Questions about my praying

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followingtheway

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Hello everyone. I am happy to say that I have gotten back to praying. 🙂 I do have a few questions about the way I have been praying and my tools that I pray with as well.


  1. *]The Rosary. I tend to have what I call the “Thought ADD” where I have issues focusing on the mysteries. I have had people tell me that saying it without mysteries makes it “not really the rosary.” I try reading them off the Bible I have on my altar, because I have a pamphlet that has the mysteries and where to find them in the Bible. But still I have trouble focusing. Any threads about this or any advice or is there any commentary about this anywhere?
    *]Images. Am I committing idol worship if I look directly at a statue of Mary and say the Hail Mary? I mean I’m praying TO HER not the statue. But I find it helpful in an odd way if there’s an image of the person I’m praying to help me focus on said person.
    *]This one picture I add to my altar. I saw this beautiful picture of Jesus. That I decided to print out, frame it, and then put it on my altar. But the artist is Lutheran. His name is Lucas Cranach the Elder. He is anti-Catholic as well (even made some paintings to show it). But the picture is just Jesus and I’m using it for personal devotion. I am still doing something wrong?
    *]The Our Father. Before I added the picture of Jesus, I would bow my head and close my eyes when I would say the Our Father because there was no picture of Jesus on my altar. Just one statue of Mary and this little mini cloth I bought with several saints on it (it’s called a “saint wallet”) and a saint candle. I didn’t buy another statue because too many statues would look “too much.” So my questions are, if I say the Our Father, while looking at the image am I committing idol worship? And I should I be saying the Our Father while looking a picture of The Son?
    *]The Bible on my Altar. It’s Protestant. Since I randomly bought a Protestant Bible a couple years back. I decided to put it on my altar. Since I mostly read, study out of, and travel with, my Catholic one. Is it bad to have it near my altar? I use it for the mysteries of the rosary which I read aloud before saying the decade. When it comes to First Joyful Mystery, the Annunciation, I read the part in the Bible where Gabriel talks to Mary, but in the Bible he calls her “highly favored” and not “full of grace” and I read that aloud, is this wrong?
    *]One more thing. I use buy a couple of things from a Santeria shop before I knew I wasn’t supposed to, an one was a little gold sword-shaped pendant with an image of St. Michael in the middle. Should take it off my altar?
 
followingtheway said:
Hello everyone. I am happy to say that I have gotten back to praying. 🙂 I do have a few questions about the way I have been praying and my tools that I pray with as well.


  1. *]The Rosary. I tend to have what I call the “Thought ADD” where I have issues focusing on the mysteries. I have had people tell me that saying it without mysteries makes it “not really the rosary.” I try reading them off the Bible I have on my altar, because I have a pamphlet that has the mysteries and where to find them in the Bible. But still I have trouble focusing. Any threads about this or any advice or is there any commentary about this anywhere?
    *]Images. Am I committing idol worship if I look directly at a statue of Mary and say the Hail Mary? I mean I’m praying TO HER not the statue. But I find it helpful in an odd way if there’s an image of the person I’m praying to help me focus on said person.
    *]This one picture I add to my altar. I saw this beautiful picture of Jesus. That I decided to print out, frame it, and then put it on my altar. But the artist is Lutheran. His name is Lucas Cranach the Elder. He is anti-Catholic as well (even made some paintings to show it). But the picture is just Jesus and I’m using it for personal devotion. I am still doing something wrong?
    *]The Our Father. Before I added the picture of Jesus, I would bow my head and close my eyes when I would say the Our Father because there was no picture of Jesus on my altar. Just one statue of Mary and this little mini cloth I bought with several saints on it (it’s called a “saint wallet”) and a saint candle. I didn’t buy another statue because too many statues would look “too much.” So my questions are, if I say the Our Father, while looking at the image am I committing idol worship? And I should I be saying the Our Father while looking a picture of The Son?
    *]The Bible on my Altar. It’s Protestant. Since I randomly bought a Protestant Bible a couple years back. I decided to put it on my altar. Since I mostly read, study out of, and travel with, my Catholic one. Is it bad to have it near my altar? I use it for the mysteries of the rosary which I read aloud before saying the decade. When it comes to First Joyful Mystery, the Annunciation, I read the part in the Bible where Gabriel talks to Mary, but in the Bible he calls her “highly favored” and not “full of grace” and I read that aloud, is this wrong?
    *]One more thing. I use buy a couple of things from a Santeria shop before I knew I wasn’t supposed to, an one was a little gold sword-shaped pendant with an image of St. Michael in the middle. Should take it off my altar?
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  1. Rosary: I have concentrating issues as well during the Rosary, and other prayers. I use Laudate, an app for my Android phone (also for iPhone) that has various audio rosaries available. That helps a LOT. I also prayed the Rosary this morning with the EWTN broadcast, which showed pictures during the mystery/Hail Marys. Also, you can go to YouTube; there are also books that you can read along with, which might be easier than the Bible. During adoration this week, I did use the Bible, as the Joyous mysteries are easy to follow that way.

    Mary: Please look at Mother Mary when saying the Hail Mary! When in Adoration, or in Mass, I will look at a statue of her if the timing is appropriate. Similarly, during the Divine Mercy prayer, there is a special Divine Mercy picture you can focus on.

    Lord’s Prayer: that is not idol worship to look at the Son; the prayer is to God, the Father, but God, the Son…is God. (What is a saint wallet? I’m very interested!)

    The Bible: I don’t see a problem with it being in your shrine/prayer corner. I would recommend using the Catholic Bible as much as possible though. When I’m traveling, if I don’t have my Bible with me and I want to read Scripture, I will sometimes turn to the Gideon Bible in the room, but that is rare that I don’t have my own Bible with me anymore.

    I don’t know what a Santeria shop is, nor anything about the pendant. To be respectful and safe, I would remove it. I do have statues of Mary, St. Dymphna and a bell, as well as other personal Catholic items, on my prayer shelves.

    God bless you,
 
Thank you and by the way, this is a saints wallet…

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

It’s usually closed and carried around in an actual wallet but I put it on my altar to focus on the different saints that are on it! 🙂
 
If you have a DVD player, try EWTN’s “The Holy Rosary” DVD. It shows stained glass images of the various prayers and mysteries, and is very easy to follow. It really helped me with the meditation on the mysteries.
 
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