Praying the rosary

[SHoJ]

I’m not a rosary pray-er. I just haven’t gotten into it. With Lent coming up soon, I want to do something that throws me out of my comfort zone - like praying the rosary daily. After doing some reading online, I have a few questions.

How long does it take to pray a set of mysteries (joyful, sorrowful, etc.)?

Do I have to pray the mysteries on the specified days? (joyful on Mon/Sat, luminous on Thurs, sorrowful on Sun/Tues/Fri, glorious on Wed) Or can I pray the joyful one day, luminous the next, sorrowful the next and glorious the next and repeat that cycle throughout Lent? I think it would make sense to pray the sorrowful mysteries on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, no matter where I am in the “rotation”.

Is it wrong to pray the Nicene Creed instead of the Apostles’ Creed?

What about the Prayer to St Michael the Archangel? Is it right or wrong to pray this at the end of the rosary? Does it go before or after the Hail, Holy Queen?

What prayers do I have to pray after finishing all the decades for the day?

When praying the Hail, Holy Queen/Rosary Prayer, how do I pray the bolded parts below if I’m by myself? It seems funny that I would say, “Let us pray,” if I’m by myself.

HAIL, HOLY QUEEN, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
**
V. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray. **O GOD, whose only begotten Son, by His life, death, and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life, grant, we beseech Thee, that meditating upon these mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Immacolata]

I’m not a rosary pray-er. I just haven’t gotten into it. With Lent coming up soon, I want to do something that throws me out of my comfort zone - like praying the rosary daily. After doing some reading online, I have a few questions.

It is good to see you will be doing something for Our Lord that Our Lady asked of us. Good luck!

How long does it take to pray a set of mysteries (joyful, sorrowful, etc.)?

If you do it properly, by taking time to meditate on the Mysteries, it should take you about 45 minutes to an hour (that’s how long it takes me). However, some can get through it quicker than others.

Do I have to pray the mysteries on the specified days? (joyful on Mon/Sat, luminous on Thurs, sorrowful on Sun/Tues/Fri, glorious on Wed) Or can I pray the joyful one day, luminous the next, sorrowful the next and glorious the next and repeat that cycle throughout Lent? I think it would make sense to pray the sorrowful mysteries on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, no matter where I am in the “rotation”

No, you do not need to pray the Mysteries on the specified days. You can, but if you feel a particular set of Mysteries would work on a particular day (such as Sorrowful on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday), you may do so. The specified days are not set in stone.

Is it wrong to pray the Nicene Creed instead of the Apostles’ Creed?

I’m not particularly sure; however, most versions of the Rosary (along with my Rosary books, guidelines on the internet for the Rosary, etc.) I’ve seen have used the Apostles’ Creed.

What about the Prayer to St Michael the Archangel? Is it right or wrong to pray this at the end of the rosary? Does it go before or after the Hail, Holy Queen?

Again, not particularly sure because I’ve never heard of it. I’ve seen a few prayers used at the end of the Rosary, such as the ones I use: “Glory Be”, “Fatima Prayer,” “O God, Whose…” prayer, and the “Hail, Holy Queen.” In my Rosary guideline books, I’ve seen the instruction to do “Hail, Holy Queen”, then the Sign of the Cross.

What prayers do I have to pray after finishing all the decades for the day?

Read above for my suggestions; others are more knowledgeable than I and would know more.

When praying the Hail, Holy Queen/Rosary Prayer, how do I pray the bolded parts below if I’m by myself? It seems funny that I would say, “Let us pray,” if I’m by myself.

Myself, I say both of the first bolded parts (“V” and “R”); however, I wouldn’t except you to say “Let us pray.” At times, I have, but most times I do not.

Thanks for your help.

You are welcome! May Our Lady bless you through her intercessions with your prayer of her Holy Rosary. God bless.

 

[louisak]

It takes me about 1/2 hour - 30 minutes - to pray one set of mysteries.

When praying the Salve Regina alone, I recite all the words that you highlighted in blue, except for the phase “Let us pray”.

 

[yellow8yellowM]

How long does it take to pray a set of mysteries (joyful, sorrowful, etc.)?

For me, very fast = 20 minutes; Normal = 30; very slow = 40 minutes. Just like driving to work, the time flies by every time. And don’t get discouraged if it feels like work or if you can’t wait to finish. This is normal. In time you may feel like praying the rosary all day, but maybe not. The important thing is that you do it; feelings are secondary.

What about the Prayer to St Michael the Archangel? Is it right or wrong to pray this at the end of the rosary? Does it go before or after the Hail, Holy Queen?

I think there should be no problem saying any prayers after the Salve Regina. Say as many as you want. I often say the St. Michael and St. Benedict prayers.

God bless you.

 

[MaryT777]

At Daily Mass we pray one set between 20-25 minutes. We pray from 11:30 and we are to stop by 11:55 so parishioners coming to daily Mass at 12:10 may enjoy the silence.
It works outs well for everybody.
You basically pray at the pace the leader is praying which varies from person to person.
I would imagine it does not matter as long as you are praying the rosary the length of time you take.
Peace in Christ.
Mary.

 

[MarkEzraB]

I say mine using an mp3 I downloaded from rosaryarmy.com and they all vary from twenty to thirty min.

 

[CallMeDad]

I have often reflected on the grammatical perspective utilized by prayers such as the Our Father. The entire prayer is said in the first person plural, and to me that signifies that although we may pray by ourselves, we never pray alone. I often call upon a deceased relative, or a Saint, to join me in the prayer, or I just pray it on behalf of my own family.

Either way, it would not seem weird to me to pray “let us pray,” in light of the choice of person used by Jesus himself in giving us the Lord’s Prayer.

 

[maltmom]

I like to pray along with the scriptural rosary from this site. scripturalrosary.org/BeginningPrayers.html You can see which mysteries are assigned to each day. I play the audio done by Bill. Since I don’t know the closing prayers, I open another tab and have them up so I can read along. Before each Hail Mary the part of scripture pertaining to the mystery is read. It helps me meditate more deeply on the mystery.

I was having problems with the audio freezing up at their site so sent an e-mail to Bill. He gave me another website to try that had the audio. scripturalrosary.wordpress.com

 

[awsiukiewicz]

I’m not a rosary pray-er. I just haven’t gotten into it. With Lent coming up soon, I want to do something that throws me out of my comfort zone - like praying the rosary daily. After doing some reading online, I have a few questions.

How long does it take to pray a set of mysteries (joyful, sorrowful, etc.)?

Do I have to pray the mysteries on the specified days? (joyful on Mon/Sat, luminous on Thurs, sorrowful on Sun/Tues/Fri, glorious on Wed) Or can I pray the joyful one day, luminous the next, sorrowful the next and glorious the next and repeat that cycle throughout Lent? I think it would make sense to pray the sorrowful mysteries on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, no matter where I am in the “rotation”.

Is it wrong to pray the Nicene Creed instead of the Apostles’ Creed?

What about the Prayer to St Michael the Archangel? Is it right or wrong to pray this at the end of the rosary? Does it go before or after the Hail, Holy Queen?

What prayers do I have to pray after finishing all the decades for the day?

When praying the Hail, Holy Queen/Rosary Prayer, how do I pray the bolded parts below if I’m by myself? It seems funny that I would say, “Let us pray,” if I’m by myself.

Thanks for your help.

 

[awsiukiewicz]

Congrats…and good for you…‘something out of yr comfort Zone’…I happen to have great Marion devotion and love Praying the Holy Rosary…meditative, Biblical, the rhythm, the mantra…takes me about 20 minutes for one mystery…there are specific days recommended for each…hever…as stated here by others…it’s really not that important to get hung up what day it is…I happen to pray the Rosary in Latin…his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI actually most recently suggested that Catholics familiarize themselves with praying the basic prayers in Latin. another little note…St Pio (Padre Pio)…reportedly was neve caught without the Rosary in his hand…and it is said that he would shout out…“Bring me my weapon”…I could go on an on about the Rosary…but anyway…May God Bless you and you have made my day…PAX

 

[fred_conty]

ShoJ, here are some guidelines.
The full rosary consists of 15 decades, 5 joyful, 5 sorrowful, 5 glorious.
It starts with the creed, our father, 3 hail marys, glory be.
Then the 5 joyful, 5 sorrowful, 5 glorious.

The short rosary consists of creed, our father, 3 hail marys, glory be.
Then either 5 joyful, or 5 sorrowful, or 5 glorious.

Each 1 decade consists of our father, 10 hail marys, and glory be.

That’s it. That is traditional.

Now some like to embellish it with other prayers which is fine.

One favorite prayer is said after each glory be. It’s the Fatima prayer which Mary said to include in the rosary to the 3 children. The following is the prayer;
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, take all souls to heaven, and help especially those most in need.

Some like to say the “Hail Holy Queen” at the end of the rosary. Others like the Memorary.

Some like to mention a specific intention at the beginning, and some like to say a specific intention before each decade. And some do not like to say intentions.

The St. Michael Prayer is said by some at the beginning, or at the end, or after each decade.

And there are prayers sometimes said to a patron saint.

So as you can see, it’s really free form for the most part and whatever you like is fine.

Below are some addition helps.

Thoughts for each decade of the rosary, for each bead.
rosary-center.org/joyful.htm
rosary-center.org/luminous.htm
rosary-center.org/glorious.htm
rosary-center.org/sorrow.htm

History of the Rosary
catholicapologetics.org/ap080600.htm

You can try Methods of saying the Rosary by St. Louis de Montfort
montfort.org.uk/Writings/MSR.html

Scriptural rosary
ainglkiss.com/ros/sr.htm

How to say and pray the rosary
familyrosary.org/en/TheRosary.aspx

Thoughts for each decade of the rosary
rosary-center.org/howto.htm

Scriptual thoughts
how-to-pray-the-rosary-everyday.com/military-victories-through-the-rosary.html

Pray the rosary in 17 minutes with online audio.
catholicity.com/cds/rosary.html