Praying the Rosary

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CuriousFaith

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Over the summer, I went to a youth conference where one of the speakers talked about “going to war” over her future husband-to-be. She said that she started praying for his conversion, for his eyes to be opened to the Lord, and for him to be made ready to be her husband. But one thing she didn’t really talk about was HOW to do that. So my first thought was to pray a Novena Rosary. So for 27 days, I prayed for my husband-to-be, and then I thanked Mary for listening to my prayers for the next 27. And after the first 54 days, I realized that praying the Rosary had become such a part of my day that it felt weird to stop. So I began another one. I am almost finished with my second 54 day Novena. However, I have discovered that I really have no idea how to pray the Rosary.

To start, I am a college student. My days can be busy with classes, and my evenings can be busy with studying. Second, I do have a roommate who is not Catholic. I have integrated my Rosary into my evening routine of getting ready for bed, meaning I pray while I brush my teeth and such, so that I make sure it gets done every day. I use a rosary app or a little decade bracelet I have, depending. I also sometimes pray in the shower. I am wondering if this is improper?

I have tried praying while in bed before, and on many occasions, I have almost fallen asleep, or my mind wanders. God has blessed me with ADD, so many times, even with a Rosary in my hands, I often loose track of my Hail Mary’s, or completely forget which mystery I’m on. I constantly have to bring my mind back to the rosary, as my mind begins to wander in the middle of a prayer. I have just started listening to music while praying, as it makes me have to focus on the prayers rather than the music, plus the music is all instrumental so it adds a calming background noise rather than the noises of the dorm. I know we are supposed to meditate on the mysteries of the Rosary, but I am at such a loss at how to do so. I can’t even meditate to de-stress because my mind wanders too much and I constantly have to remind myself that I am supposed to be relaxing. I have tried thinking about the mysteries, especially the sorrowful mysteries (I just think of the scenes of The Passion of the Christ movie), but I still end up having to pull my mind away from thinking about tomorrow’s exam, for example.

So, I guess what I’m asking with my rant is:
Is praying while preparing for bed wrong (I don’t pray while going to the bathroom, just brushing teeth and washing face type of thing)?
Does anyone have any tricks to help them focus on the Rosary while praying?
How do you meditate on the mysteries?
And as an aside, does anyone know of any other prayers for petitioning, or prayers that could be used to pray for a future spouse?

Thank you all so much, and God Bless!
 
Hi! I’m a college student as well, and thus can relate to your prayer struggles. I am often restless and distracted myself, yet I still find time to pray as I have found that doing so brings so much blessings (Plus I’m sure the Lord understands why our prayers are like this. In fact, I think He’s even thankful we still found time to talk to Him!) 🙂 I hope this prayer practice of mine will help you: I just sit quietly before the Lord and bring whatever ideas come to mind to Him. At least I honor Him with my ideas and the gift He has given me (that of a mine which is drawn to most branches of learning, not to brag)! 🙂

I don’t think that praying before bed is wrong. If that is the only prayer time you can find, then why not? Perhaps you could add night prayer (Compline) from the Liturgy of the Hours before you sleep? I find that it calms me and allows me to reflect on the day.

I do not know what prayers are out there to help you find a spouse but I guess I would pray in my own words to St. Joseph and Our Blessed Lady 🙂
 
A prayer with good intent and reverence is always a good prayer. All of us get distracted at some time or another. Try to just pray one or two decades at a time throughout the day and it might become easier for you. Try to put the toothbrush down:) for a couple of minutes and just concentrate on ONE decade. Peace and prayers.
 
CuriousFaith said:
Over the summer, I went to a youth conference where one of the speakers talked about “going to war” over her future husband-to-be. She said that she started praying for his conversion, for his eyes to be opened to the Lord, and for him to be made ready to be her husband. So my first thought was to pray a Novena Rosary. So for 27 days, I prayed for my husband-to-be, and then I thanked Mary for listening to my prayers for the next 27. And after the first 54 days, I realized that praying the Rosary had become such a part of my day that it felt weird to stop. So I began another one. I am almost finished with my second 54 day Novena. However, I have discovered that I really have no idea how to pray the Rosary.

To start, I am a college student. Second, I do have a roommate who is not Catholic. I have integrated my Rosary into my evening routine of getting ready for bed, meaning I pray while I brush my teeth and such, so that I make sure it gets done every day. I use a rosary app or a little decade bracelet I have, depending. I also sometimes pray in the shower. I am wondering if this is improper?

I have tried praying while in bed before, and on many occasions, I have almost fallen asleep, or my mind wanders. God has blessed me with ADD, so many times, even with a Rosary in my hands, I often loose track of my Hail Mary’s, or completely forget which mystery I’m on. I constantly have to bring my mind back to the rosary, as my mind begins to wander in the middle of a prayer. I have just started listening to music while praying, as it makes me have to focus on the prayers rather than the music, plus the music is all instrumental so it adds a calming background noise rather than the noises of the dorm. I know we are supposed to meditate on the mysteries of the Rosary, but I am at such a loss at how to do so. I have tried thinking about the mysteries, especially the sorrowful mysteries (I just think of the scenes of The Passion of the Christ movie), but I still end up having to pull my mind away from thinking about tomorrow’s exam, for example.

So, I guess what I’m asking with my rant is:
Is praying while preparing for bed wrong (I don’t pray while going to the bathroom, just brushing teeth and washing face type of thing)?
Does anyone have any tricks to help them focus on the Rosary while praying?
How do you meditate on the mysteries?
And as an aside, does anyone know of any other prayers for petitioning, or prayers that could be used to pray for a future spouse?
Click to expand...
I chose to answer your question because, honestly, you made me laugh as I read the account of your experience and it brought back a memory of Saint Augustine and of his mother, Saint Monica. After his conversion, it seems he had the custom to sing the psalms even while he was visiting the outhouse and this practice addled dear Saint Monica. She had prayed for so many years that her son would come to the Lord and, when it happened, apparently his enthusiasm for prayer knew almost no bounds. He gave us the beautiful maxim that he who sings prays twice.

It is actually a wonderful practice to not lose time that otherwise might be mindlessly spent – alone moments, such as in the shower or preparing for bed, are an excellent time to turn to God in prayer. I make use of my transit time to say decades of the rosary – whether in the car or walking. Saint Dominic used to pray as he journeyed.

If you are almost to the end of your second 54 day novena, I think you must be better at saying the rosary than what you are giving yourself credit for!

I appreciate that meditation on the mysteries can be a challenge…all the more so if you have ADD. Perhaps you might consider having at hand, when you are praying the rosary while not in movement, pictures that depict the mysteries – you can look at a picture and, as you think about what you are seeing, say the prayers of the decade. Don’t be discouraged by the difficulty of meditating.

At its most basic, to meditate on the mysteries is to have some image in your mind of the event which the decade commemorates while you verbally or silently say the prayers of that decade. It could be more or less developed – a still image of one aspect or a sort of moving image that traverses the decade – the Nativity, for example, spanning the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the birth and placement of the Child Jesus in the manger, the appearance of the shepherds and the wise men – or some bits thereof.

Some people use what is termed the scriptural rosary that has a passage of scripture for each Hail Mary. That may or may not be helpful but should be findable on the Internet.

There are many saints I can suggest in terms of praying for your future husband. I would especially recommend the Blessed Virgin and Saint Joseph, since it is a pious tradition that Joseph was miraculously pointed out as Heaven’s choice for Mary. Also, Mary’s parents, Saints Joachim and Anne. It seems Saint Anne has a reputation for being something of a heavenly matchmaker. I can certainly say that she is a wonderful saint to be close to.

You might also appeal to the newly canonized Saints, Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of Saint Therese of Lisieux. Saint Thomas More married twice in his lifetime, finding a wife after he was left a widower. And there is Blessed Karl von Hapsburg who was an extraordinary husband and father, as well as the last Emperor of Austria-Hungary.

Finally, as you have had the blessing of becoming acquainted with the 54 day rosary novena, I hope you will always stay close to – and devoted to – Our Lady of the Rosary. You would especially enjoy reading about Blessed Bartolo Longo and the Shrine of the Queen of the Rosary at Pompeii. vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/inquiries-and-interviews/detail/articolo/oessh-42651/
 
CuriousFaith said:
Over the summer, I went to a youth conference where one of the speakers talked about “going to war” over her future husband-to-be. She said that she started praying for his conversion, for his eyes to be opened to the Lord, and for him to be made ready to be her husband. But one thing she didn’t really talk about was HOW to do that. So my first thought was to pray a Novena Rosary. So for 27 days, I prayed for my husband-to-be, and then I thanked Mary for listening to my prayers for the next 27. And after the first 54 days, I realized that praying the Rosary had become such a part of my day that it felt weird to stop. So I began another one. I am almost finished with my second 54 day Novena. However, I have discovered that I really have no idea how to pray the Rosary.

To start, I am a college student. My days can be busy with classes, and my evenings can be busy with studying. Second, I do have a roommate who is not Catholic. I have integrated my Rosary into my evening routine of getting ready for bed, meaning I pray while I brush my teeth and such, so that I make sure it gets done every day. I use a rosary app or a little decade bracelet I have, depending. I also sometimes pray in the shower. I am wondering if this is improper?

I have tried praying while in bed before, and on many occasions, I have almost fallen asleep, or my mind wanders. God has blessed me with ADD, so many times, even with a Rosary in my hands, I often loose track of my Hail Mary’s, or completely forget which mystery I’m on. I constantly have to bring my mind back to the rosary, as my mind begins to wander in the middle of a prayer. I have just started listening to music while praying, as it makes me have to focus on the prayers rather than the music, plus the music is all instrumental so it adds a calming background noise rather than the noises of the dorm. I know we are supposed to meditate on the mysteries of the Rosary, but I am at such a loss at how to do so. I can’t even meditate to de-stress because my mind wanders too much and I constantly have to remind myself that I am supposed to be relaxing. I have tried thinking about the mysteries, especially the sorrowful mysteries (I just think of the scenes of The Passion of the Christ movie), but I still end up having to pull my mind away from thinking about tomorrow’s exam, for example.

So, I guess what I’m asking with my rant is:
Is praying while preparing for bed wrong (I don’t pray while going to the bathroom, just brushing teeth and washing face type of thing)?
Does anyone have any tricks to help them focus on the Rosary while praying?
How do you meditate on the mysteries?
And as an aside, does anyone know of any other prayers for petitioning, or prayers that could be used to pray for a future spouse?

Thank you all so much, and God Bless!
Click to expand...
It is not wrong to pray while one is getting ready for bed (we are told to pray always!), but in your case, I think you might find it more helpful to set aside specific time to pray the rosary and focus only on that. You can look up the various bible references to each mystery before you begin, so they will be more on your mind, and if you look around the various Catholic store websites, you can purchase pictures representing each mystery; it might help to keep your attention to look at them while you are praying. I like to sometimes pray along with a rosary cd or maybe with EWTN, it is like praying with other people in a group. The Archangel Raphael is the patron of happy marriages; you can also pray and ask him to send you a really good husband.
 
St. Teresa of Avila prayed while on the commode, so I’m sure it’s fine to pray in the shower. That said, it is better to set aside some time to say the Rosary when recollected.

To meditate, just put yourself in the presence of your Guardian Angel, Our Lady and Jesus, and give your attention to something relevant to the mystery (a quote, a religious icon etc.).

My favourite Rosary meditations, by far, are those that were allegedly revealed by Our Lord to Servant of God Sr. Benigna Consolata. Here they are (the translation from the Italian might not be perfect):

Meditations on the Rosary given to Sr. Benigna Consolata

**The Joyous Mysteries **
  1. THE INCARNATION
    My Spouse, pant eagerly to imitate My love of annihilation, and hide thyself ever more and
    more; to remain concealed, descend into the knowledge of thy nothingness, sincerely, but with love and confidence.
  2. THE VISITATION
    Seek to give souls as much help as possible, not only directly to those around thee, but also
    to those far away, who are the most numerous; the sons of the Love of Jesus are those who put thee in communication with these souls.
  3. THE NATIVITY
    I seek a place in many hearts where I may be born with My grace. I do not disdain poverty
    and misery provided I find favor there; endeavor by thy sacrifices and, more than all, by a great purity of conscience, to obtain from My love this blessing for souls.
  4. THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE
    You will present Me often to the Eternal Father in the name and in behalf of souls who never do so; I am in many hearts like an unfruitful treasure; they possess Me because they are in
    a state of grace; but they make no use of Me; do thou supply for them.
  5. MY FINDING IN THE TEMPLE
    Seek Me with love; and through the holy arts of true charity, lead Me back to many souls
    whence the demon has driven Me. I am ready to return if each of these will come in search of
    Me, conduct Me back, and then keep Me company there.
**The Dolorous Mysteries **
  1. THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN
    Study as much as thou canst and chiefly if thou art called to preside over the Community
    to console afflicted souls, especially those who are tried by sufferings ; shed into these souls the balm I will give thee from My most loving Heart; pour it out liberally, and be not afraid that it
    will ever fail thee. If thou give it without fear, thou shalt have it always; if thou shouldst fall into distrust, it will cease ; thus exercising charity and confidence, thou wilt console My Heart.
  2. THE SCOURGING AT THE PILLAR
    If thou hast the charge of Superior take care to inculcate a great love of observance: every little infraction of the Rules, of the recommendations of obedience, of charity, are like so many strokes of the scourge inflicted upon My Divine Person: use thy utmost efforts to turn away these blows, even if thou thyself shouldst be a little wounded.
  3. THE CROWNING WITH THORNS
    Art thou Superior ? Well, then, inculcate great fidelity to the thought of My Divine Presence,
    above all, by teaching souls how to take away the thorns from My Head, and to dress the wounds with care and love: this may be effected in two ways:
    (a) By banishing from the mind every evil thought and substituting good ones; for example,
    if the thought is against charity, try to remember some virtue of the person in question; and do the same with persons whom you do not know, and this with the desire of giving Me consolation.
    (b) By discarding promptly from the mind every unworthy thought, and as far as possible
    influencing others to do the same; this pleases Me greatly.
  4. THE CARRYING OF THE CROSS
    Bear with love the weight of cares of the Office which obedience has assigned thee, even when their weight crushes thee most; and when it seems that thou art sinking beneath thy Cross, remember that after My falls under the Cross, Love made Me rise up again and pursue My way; I did not die under a fall; I did not die mid-way; but on the summit of Calvary. To go on continually, to go on whatever it costs, to go on in spite of falls that happen through fragility this it is which brings consolation to My most loving Heart.
  5. THE CRUCIFIXION
    Thou wilt imitate Me if Love holds to thee the place of the nails, the lance, the thorns and
    the scourges; if Love shall do in thee what these instruments did in my body; it is Love that must supply the place of tyrants and cause the soul to pass through a martyrdom not less agonizing.
…
 
**The Glorious Mysteries **
  1. THE RESURRECTION
    Rise with Me after the Sacramental Absolution, and in a special manner after thy retreat ;
    consecrate thyself to a life wholly new, that is, to a risen life as to the spirit; and this will be so
    much the easier if thou wilt aspire joyously to a continual presence of God, to a presence loving and confident, a presence interested because necessary, that makes thee have recourse to Me who am ever present.
  2. THE ASCENSION INTO HEAVEN
    You will ascend into Heaven every time that during recollection you think with joy of the
    beautiful place My love has prepared for you in Paradise, and which you can go on embellishing every day: and, to say nothing of the ascension into Heaven of mystical contemplation, which is not for all but only for those quibus datum est, those to whom this favor is conceded quite gratuitously, you should be solicitous to mount to another Heaven that you can enjoy even in Community, the Heaven of the interior life.
  3. THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY GHOST
    You will be disposed to receive the Holy Spirit every time that you abase and humble yourself,
    because the Spirit of Love hastens to the humble soul; and when an occasion is presented you of teaching others this practice, prepare them to receive the Holy Spirit.
  4. THE ASSUMPTION OF MARY INTO HEAVEN
    Multiply thy inflamed desires for Heaven: the more ardently thou desirest it, the more quickly
    I shall yield to thy desires.
  5. THE CORONATION OF MY MOTHER IN PARADISE
    Recite with fervor the Holy Rosary; but if you have no attraction to pray much vocally, be
    not disturbed ; say only a simple Ave Maria. Our Lady loves more the souls who take the part
    of Mary at My feet, than those who act the part of Martha. Although she loves them all, yet
    she prefers the former because in imitation of her they keep Me faithful company.
 
The only time I pray on the commode is when I have severe stomach cramps & ask Jesus to help me.
Never for regular prayers.
 
CuriousFaith,

I find praying a scriptural rosary the easiest. There’s a line of scripture before every bead, therefore it keeps my focus and I don’t get stuck worrying about what I should be meditating on. You can either buy a scriptural rosary book, follow (or print one) online, or you can even make your own. You’ll find that after a while the scriptures will start to “stick” and you may no longer need the assistance of a print out. Whatever you do, don’t stop praying the rosary daily, the graces are immense and its a wonderful way to express devotion to Our Lady.

I hope this helps.

God Bless,

Josie
 
Wow!

Thank you all so much! You all have such wonderful responses and great suggestions! Thank you again, it is much appreciated!
 
I sometimes use a Rosary CD or a DVD from EWTN and pray along with those – the DVD has stained glass windows for each mystery, and they are beautiful to contemplate.
 
It is very encouraging to see a busy college student regularly pray the Rosary. Keep up the good work!

Yes, it is OK to pray the Rosary any time. I pray the Rosary when I walk or drive. I pray the Rosary when I wash dishes, or in the mid of night when I wake up. And we all get distracted. It is a constant battle to refocus. Relax and keep on praying.

As for other prayers for future spouse, I used to ask St. Anthony help my daughter find the right man to marry. St. Anthony is always wonderful. He is great for many things, not just for finding lost objects.

You can also ask St. Rapheal’s help. He helped Tobiah and Sarah get married.
It is a very good idea to pray for your future spouse. Prayer works. God bless you!
 
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