Praying the Rosary

  • Thread starter Thread starter kellygirl
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
K

kellygirl

Guest
I have been praying the Rosary x 4 weeks now and I really get so much out of it but my problem is this…I am having trouble with saying the Hail Mary’s *and *reflecting on the mysteries at the same time (I probably can’t walk and chew gum at the same time either 😉 )…any advice?
 
kellygirl said:
I have been praying the Rosary x 4 weeks now and I really get so much out of it but my problem is this…I am having trouble with saying the Hail Mary’s *and *reflecting on the mysteries at the same time (I probably can’t walk and chew gum at the same time either 😉 )…any advice?
Click to expand...
This wont work when your in public. But if your saying it privately you can do an old fransiscan method.

Hail Mary full of Grace the Lord is with thee, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus (***) Holy Mary mother of god…

Where I put the three ***'s add a comment about the mystery.

For example.

Hail Mary full of Grace the Lord is with thee, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus (Whom thou humbly gave birth to, in the lowly stables) Holy Mary mother of god…

It helps bring an image to mind while praying.

Good luck.
 
I’m with you Kelly. I get a lot out of the rosary and I know it helps me. However, I’m still working on finding my balance between meditating on mysteries and reverantly reciting the prayers (not just rushing through them thoughtlessly). To me you should be considering the meaning of the prayers along with the mysteries which is a lot which can be tough. I assume it comes with time, but I’m open to any and all advice.

edit

I just read your Franciscan method Missa that’s pretty cool! 🙂
 
I just posted about this in another forum! I have the exact same problem…but I have another solution. I have taken to journaling, and EVERY day before I pray the rosary I have been writing my thoughts about the particular mysteries. Someone else suggested d/l the virtual rosary and reflecting on the pictures while I was praying, but I can’t chew gum and walk either (literally fell off a sidewalk that way stone cold sober).

I have been assured it will come in time 😛
 
Oh, I can truly relate to this, i lack concentration really badly and tend to ‘wander’ off, ie im talking out loud saying the rosary and my mind wonders onto other things, its very hard for me to control, but I pray to God to help me with this.
If I find that i have wandered off to far, I just repeat the Hail Mary once again and try to concentrate on it.
I would have trouble reflecting the mysteries at the same time, but then again, maybe thats why my mind wanders off, im not thinking about the mysteries… hmmm, just typing this has answered my question… I think…:confused:
Well Ill pray to you that you may able to combine the mysteries and the rosary together.
Take care and all the best
Dolph
 
I like to pondor the mystery for a few moments before I start reciting the prayers. Then I try to turn the mystery into a movie in my mind and where I might be if I were there. It’s a kind of lectio divina. The prayers then in a sense become the soundtrack for the scene in which I’m pondering. Then I let God reveal to me whatever He has in mind. It sometimes helps to pause a few moments between mysteries, too.

Granted, it doesn’t always work out. Distractions are part of life. I’ve also been know to drift off to sleep, in which case I trust my guardian angel to finish the rosary for me. 🙂
 
Here’s what helped me. If you get EWTN! I combine my morning excercising with the Rosary, I ride my stationary bike for 1/2 hour while Father Mitch Pacwa does the Rosary every morning at 6:30 a.m. on EWTN, it is very visual, he leads you through the mysteries, for instance when we are meditating on the baptism of our Lord, he is actually saying the Rosary on the banks of the river Jordan. Each mystery has been taped in the Holy Land. And even when I am praying the Rosary without EWTN I still have very vivid pictures in my mind, it is much easier for me to picture the Holy Family going to the temple with the baby Jesus, when I am actually being lead to the temple and through the areas that it actually happened. Hope that helps.
 
The more used your mouth gets used to saying the component prayers (and it does help to say them out loud, albeit quietly), the more your mind can concentrate on the mysteries. Now, the downside is that your enunciation sometimes tends to suffer if your brain is particularly busy. Don’t worry about that. Just keep going.

But it’s also good to pause inbetween as often as you need to, if you prefer just to meditate at one moment and say the prayers at another. Personal devotion is yours to personalize.

If nothing at all comes to mind when you’re trying to meditate, btw, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe God wants you just to be there with Our Lord (and Our Lady). Just being there and listening to God (even and especially if you feel bored or blah) is just as much a meditation on the mysteries as any other method.
 
I’ve only prayed the rosary twice and I’m so dumb I didn’t even know you were supposed to multi-task! I have a hard enough time reading the right prayer on the right bead. Oh boy.
Intercessor 55
 
Intercessor55 said:
I’ve only prayed the rosary twice and I’m so dumb I didn’t even know you were supposed to multi-task! I have a hard enough time reading the right prayer on the right bead. Oh boy.
Intercessor 55
Click to expand...
The beautiful Dominican sisters taught me many, many years ago that the Blessed Mother will take my poor, distracted prayers and polish them up like a bright red apple and give them to Jesus. I have never forgotten that.
 
The beautiful Dominican sisters taught me many, many years ago that the Blessed Mother will take my poor, distracted prayers and polish them up like a bright red apple and give them to Jesus. I have never forgotten that
Click to expand...
I like that. Nuns are awesome. The Dominican sisters in question wouldn’t happen to be one’s in Nashville would they?
 
kellygirl said:
I have been praying the Rosary x 4 weeks now and I really get so much out of it but my problem is this…I am having trouble with saying the Hail Mary’s *and *reflecting on the mysteries at the same time (I probably can’t walk and chew gum at the same time either 😉 )…any advice?
Click to expand...
 
dolphinlove said:
Oh, I can truly relate to this, i lack concentration really badly and tend to ‘wander’ off, ie im talking out loud saying the rosary and my mind wonders onto other things, its very hard for me to control, but I pray to God to help me with this.
If I find that i have wandered off to far, I just repeat the Hail Mary once again and try to concentrate on it.
I would have trouble reflecting the mysteries at the same time, but then again, maybe thats why my mind wanders off, im not thinking about the mysteries… hmmm, just typing this has answered my question… I think…:confused:
Well Ill pray to you that you may able to combine the mysteries and the rosary together.
Take care and all the best
Dolph
Click to expand...
Tell the thoughts to bug off, or when you are at the next Mass you will tell Jesus when the Eucharist is elevated. If they try to come back then do it.

Our minds tend to wonder it is learning to call them back. Like the little one who doesn’t want to pick up his toy he threw on the floor, you have to gently remind and call him back.

We all strugle with wondering, I know I do, and if anyone says they don’t well then…Anyway, your prayers and heard and they are valuable to the Body of Christ even if they seemed ‘scrambled’. Don’t let the darkness of this world tell you otherwise, he is a lier and a theif. Give to the Lord what you can and each time you grow a bit closer and more assured that you are giving a wonderful gift of love to our Lord and our Mother and that is all we can give to them really is LOVE. For we love Him because he first loved us.
 
try the scriptural rosary that u find on my site…

it will really help you… it helped me when i was not able to concentrate on the mysteries…

it is in my signature
 
As a newbie, I found virtualrosary.org SO helpful, because it has Scriptures to meditate on with each Hail, Mary. Of course, if you are not at a computer, that doesn’t help. Also, one time I was praying in my protestant way and getting frustrated with wandering thoughts, and the Holy Spirit reassured me that it’s not the 39 times my thoughts wander that matters, it’s the 40 times I bring them back that He honors.

Enjoy God and be enjoyed by Him.

Intercessor 55
 
Thank you. I didn’t know about the 25 mysteries. I have a lot to learn.

Intercessor 55
 
Well, first of all, stop stressing over it. Perfection is not required.
Take a little time at the start of each decade, to consider a point about the mystery for that decade…And then just move along, praying the prayers.
I promise you, eventually you will find yourself meditating as you say the words.
But remember:🙂 **Perfection is not required!*🙂 **

(*Somebody really needs to put out a little sign to put with every rosary that says that on it!!!)
 
kellygirl said:
I have been praying the Rosary x 4 weeks now and I really get so much out of it but my problem is this…I am having trouble with saying the Hail Mary’s *and *reflecting on the mysteries at the same time (I probably can’t walk and chew gum at the same time either 😉 )…any advice?
Click to expand...
I had this same problem for a while until I just began to use visual images. If you hold on to the image in your minds eye of whatever mystery it may be, you can recite the rosary and reflect on the mystery at the same time. Also, pausing as someone else suggested inbetween the words and reflecting on it helps. You get used to doing it.
 
I completed RCIA almost two years ago. And I’ve been praying the Rosary regularly for more than two years (daily for more than a year).

It took me awhile to even start praying the Rosary. At first, I only prayed a few Hail Marys. Then prayed an Our Father, ten Hail Marys and another Our Father.

I still don’t know all the prayers. I haven’t memorized the Apostles creed, nor any of the prayers that come at the end.

I find it difficult to always think about the mysteries while praying the prayers. So I sometimes just take a little time at the start of a decade to get a start towards thinking about the mystery. And if I can’t think about all of it all at once, I think it is OK as long as I am praying and trying.

My advice is this … don’t worry. Just keep praying and know that Mary is watching each improvement in your prayers. And she loves to see you making the effort.

I find that one of the challenging things is to apply what I learn through praying the Rosary in my life. For example, one day after I had a hard time at work I started praying the Rosary and “…Mary full of grace…” And I sadly thought about how little grace I had showed another at work. One way we benefit from praying the Rosary is to learn and imitate the virtues we learn from our prayers. I find it very difficult.

In short, don’t worry. Just pray according to your ability. Your ability to pray will grow. And growing takes time.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top