Rosary before Mass?

[Joannm]

This makes me crazy. Why can’t people who want to pray the Rosary pray it silently and leave those of us who want to pray the Liturgy of the Hours or the Divine Mercy Chaplet or some other devotion or simply listen for Jesus in the silence free to do so?

I know that makes me a grinch.

I know what you mean. There is a group of elderly women who pray the rosary following our daily mass. First they chat for about 10 minutes about what has happened since yesterday and what they are going to do today, then they begin the rosary. I think they must be a bit deaf because they yell the prayers. Also they don’t listen to each other so that each of them is at a differnt point in the Hail Mary or the Lord’s Prayer and they pray very fast. They get louder and louder as they go along until they are almost screaming. After they are finished they chat for about another 10 minutes. Our church is big so I try to find an out of the way corner to pray, as do some other people, but since the church as a tile floor it they echo throughout the church.

I guess it is good that they pray together but I wish they were not so loud.

 

[MissMichal]

I do this at daily Mass, and to be honest, I had never given the first thought as to whether it was appropriate. People pray before daily Mass, so why not do the Rosary?

I like to leave the house at 7:00 A.M., then get in the pew and say my Rosary (silently), so then I’ve exercised (by walking to the Cathedral), said my Rosary, and heard Mass by 8:30 A.M. Sounds weird to think of them as tasks to check off your list, but if I can’t put Our Lord and Our Lady on my task list, what business do I have putting anyone else there?

I would love to do this at my regular church before Sunday Mass (I go to the Cathedral for daily Mass instead of my own parish because their Mass fits into my schedule better), but people at my church tend to chit-chat before and after Mass, which makes prayer nearly impossible. That, however, is its own discussion…

 

[Phemie]

In my parish a group gathers for the Rosary every weekday evening at 6. They are usually finished about 10 minutes before Mass. I’ve attended a couple of times but it drives me crazy because most of the time they mumble and you can’t understand a word. They also add a variety of other prayers that they also mumble. No, I’m not deaf – rather whenever I’ve attended I’ve been 10-20 years younger that the rest of the group. They just remind me of my aunt who used to mumble the same way and you didn’t understand a word even when you were sitting next to her. As kids it just made us giggle. When I’ve attended I’ve felt compelled to take my turn at a decade and made sure that it was both audible and enunciated.

Another funny thing is they spread out all over the church as though they were each afraid that the others had some communicable disease. Yet, basically the same group will gather an hour before Mass on the first Sunday of the month under the banner of the “Knights of Columbus sponsored Rosary” and they will all sit together. Odd how little routines develop, isn’t it?

Last night I went to Mass in a parish I was travelling through and since I got there early I sat and said my rosary. An elderly priest interrupted me to say hello.

 

[acadian]

It seems the Rosary before Mass is simply a tradition. Maybe you could chat with your priest and he could make an announcement that those who wish to say the Rosary could do it silently, and have him explain the reason so people don’t get upset about it.

Maybe, though, you could say your DMC or LotH on the way to the church or something, save your Rosary for the time before Mass, and pray it along with everyone else.

About a year ago, I had a rare hour or so of unspoken-for time on evening. The people who call me “mom” were spending a few end-of-summer days at the grandparents and my husband was working. What to do with that gift? Well, there is a perpetual adoration chapel not far from my house, but there was also a nearby parish that had an evening Mass. I figured the only thing better than sitting in the same silent room in the Lord’s Presence was to actually receive Him, so I opted for Mass.

I had some things I wanted to sort through in my mind, in prayer, (my house is NEVER quiet), so I got there plenty early. I got there about the 2nd decade of the rosary. I tried to pray around them, but it was too distracting. So I knelt there feeling guilty that I felt upset about a rosary being prayed. Finally the rosary was over, I thought I would finally be able to pray, but then they tacked on at least a half-dozen other prayers…

So next time I went to confession (at my parish) I brought it up. And then I found out that my pastor (God bless him) is on the same page as I am with this. Not too long ago, I went to confession before daily Mass, and my penance was to “Go enjoy the silence before Mass…let Jesus speak to you.” How awesome!

So my parish is blessedly silent on the 3 days a week we have early morning Mass. It is when I go to other parishes that I encounter this. And since I am a visitor at those places, I don’t have much choice except to graciously enjoy the before Mass devotion. I just don’t understand the aversion to silence. Surely most of us don’t have an over-abundance of it in our daily lives.

As far as praying at home and joining the Rosary before Mass, there is just something more appealing about praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament than with the TV in the background.

 

[bpbasilphx]

The rosary is the highest form of mass it self so you cannot conduct a higher mass before a church mass.

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**
What do you mean by this? I think you left out a word or phrase somewhere.**

 

[paperwight]

The rosary is the highest form of mass it self so you cannot conduct a higher mass before a church mass.

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**
What do you mean by this? I think you left out a word or phrase somewhere.**

I, too, hope that he replies to explain this extraordinary statement. I get the impression that English isn’t his first language though. Perhaps he meant that the Rosary was the highest form of * prayer* which he thought was the same word as Mass, and meant to say ‘after Mass itself’’.

No, that doesn’t work either, because he says that ‘you cannot conduct a higher mass before a church mass’ so he plainly thinks a rosary is superior to Holy Mass.

On the other hand, he said that ‘it (saying it before Mass) as not really so catholic’. Curiouser and curiouser.

Olecram, please reply and explain!

 

[olecram]

I, too, hope that he replies to explain this extraordinary statement. I get the impression that English isn’t his first language though. Perhaps he meant that the Rosary was the highest form of * prayer* which he thought was the same word as Mass, and meant to say ‘after Mass itself’’.

No, that doesn’t work either, because he says that ‘you cannot conduct a higher mass before a church mass’ so he plainly thinks a rosary is superior to Holy Mass.

On the other hand, he said that ‘it (saying it before Mass) as not really so catholic’. Curiouser and curiouser.

Olecram, please reply and explain!

• Pope John Paul II has called the Rosary his “favorite prayer,” after the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. IF WE DWELL IN THIS, WHY DID HE DO IT?..

St. Francis de Sales said the greatest method of praying
IS - Pray the Rosary.

God wished, by means of these supernatural phenomena, to spread the new devotion of the Holy Rosary and to make it more widely known.

The Holy Rosary is not just a conglomeration of
our Fathers and Hail Marys, but on the contrary
it is a Divine summary of the Mysteries of the Life,
Passion, Death, and Glory of Jesus and Mary."

• “Say the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world” (Our Lady of Fátima).
• “There is no surer means of calling down God’s blessings upon the family . . . than the daily recitation of the Rosary” (Pope Pius XII).
• The Rosary is the compendium of the entire Gospel" (Pope Paul VI quoting Pope Pius XII).
• “Meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary . . . can be an excellent preparation for the celebration of those same mysteries in the liturgical actions * and can also become a continuing echo thereof” (Pope Paul VI).
• “My impression is that the Rosary is of the greatest value not only according to the words of Our Lady at Fátima, but according to the effects of the Rosary one sees throughout history. My impression is that Our Lady wanted to give ordinary people, who might not know how to pray, this simple method of getting closer to God” (Sister Lucia, one of the seers of Fátima).
• “How beautiful is the family that recites the Rosary every evening” (Pope John Paul II).
• St. Louis de Montfort warns us against both the ignorant and scholars who regard the Rosary as something of little importance…“the Rosary is a priceless treasure inspired by God.”

Why does God wish us to pray to Mary? We pray to Mary because she is the Mother of God and her prayers are very powerful (Jn.2: 1 -11). When we pray the Hail Mary we combine worship of God and honor of Mary. We combine both our prayers to God and her prayers to God. We do not worship Mary; we only worship God. When we pray to Mary we honor her as the Mother of God, and as our Spiritual Mother (Rev.12:17, Jn.19:26,27). When we need help the most, we not only go directly to God by ourselves, we ask others to pray for us and with us. When we pray the Rosary, we have Mary, the Holy Mother of God, pray to God for us and with us. God wishes us to honor Mary because of her special role in God’s plan of salvation. He wished her to contribute to the redemption of man, just as much as Eve contributed to the fall of man. As a father is filled with joy at the love and respect others give to his children, so too is God the Father overjoyed and seeks for us to honor His daughter Mary, the mother of His Son Jesus

…HENCE I REST MY CASE, WE ARE NOT CLARIFYING THINGS BUT WE SEEMS TO DISAGREE… WHERE IS CATHOLICSM IN THAT…???.

IT BETTER TO BE LEFT UNSAID.*

 

[tobinatorstark]

That is pertty much what my parish does as well. A Rosary starts up about a half hour before Mass, as as people file in and go to their pews, they join in.

It finishes up just as Mass is about to start.

That is the way it has always been in my parish as well.

 

[Phemie]

• Pope John Paul II has called the Rosary his “favorite prayer,” after the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. IF WE DWELL IN THIS, WHY DID HE DO IT?..

…HENCE I REST MY CASE, WE ARE NOT CLARIFYING THINGS BUT WE SEEMS TO DISAGREE… WHERE IS CATHOLICSM IN THAT…???.

IT BETTER TO BE LEFT UNSAID.

I’m still unclear as to whether you think the Rosary is more important or better than Mass because that’s certainly the impression we get from what you write.

While we are encouraged to pray the Rosary we have no obligation to do so. Personally, I’d rather pray the Liturgy of the Hours.

 

[Soutane]

It is perfectly fine to pray the rosary before Mass.

Though it appears that you are asking about praying the rosary silently, I’d love to ask others to please be respectful to those of us who also there to pray in that wonderful, reverent, quiet before Mass and do NOT want to pray the Rosary at that time. It can be so distracting to get to Mass early, hoping for some quiet time with Our Lord to have the Rosary droning on and on and on - finishing 2 minutes before Mass.

In our parish of St John Bosco we have set times for the rosary,i.e.,before the Saturday Vigil Mass and the 10:30am Sunday mass and all weekday morning masses.These are not spontaneous but set times with rosary leaders scheduled.Perhaps it is the same in your parish but you are just not aware of it?

 

[acadian]

In our parish of St John Bosco we have set times for the rosary,i.e.,before the Saturday Vigil Mass and the 10:30am Sunday mass and all weekday morning masses.These are not spontaneous but set times with rosary leaders scheduled.Perhaps it is the same in your parish but you are just not aware of it?

The only time that my parish has the rosary before Mass is Wednesday at noon. Before all other Masses, it is blessedly silent. No chit chat. No choir rehearsal. No novenas. No rosary. Beautiful, wonderful, prayerful silence. God bless my pastor.

 

[paperwight]

I’m still unclear as to whether you think the Rosary is more important or better than Mass because that’s certainly the impression we get from what you write.

While we are encouraged to pray the Rosary we have no obligation to do so. Personally, I’d rather pray the Liturgy of the Hours.

I’m still confused about what Olecram meant, too.

Olecram, could you explain what you meant by ‘the rosary is the highest form of mass itself so you cannot conduct a higher mass before a church mass’, please?

And preferably without the shouting.