Praying rosary

[PRAYER51]

Hi Everyone,

Does it matter, when praying the Rosary if I say the prayers vocally (out loud) or if I say the words mentally (in my mind)? I’ve prayed the Rosary both ways but always wondered if the former way (mentally) was valid or counted ?

THANKS!!!

 

[thistle]

Hi Everyone,

Does it matter, when praying the Rosary if I say the prayers vocally (out loud) or if I say the words mentally (in my mind)? I’ve prayed the Rosary both ways but always wondered if the former way (mentally) was valid or counted ?

THANKS!!!

It makes absolutely no difference.

 

[PRAYER51]

Maybe I’m being overly scrupulous here, but how can you be so sure???

 

[thistle]

Maybe I’m being overly scrupulous here, but how can you be so sure???

You are being overly scrupulous.
In the first place The Rosary is a private devotion which you are not required to pray.
Second, we are not obliged to pray audibly. You may pray out loud or silently.

2664 There is no other way of Christian prayer than Christ.** Whether our prayer is communal or personal, vocal or interior, it has access to the Father only if we pray “in the name” of Jesus.** The sacred humanity of Jesus is therefore the way by which the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray to God our Father.

 

[Ad_Orientem]

I disagree with those who said it doesn’t matter.

The rosary consists of vocal prayer and mental prayer. If you’re not doing vocal prayer, it’s not the rosary. This does matter, because there are indulgences and (according to private revelations) other benefits attached to praying the rosary. If we’re not doing what is asked, is it not presumptuous to lay claim to these benefits?

That is not to say that a strictly “mental rosary” is worthless or fruitless or displeasing to God. On the contrary, it may be that you obtain great benefits from it. But again, in my opinion it’s not the rosary.

 

[PRAYER51]

I agree with Thistle’s answer to my question…to pray is to pray in spirit and truth…it is a thing of the heart … we need to be careful of avoiding any kind of over scrupulosity/superstition about praying the right way so that it " counts with God".
I think God in his mercy has a more charitable view on this matter and will bless either method if done with a sincere heart. Here is a wonderful answer to my question that I found online:
catholicforum.fisheaters.com/index.php?topic=754770.5;wap2

 

[PRAYER51]

The Rosary is what is known as a “vocal prayer,” as opposed to a “mental prayer.” The difference between the two is not necessarily what you might think, since a “vocal prayer” can be prayed silently, and a “mental prayer” can be prayed out loud. The difference is that a vocal prayer is a prayer that is already written - like the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Te Deum, the Creed, the Adoro Te Devote, etc. A mental prayer is spontaneous conversation with God. As we grow in our spirituality, we should be gradually learning how to use mental, contemplative prayer, since this is the higher form of prayer. The Rosary is the best all-around devotion for many reasons, and this is one of them: it’s a vocal prayer (which is the easier method of prayer) which gradually leads you into contemplative and mental prayer. But understand that this is the order and hierarchy. The “vocal prayer” part of the Rosary is there to lead you into mental contemplation; when you reach that point where you are deep in meditation, you’ve reached the goal of the Rosary. There is absolutely nothing wrong with stopping the vocal prayer part of the Rosary in order to enter more deeply into the mental prayer - it would be strange of you to do otherwise. What would you say about a man who was trying to win the heart of a girl by reciting her poetry, and when he finally got her attention and she came in close for a kiss, he stopped her and said, “No, no, please don’t distract me, I have to finish reading this book of poems to you”? The Rosary’s vocal prayers are, if you will, an appeal to God to let us enter into the “inner sanctum” and converse with Him; when He grants that grace to us, how foolish would it be to say to Him, “Sorry, no time right now, have to get moving on to this next mystery!” My personal practice? I try to set aside a solid 60-90 minutes of time that I know is “mine,” in which I can pray uninterrupted - for me, that ended up being Saturday mornings from 6:30-8:00 in the morning, before anyone else in the house is up. That time belongs to Our Lady, and I pray the ave beads slowly, giving myself plenty of time to meditate on each mystery. I leave it in Our Lord’s hands at that point. Sometimes He grants the graces to delve deeply into, say for example, the Annunciation and the Presentation, but not the Visitation, the Nativity, or the Finding in the Temple. It varies from Saturday to Saturday. But the point is, if Our Lord draws me into a particular mystery, I know I have a lot of time to spend on it, so I will stop at whatever bead I’m on and just “pause” things for a while. Then I move on and continue praying the beads. I believe it was St. Francis de Sales who talked about this, and he used the analogy of a bee flying from flower to flower - when it finds a good flower, it lands and lingers for a while. We should do the same. Now, I have three small children. I don’t have the luxury of being able to do this every day of the week, so I have little choice but to just pray the “15-minute Rosary” most days - but practicing mental prayer is something all Catholics should be doing. It is the path to spiritual perfection.

 

[ccmcmg]

Hi Everyone,

Does it matter, when praying the Rosary if I say the prayers vocally (out loud) or if I say the words mentally (in my mind)? I’ve prayed the Rosary both ways but always wondered if the former way (mentally) was valid or counted ?

THANKS!!!

God can hear us exactly the same whether it’s prayed silently or aloud.

For some, praying out loud can be distracting; for others, praying silently can be distracting. Likewise, each way, for some, can be either more spiritual and prayerful, or less.

So, if we are going to go this far, what about Rosaries or Chaplets that are prayed with a leader, who prays aloud the first part, and the group prays aloud the second half? Or praying along with video or audio? Or in front of a statue of Mary?

The 15 promises of praying the Rosary do not mention out loud or silently:
themostholyrosary.com/15promises.htm

Reference and thoughts from a previous thread:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=141433

For indulgences: (however, I didn’t start praying the Rosary for indulgences; I only found out about those later. It’s good to pray the Rosary, or do other things, not because they are indulgences, but because it’s the right thing to do. I do some special things/occasions when indulgences are made available, but not that often for other things.)

According to CA:
catholic.com/quickquestions/do-the-indulgences-granted-for-praying-the-rosary-require-that-all-of-the-mysteries-a
A plenary indulgence is granted when the rosary is recited in a church or oratory or when it is recited in a family, a religious community, or a pious association. A partial indulgence is granted for its recitation in all other circumstances.

themostholyrosary.com/indulgences.htm
Plenary: Out loud
Partial: silently or other conditions

A Plenary Indulgence…
may be gained (under the usual conditions) when the Rosary is prayed in Church, in a family group or in a religious community. Also:

• Five (5) decades of the Rosary must be prayed continuously.
• The prayers of the Rosary must be prayed vocally and one must meditate upon the Mysteries of the Rosary.
• If the recitation of the Rosary is public, the Mysteries of the Rosary must be announced

.
A Partial Indulgence…
One may gain a partial indulgence for the Rosary’s recitation in whole or in part in other circumstances.

A Plenary Indulgence…
can be gained only once a day (except by those who are in danger of death.)

• to gain a plenary indulgence one must perform the indulgenced act. Three other conditions must be fulfilled:

A sacramental confession
Eucharistic Communion
Prayers for the Pope’s intentions
In addition, one must be free of all attachments to sin, even venial sin. If this complete integrity is not present or if the above conditions are not fulfilled the indulgence is only partial. Both a plenary and partial indulgence may be applied to the dead.

I personally have received many blessings that I attribute directly to my praying the Rosary, either immediately or throughout the past year and a half. I can also tell you that many of my prayers have not been out loud.

Keep praying the Rosary, in whichever you feel is your deepest prayer. It doesn’t have to be exclusively aloud or silent in your heart.

 

[garyo49]

Hi Everyone,

Does it matter, when praying the Rosary if I say the prayers vocally (out loud) or if I say the words mentally (in my mind)? I’ve prayed the Rosary both ways but always wondered if the former way (mentally) was valid or counted ?

THANKS!!!

I don’t think it really matters, but I’ve always though it better to pray vocally. What matters is praying the Rosary, every day.

 

[TK421]

Maybe I’m being overly scrupulous here, but how can you be so sure???

We don’t require affirmation of whether or not something is good. Goodness is the default, and the behaviors that deviate from what is good are explicitly taught to us.

However - and this is my educator-self speaking - I would encourage you to try praying them vocally and conditioning that habit into you. Engaging your senses is beneficial for immersion, but you are free to disregard my advice and all prayer that is done with noble intent is a beautiful fragrance to God.

 

[corsair]

The wife and I pray at least one Rosary vocally together each day. During the day I pray the Rosary numerous times, mentally. Sometimes while driving I’ll use an mp3 player with ear phones. Many times I will not have a Rosary with me but I have 10 fingers.