amazed.
 
hansard said:
Thanks for the comments, everyone (some of which probably took effort far beyond the deserving of this thread).

Very interesting.
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May God bless and keep you. May God’s face shine on you. May God be kind to you and give you peace.
 
Jennifoo said:
I knew a woman who watched her grandchildren. She’d take them to daily Mass and teach them all sorts of prayers, including the Rosary. They loved it so much they’d ask to pray it- 5 decades. By the time they were 5 or 6 they could lead it. I was amazed.
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Yes. My daughter led the rosary at age 6 before the Sunday Mass once a month.
She took a turn with the other women of the parish. 😉
 
ringil said:
The mere thought that my 5 year old would say an entire rosary is hilarious!

I don’t think she would get through a decade.
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I disagree with you wholeheartedly!. My kids could all say the Rosary completely by the time they were 3 years old. My little grandaughter could say the Rosary then too. In fact the others used to have to let her do the leading when we said the Rosary cause she thought it was “hers”. I had 3 of my grandkids in church with me and our priest came in while she was leading the Rosary and just sat and listened till she got done and then thanked her for doing such a wonderful job. I started saying it with my firstborn even before he was old enough to talk and he just gradually learned it and the others followed suit. I had 7 kids. Kids are amazing. we don’t give them enough credit as to how smart they are. You just have to work with them !! I’m afraid we are dumbing down our kids in more ways than one. God Bless, Memaw
 
hansard said:
What I have a problem with is forcing children to say a repetitive prayer (counted off on the beads, of course - we wouldn’t want to count incorrectly) when they could be offered the opportunity to make a more personal, meaningful prayer.
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Personally, I believe the rosary to be a very personal meaningful prayer. I don’t know if someone already mentioned this, but praying the rosary is like praying the Gospel. There are 2 parts to the rosary, the vocal part, and probably even more important, the meditation aspect of it.

St. Pope John Paul II wrote a beautiful Apostolic Letter on it called: ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE.

EWTN does a good job in describing the rosary as well: “The rosary has been called the preparation for contemplation and the prayer of saints. While the hands and lips are occupied with the prayers (it can and should be prayed silently when necessary so as not to disturb others), the mind meditates on the mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption represented by the decades. Meditation is the form of prayer by which the one who prays uses the mind and imagination to consider a truth and uses the will to love it and form resolutions to live it. In this way the heart, mind, and soul of the Christian is formed according to the Gospel examples of the Savior and His First Disciple, His Mother.”
 
Memaw said:
Your right, I knew a little boy that wasn’t even in school yet and he could speak 5 different languages fluently. His father was an interpreter. God Bless, Memaw
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I understand multilingualism is more prevalent in other countries. In the U.S. it is remarkable if one knows all the English grammar rules, much less other languages.
 
hansard said:
Those who disagree with me: What, exactly, is the purpose of praying the same prayer over and over again?
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It’s like background music when one studies.

When one prays the rosary, the background prayers free your mind to meditate on the mysteries.

If one doesnt realize the whole idea of praying the Rosary is to contemplate and meditate on the various mysteries, I can well understand why one would think it’s meaningless.

If one understand the whole idea is to focus on the various mysteries (Joyful, Sorrowful, Luminous and Glorious) and has had the experience of studying to background music, one will understand.

It’s a meditative device. Just like the prayer beads of eastern religions. Do a google search on Buddhist prayers beads and you will see beads that look a great deal like Rosary beads.

It’s all about meditation, folks, meditation. 🙂
 
Marie5890 said:
It’s like background music when one studies.

When one prays the rosary, the background prayers free your mind to meditate on the mysteries.

If one doesnt realize the whole idea of praying the Rosary is to contemplate and meditate on the various mysteries, I can well understand why one would think it’s meaningless.

If one understand the whole idea is to focus on the various mysteries (Joyful, Sorrowful, Luminous and Glorious) and has had the experience of studying to background music, one will understand.

It’s a meditative device. Just like the prayer beads of eastern religions. Do a google search on Buddhist prayers beads and you will see beads that look a great deal like Rosary beads.

It’s all about meditation, folks, meditation. 🙂
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Agreed. I wonder if the OP would have the same problem is they were using beads to pray the Jesus prayer?
Or the Divine Mercy Chaplet? Or is it just another “Marian devotion” thing. 🤷
 
Jennifoo said:
I knew a woman who watched her grandchildren. She’d take them to daily Mass and teach them all sorts of prayers, including the Rosary. They loved it so much they’d ask to pray it- 5 decades. By the time they were 5 or 6 they could lead it. I was amazed.
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We pray the rosary daily as a family because my eldest son, then 8, asked us to pray it. I must admit, I would not pray it if I were not trying to set an example for my children and honor their wishes. It is not my favorite prayer, but it is a beautiful devotion and worthy of praise and respect. My 5 children, ages 3-12, each take turns praying the decades. The three-year-old rarely gets through more than 3 or 4 prayers before somebody else has to step in and finish the decade, but the others all do a remarkable job. Last night I attended a dinner at a friends house and we prayed the rosary together. There were 4 families and 22 children, all of whom participated in the entire rosary. Sure, some of the little ones were wandering a bit, but anybody older than 4 or so sat and prayed for the whole thing. The kids led the decades.
 
babochka said:
We pray the rosary daily as a family because my eldest son, then 8, asked us to pray it. I must admit, I would not pray it if I were not trying to set an example for my children and honor their wishes. It is not my favorite prayer, but it is a beautiful devotion and worthy of praise and respect. My 5 children, ages 3-12, each take turns praying the decades. The three-year-old rarely gets through more than 3 or 4 prayers before somebody else has to step in and finish the decade, but the others all do a remarkable job. Last night I attended a dinner at a friends house and we prayed the rosary together. There were 4 families and 22 children, all of whom participated in the entire rosary. Sure, some of the little ones were wandering a bit, but anybody older than 4 or so sat and prayed for the whole thing. The kids led the decades.
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Beautiful!
 
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