Rosary as a "Clock"?

[Melodeonist]

I pray the Rosary every day when I get ready in the morning. Setup all the intentions (there are a lot of them) while I first get in the bathroom. I pray the first mystery while I put on my shaving cream. I pray the second and third mysteries when I am shaving and getting ready to take a shower. I pray the fourth mystery when I am washing myself in the shower. I pray the fifth mystery when I am washing my hair.

In a sense, I use the Rosary as a clock as well as a prayer. I often have to rush extremely fast through the Hail Mary’s to align the prayers right though as I am always trying to make my morning routine go by the quickest. By using the Rosary as a “clock”, I find that it prevents daydreaming in the shower, which used to take up far too much time!

 

[pianistclare]

Prayer is never rushed. It’s not for our own purposes. It’s to honor Christ.

I broke my Lenten fast from CAF to write this.

**Please seek Spiritual Direction. **

 

[Bonnie]

Prayer is never rushed. It’s not for our own purposes. It’s to honor Christ.

I broke my Lenten fast from CAF to write this.

**Please seek Spiritual Direction. **

Ditto.

This reminded me of a wealthy Catholic man (wish I could remember who he was) some years back who gave some really bad spiritual & practical advice. One was to say the rosary very quickly, so as to not waste time; the other was to use calf replacement milk from the feed store instead of real milk or regular powdered because it was cheaper. Someone pointed out that using calf replacement milk would give you plenty of time for multiple rosaries, as you’d be on the toilet for a long time.

 

[Melodeonist]

Indeed, I shouldn’t rush my prayers. However, if I were to set some time in the day even just 5 minutes for prayer, I would feel like the prayers were just a chore and I’d get bored very quicky.

I enjoy contemplating God’s creation much more than verbal/mental word prayers. I know that contemplating creation is a form of prayer (I could be wrong though, I don’t want to lie by accident ), but I don’t want to let Mary down as she called us to pray the rosary every day at Fatima.

 

[tawny]

Prayer is never rushed. It’s not for our own purposes. It’s to honor Christ.

I broke my Lenten fast from CAF to write this.

**Please seek Spiritual Direction. **

Agree. You are in need of a Spiritual Director & some better catechisis.

 

[pianistclare]

Indeed, I shouldn’t rush my prayers. However, if I were to set some time in the day even just 5 minutes for prayer, I would feel like the prayers were just a chore and I’d get bored very quicky.

I enjoy contemplating God’s creation much more than verbal/mental word prayers. I know that contemplating creation is a form of prayer (I could be wrong though, I don’t want to lie by accident ), but I don’t want to let Mary down as she called us to pray the rosary every day at Fatima.

Sorry, I’m not buying it.
Your posts are always full of your personal shortcuts to piety.
There are none.
If you’re bored in prayer, that’s a spiritual problem that can be addressed by a Spiritual Director.
I have no idea why I’m telling you this… You never ever listen to anyone, you always have some smiley face reply that misses the point.

I really regret replying. I’m out. For good.
Good luck in life.

 

[10gr8kids]

Prayer is never rushed. It’s not for our own purposes. It’s to honor Christ.

I broke my Lenten fast from CAF to write this.

**Please seek Spiritual Direction. **

I would have agreed wholeheartedly with this several years ago. However, for the last seven years at my parish we have been blest with the best priest I believe I’ve ever had. He is very faithful to the Church and one of the holiest person I’ve known. He says Mass in 45 minutes and in confession when he prays I can barely keep up in my mind with his words. So, now I find myself questioning if saying prayers can never be rushed. Of course, he may not actually be rushing his prayers, maybe he just thinks that fast naturally.

 

[Bonnie]

Of course, he may not actually be rushing his prayers, maybe he just thinks that fast naturally.

Our priest is like that - took me a long time to get used to his speed. But I’ll never catch up to him.

 

[Mary_Estelle]

More personal information than I want to know. Why would anyone “share” their bathroom routine with something like 49.000.000 plus strangers?
The Rosary is a MEDITIVE prayer, not just a recitation of words that sound like a prayer.

My tendency is to say that any prayer is a good prayer, but seems more like part of your morning hygiene routine. If you were a soldier I would call it a SSS and a rosary, but if I tell you what that means I would be banned for life.

This much I will say: You CAN NOT equate the Rosary to a clock. The Rosary…as a MEDITIVE PRAYER, should at least have a small measure of thought or intent and yes-time.

A lot of people do-say/pray the Rosary during their drive time and that is acceptable as the mind knows when to “switch off” and attend to their driving. This does not seem to be what you are doing, but trying to cram the rosary in as fast as you can without thinking about it. Little kids do that, but you are not a kid…sigh. Peace.

 

[QuiVenit]

… I would feel like the prayers were just a chore and I’d get bored very quicky.

Right, but the more you would do it as a “chore,” and the more you would separate it from emotions being indulged, the more you would develop the habit of good prayer.

Prayer is a virtue, and virtues have to be formed in hard work.

Incidentally, for the folks recommending spiritual direction: I’m not sure how easy it is to find good spiritual direction in this day and age. If you yourselves have been blessed by a good spiritual director, you may want to consider that you are in a rather rare position.

 

[Mary_Estelle]

A spiritual director can be a Sister. a Deacon or someone with a solid Catholic spirituality. “The Trouble With Tribels” as that this particular “Triblel” rejects almost all advice with counter deflections. Peace.

 

[Dorothy]

Indeed, I shouldn’t rush my prayers. However, if I were to set some time in the day even just 5 minutes for prayer, I would feel like the prayers were just a chore and I’d get bored very quicky.

I enjoy contemplating God’s creation much more than verbal/mental word prayers. I know that contemplating creation is a form of prayer (I could be wrong though, I don’t want to lie by accident ), but I don’t want to let Mary down as she called us to pray the rosary every day at Fatima.

We can pray when we don’t have good feelings. That enables us to grow in faith and trust. We can’t depend on not being bored when we pray. Pray anyway, with faith that the Lord hears you!

When He decides he can add good feelings to help you along. Meanwhile…pray!

 

[Irishmom2]

I pray the Rosary every day when I get ready in the morning. Setup all the intentions (there are a lot of them) while I first get in the bathroom. I pray the first mystery while I put on my shaving cream. I pray the second and third mysteries when I am shaving and getting ready to take a shower. I pray the fourth mystery when I am washing myself in the shower. I pray the fifth mystery when I am washing my hair.

In a sense, I use the Rosary as a clock as well as a prayer. I often have to rush extremely fast through the Hail Mary’s to align the prayers right though as I am always trying to make my morning routine go by the quickest. By using the Rosary as a “clock”, I find that it prevents daydreaming in the shower, which used to take up far too much time!

You are not praying the rosary if you are working the rosary around your hygiene habits.
I find your practice disgusting and disrespectful quite honestly. You say that Mary wants us to pray the rosary daily, but you are not doing so reverently or respectfully. You are doing it to cross it off your list.

Cross it off permanently if that is how you are going to do it. Do you think it pleases the Mother of Our Lord that the attention you are paying her is while you are grooming yourself? The rosary is not mandatory, so just stop doing it if this is what you are going to do.

**For the love of God, **get a spiritual director. You are so misguided and selfish in your ways that you can’t even begin to fix this yourself.

 

[Mary_Estelle]

Might I suggest that you go on a spiritual journey? By this I mean that a directed retreat would do you more good than we are able to here on CA. A one week retreat or a Tridium(3 day retreat) would be benificial to you and Easter Week would be a good time to consider taking a few days off and find your balance. You really need to evaluate your spirituality. So, as not to take offense, we all need to do this and most religious congregations, seminaries and Catholic Colleges do exactly that. Peace.

 

[AveOTheotokos]

Indeed, I shouldn’t rush my prayers. However, if I were to set some time in the day even just 5 minutes for prayer, I would feel like the prayers were just a chore and I’d get bored very quicky.

ncregister.com/blog/smcafee/are-you-a-glutton-for-catholic-books

Really neat perspective from St. John of the Cross. Many of us may not consider the potential danger in carrying out our spiritual devotions (spiritual reading, prayer, etc.) because of the joy they bring us. The danger is that if we are doing them based on the joy or gratification they bring us, then there is a risk of us abandoning our spiritual life when we don’t get the joy or gratification out of it that we expect.

This kind of perspective transforms our spiritual life from one of love for our Lord into one of “lust” because we are then only in it for what we get out of it and neglect it when we don’t get what we want.

It is when we persevere through the “dark night” times, those times when prayer feels like an obligation rather than a joy, that we truly show our love and devotion to the Lord.

It is then that we show that we are more than just fair weather followers who abandon His will whenever we don’t feel warm and fuzzy in our spiritual life.

So take some time to pray today; not because you WANT to, but because you NEED to.

 

[Casilda]

I pray the Rosary every day when I get ready in the morning. Setup all the intentions (there are a lot of them) while I first get in the bathroom. I pray the first mystery while I put on my shaving cream. I pray the second and third mysteries when I am shaving and getting ready to take a shower. I pray the fourth mystery when I am washing myself in the shower. I pray the fifth mystery when I am washing my hair.

In a sense, I use the Rosary as a clock as well as a prayer. I often have to rush extremely fast through the Hail Mary’s to align the prayers right though as I am always trying to make my morning routine go by the quickest. By using the Rosary as a “clock”, I find that it prevents daydreaming in the shower, which used to take up far too much time!

I am not in agreement with the responses you have received here, they are flippant and petty. To them I say, if you can not offer a crumb of spiritual guidance, do not post.

Young mothers who struggle for a moments peace for prayer are encouraged to pray as you mentioned above, meaning, any spare mindless moment FILL WITH PRAYER! You are not doing anything wrong. Just remember, do try and find a quiet time to meditate on the rosary properly, if you can.

 

[pensmama87]

I am not in agreement with the responses you have received here, they are flippant and petty. To them I say, if you can not offer a crumb of spiritual guidance, do not post.

Young mothers who struggle for a moments peace for prayer are encouraged to pray as you mentioned above, meaning, any spare mindless moment FILL WITH PRAYER! You are not doing anything wrong. Just remember, do try and find a quiet time to meditate on the rosary properly, if you can.

The advice given is with a full understanding of the OP’s posting history.

I often pray when I am at my work, as well. But this is different - not offering one’s work up as prayer, or praying while going about the routines of one’s day. The OP is describing prayer as a compulsion to be satisfied under duress, to rush through because he cannot be bothered and finds prayer “boring.”

 

[Mary_Estelle]

He has the time to make an effort. He has readily admitted to spending lots of time on video games and other trivial activities. He just doesn’t want to take the time to spend in prayer, but to take consent shortcuts. This has been his mode for a long time now. Just saying.

 

[Mary_Estelle]

I went back over the post here. I did not find them flip or petty, but concerned about his stagnation in spiritual growth. Any advice offered is countered with and deflected in some way. Sorry if I come off as being flip or petty. Peace.