Praying the Rosary

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Hi.

I’m a Protestant, but have started to pray the Rosary: I love it. I never feel closer to Jesus than when I’m praying it. I’d love to hear from Catholics about how you pray it, and why you love it. I have made some changes to the Rosary though, which I’d like to share:

After each decade, I pray the second verse of the Te Deum on the ‘large bead’. (I still feel uneasy with the Hail Holy Queen). I don’t know if the Te Deum is in the Missal (we Anglicans use it rgularly) so here is the second verse:

You are the King of Glory, O Christ!
You are the everlasting Son of the Father.
When you took our flesh to redeem mankind,
You humbly chose the Virgin’s womb;
You overcame the sting of death
And opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers;
You are seated at the right hand of God
In the glory of the Father.
We believe you will come to be our Judge;
Come then Lord and help your people,
Whom you have redeemed by Your precious Blood…
(Here I add special request)
Bring us with all Your saints to Your eternal kingdom. Amen.

Are Catholics free to ‘meddle’ with the rosary? Do any of you do it?

God bless, TP 🙂
 
The Rosary was given to us by the Blessed Mother to St. Benedict. It is a gift from Our Mother to all of us. I hope you will reconsider saying the prayers as they were intended to assist you on your way to a closer relationship with the Holy Trinity.
 
Rebecca New:
The Rosary was given to us by the Blessed Mother to St. Benedict. It is a gift from Our Mother to all of us. I hope you will reconsider saying the prayers as they were intended to assist you on your way to a closer relationship with the Holy Trinity.
Click to expand...
Actually it was St Dominic.

www.newadvent.org/cathen/13184b.htm

Like you I also think the Rosary should be prayed as intended without changes to the prayers of the Rosary. The OP of course can add his prayer at the end of the Rosary.
 
Thanks for your replies. I have heard the story of how Mary gave the rosary to Dominic, but I assumed that this story was apocryphal. Does the Catholic Church officially teach that this account is true? If not, then it seems reasonable to change the form of the Rosary.
Hasn’t this been done from time to time? Eg, I know only a tiny amount about St Faustina and the Divine Mercy, but didn’t she add prayers to the rosary?
 
I think God will know what’s in the OP’s heart. If he is uncomfortable with the Hail, Holy Queen, then he shouldn’t say it. I’d try and learn more about the prayer though, before I dumped it (no recriminations, here, though).

If you say a prayer, even though you’re uncomfortable with the phraseology, wouldn’t that be vein and repetitious. Our prayers should reflect what’s in our hearts!

God Bless!

Notworthy
 
hi
A couple of things:
  1. I’m knew to CAF and am not entirely familiar with the lingo. What is an OP??
  2. I checked New Advent (thanks thistle), and the article there argues very convincingly that St Dominic could **not ** have introduced the Rosary. If it didn’t come by divine command, then I don’t see why we can’t amend it.
  3. I’ve realised having done a little more reading that Catholics say the Hail Holy Queen at the end of the Rosary, not at the end of each decade. It looks like I’ve been dropping the Our Father! :o
 
tenax propositi:
Thanks for your replies. I have heard the story of how Mary gave the rosary to Dominic, but I assumed that this story was apocryphal. Does the Catholic Church officially teach that this account is true? If not, then it seems reasonable to change the form of the Rosary.
Hasn’t this been done from time to time? Eg, I know only a tiny amount about St Faustina and the Divine Mercy, but didn’t she add prayers to the rosary?
Click to expand...
I don’t think Saint Faustina added to the Rosary, (can’t be sure) personally I wouldn’t mess with the prayer’s.
I did explain my distaste for the Rosary even after joining a confraterinity. Here

Actually I didn’t know this until I read This about there being a link to the psalms of David.
The original Rosary had 150 Hail Mary’s and there are 150 psalms.
Although we now have the mysteries of light.

I say the Rosary now on it’s designated days, Here
 
Eg, I know only a tiny amount about St Faustina and the Divine Mercy, but didn’t she add prayers to the rosary?
Click to expand...
First off you might want to distinguish between a chaplet and a rosary:
ewtn.com/vexperts/showresult.asp?RecNum=419028&Forums=0&Experts=8&Days=2004&Author=&Keyword=Michael&pgnu=1&groupnum=0&record_bookmark=2&ORDER_BY_TXT=ORDER+BY+ReplyDate+DESC&start_at=

So the Chaplet of Divine Mercy is a chaplet although it’s prayed using Rosary beads.
What is an OP??
Click to expand...
Probably original poster (the person who started the thread).
  1. I’ve realised having done a little more reading that Catholics say the Hail Holy Queen at the end of the Rosary, not at the end of each decade. It looks like I’ve been dropping the Our Father!
Click to expand...
Here’s a link if you want to look over how to pray the rosary:
ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/rosary/how_to.htm
 
In a group the rosary should be prayed as a group. However in private, feel free to follow the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. You can even make up your own mysteries! How about meditating on the miracles of Jesus? You can stop in the middle of a decade and follow a thought. You can add prayers that move you or that you feel called to. You can pray a scriptural rosary. You can add words even to the Hail Mary for example: Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women and blessed in the fruit of your womb, Jesus–true God and true Man. or Jesus, born in poverty, Or Jesus, bread of life–etc.

If you aren’t being given inspirations, then go ahead and follow the formula. They are Biblical prayers and pleasing to Heaven.

The Blessed Virgin is so pleased that you love her prayer. She perhaps is inspiring you to modify it to fit your soul. Praise God!!
Every soul is different and attracted to different forms of prayer.

Some feel attached to the traditional form of the rosary. It is a beautiful prayer whether you follow the inspirations of the Holy Spirit to modify it or if you retain its traditional form. I hope everyone makes some time for meditation within their prayer life.

I recommend Father Dubay’s *Prayer Primer. *
 
tenax propositi:
Thanks for your replies. I have heard the story of how Mary gave the rosary to Dominic, but I assumed that this story was apocryphal. Does the Catholic Church officially teach that this account is true? If not, then it seems reasonable to change the form of the Rosary.
Hasn’t this been done from time to time? Eg, I know only a tiny amount about St Faustina and the Divine Mercy, but didn’t she add prayers to the rosary?
Click to expand...
The Chaplet of the Divine Mercy is a totally separate prayer from the Rosary prayer. For convenience the Rosary beads are used. The answer is no St Faustina did not change the Rosary.
 
tenax propositi:
Hi.

I’m a Protestant, but have started to pray the Rosary: I love it. I never feel closer to Jesus than when I’m praying it. I’d love to hear from Catholics about how you pray it, and why you love it. I have made some changes to the Rosary though, which I’d like to share:

After each decade, I pray the second verse of the Te Deum on the ‘large bead’. (I still feel uneasy with the Hail Holy Queen). I don’t know if the Te Deum is in the Missal (we Anglicans use it rgularly) so here is the second verse:

You are the King of Glory, O Christ!
You are the everlasting Son of the Father.
When you took our flesh to redeem mankind,
You humbly chose the Virgin’s womb;
You overcame the sting of death
And opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers;
You are seated at the right hand of God
In the glory of the Father.
We believe you will come to be our Judge;
Come then Lord and help your people,
Whom you have redeemed by Your precious Blood…
(Here I add special request)
Bring us with all Your saints to Your eternal kingdom. Amen.

Are Catholics free to ‘meddle’ with the rosary? Do any of you do it?

God bless, TP 🙂
Click to expand...
 
Could the confusion come from the “***Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the powers (or fires) of hell. And lead all souls into Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy.” *** I understand it was added by Our Lady of Fatima, but I could be wrong. This is said after each decade, after the Glory Be…

God Bless

Notworthy****
 
Rebecca New:
The Rosary was given to us by the Blessed Mother to St. Benedict. It is a gift from Our Mother to all of us. I hope you will reconsider saying the prayers as they were intended to assist you on your way to a closer relationship with the Holy Trinity.
Click to expand...
The problem with this logic is the the “Hail, Holy Queen” is not really part of the Rosary. The “official” Rosary consists of the mysteries, and one “Our Father” and 10 “Hail Mary” prayers per mystery. Everything else (the sign of the cross, the introductory prayers, the Fatima prayer, the Hail, Holy Queen, the Glory Be, etc) are all later additions. They are allowed by the Church, but they are not required.
 
tenax propositi:
Hi.

I’m a Protestant, but have started to pray the Rosary: I love it. I never feel closer to Jesus than when I’m praying it. I’d love to hear from Catholics about how you pray it, and why you love it. I have made some changes to the Rosary though, which I’d like to share:

After each decade, I pray the second verse of the Te Deum on the ‘large bead’. (I still feel uneasy with the Hail Holy Queen). I don’t know if the Te Deum is in the Missal (we Anglicans use it rgularly) so here is the second verse:

You are the King of Glory, O Christ!
You are the everlasting Son of the Father.
When you took our flesh to redeem mankind,
You humbly chose the Virgin’s womb;
You overcame the sting of death
And opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers;
You are seated at the right hand of God
In the glory of the Father.
We believe you will come to be our Judge;
Come then Lord and help your people,
Whom you have redeemed by Your precious Blood…
(Here I add special request)
Bring us with all Your saints to Your eternal kingdom. Amen.

Are Catholics free to ‘meddle’ with the rosary? Do any of you do it?

God bless, TP 🙂
Click to expand...
I am glad to hear that you find the Rosary to be a beneficial way to pray.

The exact way to say the Rosary is not written in stone. When you pray the Rosary privately you are free to add prayers of your choice as the Holy Spirit leads you.

Personally, I prefer the Scriptural Rosary, which has a line of Scripture before each Hail Mary prayer to help in meditating on that Mystery. So, that would be fifty lines of Scripture.

God bless!
 
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Dorothy:
Personally, I prefer the Scriptural Rosary, which has a line of Scripture before each Hail Mary prayer to help in meditating on that Mystery. So, that would be fifty lines of Scripture.

God bless!
Click to expand...
Amen! The Scriptural Rosary helped me overcome so many of the anti-Marian garbage dumped on me, and realize the true destination of our prayers and meditations of the rosary - Jesus!

And ****tenax propositi, I reiterate, I wouldn’t say any prayer that I was uncomfortable with, just to fill a checkbox! It’s got to come from the heart and soul, my friend!

Take Care!

Notworthy**
**
 
First of all, welcome to my world: I am Methodist, & the rosary is the heart of my prayer life.
When I first began praying the rosary years ago, I didn’t pray the Hail Holy Queen, because I didn’t know I was supposed to! The closing prayer that I learned was something like this:
“Almighty God, whose only Son, by His life, death, & resurrection, purcahsed for us the reward of eternal life, grant that we, who meditate on these mysteries of the rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, may imitate what they contain, & obtain what they promise.”

I have come to feel very comfortable with the Hail Holy Queen, but I prayed the rosary for years without it…
God bless.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions - keep them coming!

Thanks (Thistle and Notworthy) for clearing up some confusion. Dorothy - I’m following up the tip on the Scriptural Rosary: it sounds wonderful.

I really agree with those of you who stress the need to follow the promptings of the Spirit. Provided we don’t stray into downright heresy, I think its fine to pray as the spirit leads us. I know that I have received so much blessing by placing the Rosary at the heart of my prayer-life ( a bit unusual for we Prods Zooey) and I just thank God for it!

TP
 
the rosary is essentially a private prayer, even when recited in a group, so the individual is free to pray all or part of it, to meditate on whichever of the mysteries he chooses, for as long as he chooses, to say any other formal or spontaneous prayer at the same time. My Baptist relatives who requested my help to begin praying the rosary when a beloved family member was gravely ill, really loved the Scriptural Rosary and began by simply reciting the Our Father and the appropriate scripture verses. Once they found for themselves the scriptural roots of the prayers as well they became comfortable with the Hail Marys and Glory Be’s.

The Hail Holy Queen (Salve Regina) was composed later, and the story is fascinating, I will try to find it and post it. Both St. Dominic and St. Bernard did much to foster devotion to Our Lady and the use of the rosary as the daily prayer of the laity, as the LOTH became more and more reserved to the clergy, who alone could read. Even in the monasteries illiterate brothers learned the psalms and other parts of scripture by rote through frequent repetition. The Salve Regina was supposedly composed by a humble monk who was considered ignorant because he could not read the psalter.
The Te Deum is still prayed after the Office of Readings (Vigils) of LOTH on Sundays and Solemnities. Liturgy of the Hours is part of the official public prayer of the Church and does have a required structure and form, but even there is some latitude.
 
“tenax”

<< Dorothy - I’m following up the tip on the Scriptural Rosary: it sounds wonderful.>>

If you are interested in the book with all the Scriptures in it for all the Mysteries of the Rosary you can find it in a Catholic bookstore, or do a search on line for “Scriptural Rosary”.

Blessings to you…
 
Also a convert, I have to say that the Rosary was an integral part of my conversion. I had heard of the Rosary and knew it was a set of beads that Catholics prayed with/on, but that was all. But when I was forcefully inspired to become a Catholic one day through a profound Marian experience, I was possessed also of the impulsion to acquire a Rosary. I bought one, and a Scriptural Rosary booklet, and was delighted to learn that it is the pre-eminent Marian devotion. I memorized the prayers over the next week, then went into the nearest Catholic Church to try it out.

Never having been exposed to the reprehensible, atrocious manner in which the Rosary is all too often recited, it was for me rather a quiet, attentive, lingering, affectively intimate and profoundly meditative prayer - but also impassioned, exciting, and intoxicating. I experienced varying degrees of both aquired and infused contemplation (without knowing what those were, either!), and many ordinary and extraordinary graces. And to this day, 16 years later, I continue to…

Now a definitively professed Discalced Carmelite Secular, trained in the contemplative spirituality of Ss. Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, the Rosary still remains for me the pre-eminent vehicle of mystical prayer. I’ve seen numerous signs, wonders, miracles, etc. in association with the Rosary, and wonder how anybody could possibly be a Catholic without it! One of my first sorrows as a convert was to see how neglected it is by so many “Catholics,” and how badly prayed it is by so many who yet attend to it. God be praised for John Paul the Great’s Rosary Letter!
 
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