Protestant Rosary

[silverwings_88]

My friend is a Pentecostal, and she loves Jesus in her walk of faith; it was her that I became a Christian from my Wiccan lifestyle, and I duely thank her for bringing me to her church to change my life, eventually leading me back into the Catholic church…

As I said on one thread about sharing sacramentals to Protestants, I have given this girl a rosary, and she has treasured it as a gift. I had even given her the prayers for the Ecumenical Miracle Rosary (ecumenicalrosary.org), the Most Holy Rosary, and the Divine Mercy Chaplet.

Well, she left the rosary on her dresser because it got broken, and one night, she begane to have this dream, that she was beside a tree, and the wind began to blow hard on her, trying to throw her off balance. And within this dream, to counter against the tempest, she commenced in praying the rosary, and praying the Hail Mary in that fact!! Every time the wind would blow hard, she would pray the Hail Mary louder and louder…

Eventually, she took the rosary, and prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet; she felt the most adoring peace after finishing her prayer…

The funny thing about it, was that about a week or two ago, I prayed 3 rosaries over her… I’m surprised and so thankful…

Now she wants me to teach her the real rosary prayers, but I don’t know how she can pray the Eucharist, the Assumption and the Coronation, and especially the Hail Holy Queen prayer. She’s comfortable with the Hail Mary prayer, but the Hail Holy Queen is abit far.

She wants to pray the ‘real’ way of the rosary, but how can I compromise those three mysteries and the Hail Holy Queen (I can replace that with an ending psalm, and the Eucharist can be changed to the Last Supper…)

Not only that, when she told me, I was very much overjoyed, because I knew she found the secret of the rosary. BUT I also had this strange feeling in that I felt that it was forbidden that she should do this… she has done this without her pentecostal parents having any knowledge of this, and I feel slightly responsible for this. As if there was a fine line between what Protestants do and what Catholics do…

Even now I feel awkward…

Kevyn

 

[BeluvdLily]

I do not know what is right for you and your friend but I can tell you that as a Protestant who has taught myself the Rosary, I really love it and feel a great sense of peace after praying it. I did feel a bit funny at first (wondering if I were focusing too much on Mary and not on Jesus) but frankly, to me it gives me a balance to the all male protestant outlook. I love thinking of Mary as my mother too and praying to her and knowing that she cares for me. Also meditating on the mysteries. And then I’ve read on here that Mary points the way to Jesus.

I can’t speak for anyone else but there was just something urging me and urging me to buy a Rosary and learn it so I did! I also have statues of St. Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourds, pictures, even a necklace with a rectangular kind of medal of the scene. I love it.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m having a spiritual identity crisis. There are some things I prefer about Protestantism (and disagree or find difficult to accept about the Catholic Church) but then there are things I love about the Catholic church such as the Rosary, the Saints, candles, prayers, the ritual of it all, etc. Right now I’m taking it slow and finding my way.

Good luck to you and your friend with the Rosary.

Amie

 

[St.Curious]

As yet another protestant who taught myself the rosary, I’d give you this suggestion…

Teach it all to her.

She may or may not feel comfortable with it right away, but if she is serious about it she will, in time, grow to understand the prayers and mysteries and love them. The rosary brings great peace and has been a staple in my choice to convert.

I will pray for you and your friend.
God Bless.

 

[Kristina_P]

I’m a new convert who’s a little wary of teaching myself the Rosary. Is it really as simple as it’s described, or should I have someone else teach me how to pray it?

 

[St.Curious]

Hi Kristina,

If I were you, I’d try to learn it myself from the many online references and what not there is online. I taught it to myself and while I haven’t mastered the meditation aspect, I have come to know the peace it brings.

Also, feel free to IM me on AIM and we can chat about it.

 

[Kristina_P]

St.Curious:

Hi Kristina,

If I were you, I’d try to learn it myself from the many online references and what not there is online. I taught it to myself and while I haven’t mastered the meditation aspect, I have come to know the peace it brings.

Also, feel free to IM me on AIM and we can chat about it.

Thanks, I may do just that.

 

[ElizabethJoy]

Sure, go ahead and teach it all to her. Something in her wants to learn the “real” prayers.

Kristina, there are lots of places online to learn the prayers and the order and the mysteries:

rosary-center.org/howto.htm
theholyrosary.org/
ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/rosary/how_to.htm
scborromeo.org/prayers/rosary.htm
By Mother Angelica: ewtn.com/library/Mother/MA37.HTM

This is the one that I used, first:
newadvent.org/library/rosary.pdf - I just printed it up and made notes on it from other sites as to virtues for each mystery.

I’ve never been one devoted to daily prayer or spiritual practice of any type, no matter what religion I was in, but the rosary and the chaplet of Divine Mercy have become almost like an addiction, with me. It’s just one of the best parts of my day. I am so refreshed and strengthened by it. And I find that I pray all day, just short little comments to Jesus or questions for him.

It’s a pretty amazing transformation that’s been worked in my life, and it started with just sitting with a printout of that pdf file. It took some getting used to, trying to speak and meditate on the mysteries at the same time, but I’m getting the hang of it.

I love the questions that pop into my head during the meditations - they make me reach for the Bible and the catechism. Sometimes I “see” something that I’ve never thought of, before. Sometimes, my prayer is answered immediately with a word or a picture. Sometimes the tears flow and sometimes, I think God must be chuckling with me over my crazy questions. I can’t even begin to explain the blessings that have come from this regular devotion to praying the rosary.

And I’m not distracted nearly as easily as I was at first, either! Distraction used to make me crazy, but I heard Mother Angelica tell this story:

Two farmers were arguing about praying the rosary and one says to the other, “If you can pray one Hail Mary straight through without getting distracted, I’ll give you my horse.”

“One Hail Mary? I can do that! And you’ll give me your horse?”

“Yep.”

"Okay… " and he begins, "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee…

“Do I get the saddle, too?”



I hope you will get even more from this than I do.

 

[Zooey]

I am another non-Catholic who says the rosary. I would say, go ahead & teach her the prayers. Ifthere is anything that she feels is uncomfortable to her, she can always use part of the ecumenical miracle rosary that she all ready knows for that, but my guess is that she will be like me–and apparently some others!–in taking to the traditional prayers.
The rosary is my favorite prayer. It has revolutionalized my prayer life. I think that anyone can grow spiritually from praying it.
God bless.

 

[Vanny]

I just want to chime in that here’s another evangelical protestant
who prays the rosary. When I was 13 years old, my best girlfriend, who was catholic, gave me a rosary- I kept it ever since. Then I got a booklet in the mail -unsolicited- with mysteries of the rosary- many years later-I put it in a drawer. About 10 years after that I took it out and read it-and taught myself to pray the rosary with that booklet- I since have aquired more rosaries and more booklets- the rosary gives me peace and I say the mysteries including glorious ones which center on Mary- The story of my growing love for Mary ( and being drawn to the Catholic Church) is too extensive to go into here. But I love saying the rosary.

 

[Zooey]

I just wanted to add a little personal testimony about saying the rosary as a non Catholic Christian.
I got my first rosary as a kid of 11 or 12. I saw one I loved in the store, & I convinced my grandmother that I really wanted it. I didn’t even know the prayers, but I loved it, I always felt “prayerful” when I held it.
As a teen, I found a little book on the rosary novena, & I started saying it regularly with the right prayers. Years went on, & like many teens I rebelled against Christianity altogether, but I never lost my love for the rosary. It was the one prayer that I never entirely abandoned, even when I wasn’t really praying at all.
Today, in my 50s, I look back with amazement at all that I was kept from, considering what I could have got myself into. I truly believe that the rosary was the “rope” that kept me anchored just enough that I was able to pull myself back into Christian faith & practice.
I cannot say enough good about it for anyone. And now, with the Divine Mercy devotion, there is even more appeal, IMO, for non Catholics.
I hope & pray that many, many Christians of all “flavors” will come to appreciate it for the wonderful tool that it is to lead us in the school of prayer. God bless.

 

[silverwings_88]

Thank you for all your testimonies… I am sure to e-mail these to her, as I think in time she will brave the Hail Holy Queen prayer or substitute it for another one… ever since she told me her feeling of peace from the Divine Mercy Chaplet, I’m so proud of her, lol.

Zooey:

I just wanted to add a little personal testimony about saying the rosary as a non Catholic Christian.
I got my first rosary as a kid of 11 or 12. I saw one I loved in the store, & I convinced my grandmother that I really wanted it. I didn’t even know the prayers, but I loved it, I always felt “prayerful” when I held it.
As a teen, I found a little book on the rosary novena, & I started saying it regularly with the right prayers. Years went on, & like many teens I rebelled against Christianity altogether, but I never lost my love for the rosary. It was the one prayer that I never entirely abandoned, even when I wasn’t really praying at all.
Today, in my 50s, I look back with amazement at all that I was kept from, considering what I could have got myself into. I truly believe that the rosary was the “rope” that kept me anchored just enough that I was able to pull myself back into Christian faith & practice.
I cannot say enough good about it for anyone. And now, with the Divine Mercy devotion, there is even more appeal, IMO, for non Catholics.
I hope & pray that many, many Christians of all “flavors” will come to appreciate it for the wonderful tool that it is to lead us in the school of prayer. God bless.