Praying the Rosary

  • Thread starter Thread starter meg113
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

meg113

Guest
So I’ve been pretty dedicated to praying the Rosary once a day. But it feels like I never really want to pray it. It feels like I’m always thinking, almost done, almost done. But it’s not like I’m really rushing. It takes me a about 40-45 minutes at most to pray it. I try and meditate on the mysteries but It feels really repetitive. I don’t find the joy and peace that others find. I mean sometimes I feel I do, but I think that’s more near the end because I know I’m almost done. I know this sounds horrible but I really do want to pray the Rosary. I know our blessed Mother wants us to but I just can’t find the true peace. I always feel like I’d rather just not pray. How do I get past this?
 
meg113 said:
So I’ve been pretty dedicated to praying the Rosary once a day. But it feels like I never really want to pray it. It feels like I’m always thinking, almost done, almost done. But it’s not like I’m really rushing. It takes me a about 40-45 minutes at most to pray it. I try and meditate on the mysteries but It feels really repetitive. I don’t find the joy and peace that others find. I mean sometimes I feel I do, but I think that’s more near the end because I know I’m almost done. I know this sounds horrible but I really do want to pray the Rosary. I know our blessed Mother wants us to but I just can’t find the true peace. I always feel like I’d rather just not pray. How do I get past this?
Click to expand...
First of all, please don’t listen to claims that go along the lines of “praying the rosary gives me great peace”. Generally speaking, these are exaggerations and/or originate from people who are delusional. The rosary is not opium. It is a prayer seeking the Blessed Virgin Mary’s intercession to God. It’s advisable not to take such claims seriously because they can make you feel as if you’re not praying correctly, or that you’re somehow different (in a negative sense).

It is perfectly normal to detest praying the rosary because of it’s length. This actually indicates the sacrifice that you have made for God, and in turn is more likely to appease Him. No sacrifice is enjoyable. You should read “The Secret of the Rosary” by St. Louis de Montfort. He explains how powerful the rosary is. You can offer up your suffering for your past sins or the Holy Souls in Purgatory. In addition, it is said that it takes 21 days to form a habit. Perhaps you should try praying the rosary for 21 days to form a habit of praying it and getting it into your daily life?

If you still dislike (and I mean really dislike) the rosary still, don’t fret. The rosary is a private devotion. It’s not compulsory. You can pray a Chaplet of Divine Mercy (which is a lot shorter), and has a very solid historical backdrop behind it, and is probably just as “efficacious” as the rosary. There are a few other Catholic prayers that are in roughly the same league as that of the rosary.
 
meg113 said:
So I’ve been pretty dedicated to praying the Rosary once a day. But it feels like I never really want to pray it. It feels like I’m always thinking, almost done, almost done. But it’s not like I’m really rushing. It takes me a about 40-45 minutes at most to pray it. I try and meditate on the mysteries but It feels really repetitive. I don’t find the joy and peace that others find. I mean sometimes I feel I do, but I think that’s more near the end because I know I’m almost done. I know this sounds horrible but I really do want to pray the Rosary. I know our blessed Mother wants us to but I just can’t find the true peace. I always feel like I’d rather just not pray. How do I get past this?
Click to expand...
I recommend a good book by Father Benedict Groeschel called The Rosary: Chain of Hope.
 
There are some time when I do not feel as I as diligent as I should be when praying the rosary and think that maybe I should stop for awhile to rediscover whatever it is I think I am missing. But when I think of a day of not saying the rosary, I feel like a part of my day is missing. As it was stated, it is a private devotion, but no prayer is unnecessary or unwanted.
 
meg113 said:
So I’ve been pretty dedicated to praying the Rosary once a day. But it feels like I never really want to pray it. It feels like I’m always thinking, almost done, almost done. But it’s not like I’m really rushing. It takes me a about 40-45 minutes at most to pray it. I try and meditate on the mysteries but It feels really repetitive. I don’t find the joy and peace that others find. I mean sometimes I feel I do, but I think that’s more near the end because I know I’m almost done. I know this sounds horrible but I really do want to pray the Rosary. I know our blessed Mother wants us to but I just can’t find the true peace. I always feel like I’d rather just not pray. How do I get past this?
Click to expand...
You may be interested in trying the Scriptural Rosary. A short scriptural is included before each Hail Mary prayer. Here is the link:

ainglkiss.com/ros/sr.htm

Just click on the set of mysteries you want, and if you like that set up for praying the Rosary (I know it helps me concentrate on the prayer better)…then you can print it out. Also, most Catholic bookstores sell Scriptural Rosary books.
 
I’ve been praying the rosary every evening for a year now, and just like you, it takes at least 45 minutes (sometimes an hour if my mind really wanders). I managed to get it down to 20 minutes once, but felt it was pointless to rush through it like that.

Takes about two and a half hours for me to pray the ENTIRE rosary at one time. I’ve only done it a few times when there was an urgent request (and yes, they were all answered, although not always as I had envisioned).

It’s my main daily prayer because I expand on the various parts of the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father) the first time I pray it and add my specific requests to it plus thanksgiving. So that first Lord’s Prayer is the main centerpiece for me.

I admit it is often tedious although it helps to go for a walk or at least be outside when I pray it. Oddly enough when I do make an effort to pray a part of it properly with full attention, I am immediately greeted with a gentle pleasant breeze. It is probably coincidence, but it has happened consistently, and motivates me to try harder.

I make an effort to pray each “Our Father” seriously, concentrating on each phrase. Sometimes I have to repeat it because my mind wanders. Sometimes after several attempts to reign in my severely distracted mind, I’ll just finish it and say “that was good enough” and move on to the next part.

It seems that the only place I can pray the Rosary and be totally free of distraction is in Church. The difference is amazing!

I can’t get myself to view the Hail Mary as “background music” while I meditate on the mysteries as some have suggested because it seems a little rude, so I say each one with the view that I’m talking to Mary and she is listening. When I get to the part where Jesus is mentioned, I pause and remember the mystery if it is about Jesus. I’ll reflect on the mysteries related to Mary at a different point in the prayer.

I’m usually good at multitasking if it involves different parts of me (ie. mind and hands engaged in different things) but praying one thing and meditating on another uses the same brain and I haven’t been successful at it. No wonder it all takes so long.

Usually it is a dry exercise, but the first time I ever prayed the rosary last year I cried uncontrollably (what a mess). It has happened a few times since that.
 
Hi Meg. I completely get what you’re saying. I have been saying the rosary everyday, like Russ, for about a year now. I too sometimes find it hard to really focus. I would say that there have been a few things along the way that have helped me get on track.

First, I would recommend the books mentioned. However, I found that getting a simple dollar mysteries booklet from your local catholic bookstore can be a great help. Reading the scripture first before diving into the mystery helps paint a clearer picture for your meditation.

Second, do a google search and print out some pictures of the mysteries or download them on your phone. You can look at the pictures while praying to the blessed virgin in order to help “stay on track”.

Third, I have heard mentioned quite often (and even mentioned in St. Louis de Montfort’s book) that you should take time and consider every word you are praying. I do understand this, but I think in the end whatever helps you connect closer to Mary and her Son is what counts. For me, I try to let the prayers flow at a normal pace. I agree with Russ that I can’t treat the prayers as background music and I too will stop and restart a prayer if I believe I have been a bit careless. But I have found that by keeping a natural rhythm, and not taking long breaks in between each prayer, that I can focus closer on the mysteries.

Lastly, Where are you saying the rosary? Do you have anything coming up afterwards that you feel might be making you a bit anxious? I tend to do mine at night BEFORE I get tired. Also, try staying a few minutes after mass sometime and use all the wonderful artwork to inspire you.

Best of luck and God Bless!!!–Matt
 
I pray the Rosary each and every day – each decade is for a particular prayer of mine – my children – my grandchildren – all those people I promised to pray for. I spread the praying out --I say the first two decades with my first cup of coffee – the next two decades when I go for a walk out to our beautiful park in San Francisco – and I save the last decade before I turn out the light at night. Believe me, the Rosary keeps me going every day!!!
 
What really helped me was praying along with a recording. I got some pretty good ones from Rosary Army. It helped not only get through them, but I was able to learn the extra prayers from listening/praying. (They weren’t adding the Fatima Prayer to the Rosary when I was in the Church, that’s how long I’d been gone. 😦 ) But you can find and download mp3’s of the Rosary at that website. They have scriptural (with a verse for each Hail Mary) and regular. You can get through the non-scriptural Rosary in about 20 minutes, for each set of mysteries. Beware if you’re not a fast talker, they tend to be a little speedy. Why do men say prayers so fast??! You would not believe how fast my Pastor got through the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday! LOL
 
meg113 said:
So I’ve been pretty dedicated to praying the Rosary once a day. But it feels like I never really want to pray it. It feels like I’m always thinking, almost done, almost done. But it’s not like I’m really rushing. It takes me a about 40-45 minutes at most to pray it. I try and meditate on the mysteries but It feels really repetitive. I don’t find the joy and peace that others find. I mean sometimes I feel I do, but I think that’s more near the end because I know I’m almost done. I know this sounds horrible but I really do want to pray the Rosary. I know our blessed Mother wants us to but I just can’t find the true peace. I always feel like I’d rather just not pray. How do I get past this?
Click to expand...
Not many pray a perfect Rosary from stat to finish . I mean the point is to meditate on the mysteries while praying the prayers and your supposed to have a clear mind while doing it .Dont feel bad because it is difficult at times .If the Rosary is too long or time consuming perhaps a Novena would do . You can always just talk to God he is always listening . I mean have a conversation as well as pray . Just a thought
 
I have been praying a daily Rosary for over five and a half years. I had no intention at the time of praying a daily Rosary because I had previously did the 54 day Rosary Novena and I struggled greatly to finish it. It was during Lent in 2006 and I had gotten the free Rosary CD from the Mary Foundation. I started praying with the CD and it felt like I was with a group. When Lent ended I just continued on. I’ve bought other Rosary CD’s over the years but now for the most part prefer to say it myself. Maybe you could try that.

Try to set a time to pray so you get in the routine. What works best for me is early in the morning. Yes my mind wanders a lot while praying the Rosary but I offer up my wandering thoughts and weak prayers for the souls in Purgatory and conversion of sinners.

I take no credit for praying a daily Rosary. It is a grace from God with a lot of help from the Blessed Virgin Mary that I am able to do this. I know on my own I would never be able to do it.
 
One message of Fatima is that Our Lady said to sacrifice and offer it up to God. The Rosary is a sacrifice. When you pray offer it up for sinners. I usually offer Rosaries for dead loved ones.
 
kimbari said:
What really helped me was praying along with a recording. I got some pretty good ones from Rosary Army. It helped not only get through them, but I was able to learn the extra prayers from listening/praying. (They weren’t adding the Fatima Prayer to the Rosary when I was in the Church, that’s how long I’d been gone. 😦 ) But you can find and download mp3’s of the Rosary at that website. They have scriptural (with a verse for each Hail Mary) and regular. You can get through the non-scriptural Rosary in about 20 minutes, for each set of mysteries. Beware if you’re not a fast talker, they tend to be a little speedy. Why do men say prayers so fast??! You would not believe how fast my Pastor got through the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday! LOL
Click to expand...
I have no clue what’s with guys and talking fast. My catechist speeds through rosaries when we do them in class. It takes me alone 20-25 minutes, in class with Mr. M we take 10-15!
 
I am blessed (and cursed) to have a very good imagination. The cursed part is what leads me to sin sometimes. The blessed part is what helps me meditate on the mysteries when I pray the Rosary. I’m trying to pray it at least 3-4 times a week, working up to daily. Like someone else said, I do best when my vocal prayer becomes a flowing rhythm in which I pray every word with sincerity, yet part of my mind can visualize the mystery, complete with animated persons who are talking, such as with the Annunciation. For the Our Father, Glory Be and Oh My Jesus parts I break the rhythm and say each with a short break in between. I cannot say any of the prayers silently in my head. I get way to distracted for that. But I too still get distracted at times and cannot finish the Rosary. WHen that happens I move along and come back to it later.
 
I can’t pray silently in my head either. I used to do it that way all the time but apparently I’ve lost the ability, and don’t miss it. I have to at least whisper if I can’t say them out loud.

I liked the suggestion that the Rosary prayers can be considered be a sacrifice. That will keep things in perspective when I start to feel tired.

I also like the idea of spreading it out over a day. I’ll have to try it.

I was looking at the book suggestions and bought one at Amazon for my Kindle that hasn’t been mentioned in this thread: “101 Inspirational Stories of the Rosary” by Patricia Proctor

I’ve read the first few and I think this will be a great source of inspiration and motivation!

BTW not all guys pray fast. My problem is I pray too slow. 🙂 The past few nights I’ve tried to pray the rosary in Japanese and that slowed me way down!
 
Thank you for the advice. I have been saying it for more than half a year now daily. (Only missing once in a while when something comes us). I usually pray at night but not that late. I did fall asleep when I had one decade left but I finished when I woke up.

I guess I do just worry about whether I’m saying the prayers well enough. I find that I restart prayers a lot. I do like praying while walking outside and I sometimes do split it up during the day.

So you don’t think it would be bad if there are days when I can’t pray. I know this year i’m probably going to have a lot of studying to do and I don’t always have a lot of time after school. You don’t think our blessed mother would be mad if I don’t really have time to pray on somedays. I mean I’ll try my best. But I just feel like its the biggest sin not to pray the rosary when I know our lady asked us to and so many people are in need of help. I’m very scrupulous too. My biggest problem. Haha
 
Another suggestion: I’ve heard this more than once with regard to prayer. Do your best to focus on what you are saying. If you feel the need to do the prayer over again because you think your mind strayed somewhat,…do not repeat the prayer! Just keep on going, doing your best.

This suggestion has been given by more than one spiritual director, and I have read it in books on prayer. The reason for this is that it can become so tiresome thinking that you are not totally focused on the prayer, and then repeating it, that a person can be tempted to give up on the prayer.
 
I wonder if you might be causing yourself some anxiety by being too intense about the rosary, and so you start to feel a bit of dread about saying it. By intensity, I’m first struck by your saying it in 45 minutes. Do you mean ONE rosary of 5 decades, that is the NORMAL DAILY rosary? If so I cannot possibly imagine how you are spending 45 minutes, no wonder it’s a chore. It takes me 15 minutes to say a rosary, at a regular speaking pace. Are you stopping and starting and worrying over what you should concentrate on? Or adding too many extra petitions or prayers? Even Mother Angelica and her nuns on EWTN, who say the rosary extremely slowly, still finish in about 20 minutes, don’t they? We’ve all been to rosaries at wakes, at church, at family gatherings. A group rosary is at most always about 20 minutes. You are adding something in there that is making this much more difficult than necessary.
 
Yeah I’m only praying the 5 decades and it takes me that long. And even then, i feel like I’m saying it too fast. I know when i’ve prayed in groups I would have to go back and re-pray because I felt like my focus wasn’t good enough and so I would resay the decade at my house.

At the start of every rosary I feel the need to think of a specific intention so this can be I pray for the sick…and that will turn into…those who feel afraid that they’ll have strength, never give up. And I keep adding intentions like it’ll go from the sick, to the souls in purgatory, to the soldiers over seas.

I feel like that takes some time.

I mean I still love saying the rosary but it’s very hard for me some days and I feel like it’s more that somedays I might just be too lazy. Once I get started it gets okay. It’s just somedays when I think about it, it does seem like a chore and I don’t mean to give any offense to our Blessed Mother because it does bring me peace when i’ve finished. I do feel like I am closer to God. I just really don’t want to view this as a chore.
 
I guess I should try to bring mine down to 20 minutes from 45 plus, but I’ve set aside at least that much time for it so it’s not a big problem. Last night I did manage to bring it down to around thirty minutes.

What I find amazing is that even if I doze off for parts and even slip into dreaming for a few seconds, when I wake up, I’m still saying the words out loud! Maybe it’s because I’m standing the whole time, but it’s weird…
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top