Rosary during Mass?

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Oneofthewomen

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I was just reading in another thread where 2 different posters (see posts # 3 & 9) suggested to someone who is having a hard time following along in an EF Mass with a missal, that they could pray the rosary during Mass.

I know from hearing my older friends and relatives that this happened often prior to the changes that came with the OF of the Mass.

What I don’t understand is how this is considered proper?
If you are privately saying a rosary during Mass, how are you participating in Mass?

This never made a lot of sense to me, and now I am seeing people actually advocate it. Why?

Would anyone here recommend that someone pray the rosary during an OF Mass?
If not, why not?
 
What sort of participation are you referring to? I always thought our participation was a focus on God, and the sacrifice at hand. The Rosary is all about that final sacrifice, and what it means for us. There is plenty of time in the NO and the LR to say the Rosary when no responses are needed.
 
Alexander_Smith said:
What sort of participation are you referring to? I always thought our participation was a focus on God, and the sacrifice at hand. The Rosary is all about that final sacrifice, and what it means for us. There is plenty of time in the NO and the LR to say the Rosary when no responses are needed.
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Let me clatirify what I mean by “participation”.

For me that means ***actually paying attention ***to what is happening in the Mass, whether that means following/praying along with a missal during an EF, or kneeling, bowing, singing, responding etc. when called for called for by the rubrics of either form.
 
Oneofthewomen said:
I was just reading in another thread where 2 different posters (see posts # 3 & 9) suggested to someone who is having a hard time following along in an EF Mass with a missal, that they could pray the rosary during Mass.

I know from hearing my older friends and relatives that this happened often prior to the changes that came with the OF of the Mass.

What I don’t understand is how this is considered proper?
If you are privately saying a rosary during Mass, how are you participating in Mass?

This never made a lot of sense to me, and now I am seeing people actually advocate it. Why?

Would anyone here recommend that someone pray the rosary during an OF Mass?
If not, why not?
Click to expand...
The OF moves a bit too fast for it perhaps. The EF Missa Cantata, there are several moments when one can pray the Rosary without neglecting to follow the Mass. For example, the Gloria. A decade can be prayed after one prays the Gloria, as the Choir sings it. Another time would be as one is in line for Communion, and after returning to the pew. Also, a decade or two can be prayed before Mass, and if need be, the Rosary can be completed after Mass.

Fr. F.X. Lasance suggested the Eucharistic Rosary would be fitting for Mass. 🙂

Here are the meditations for the Joyful Mysteries of the Eucharistic Rosary

The Eucharistic Rosary : Meditations taken from the prayer book With God
by Fr Francis Xavier Lasance , Benziger Brothers 1911
Code: 
                                The First Joyful Mystery
                                    The Annunciation
O Jesus, born of Thy Father from all eternity; filled with an incomprehensible love for men, Thou didst become man in the operation of the Holy Ghost, humbling Thyself to such a degree to take the form of a servant. The same charity hath prompted Thee to perpetuate, in the Eucharist, this mystery of annihilation and love, even improving on it by becoming the food of our souls.
Divine Jesus, we adore Thee in these unfathomable abasements, and we beg of Thee, through the intercession of Thy Holy Mother, a deep and heartfelt humility.
Code: 
                            The Second Joyful Mystery
                                      The Visitation
Divine Saviour, from the womb of Mary, wherein Thou didst become incarnate, Thou breathest fourth sanctity into John the Baptist and benediction on the whole house of Elizabeth. From the Host wherein Thou dwellest, Thou spreadest all over the world the influence and grace of Thy love throughout the whole Church.
O divine Jesus, full of love and kindness, we adore Thee, and we beg of Thee, through the intercession of Thy Holy Mother, perfect charity toward our neighbors.
Code: 
                          The Third Joyful Mystery
                          The Nativity of Our Lord
O King of kings ! Poor indeed, yet most lovely in the crib of Bethlehem, Thou callest the simple and the poor to be Thy first adorers: poorer and no less amiable to the eyes of the faith in the Sacrament of thy love, Thou art still delighted to see around Thy person the humble and the little.
O Jesus, in Thy destitution we adore Thee, to Whom belong all the treasures of the God- head, and we beg of Thee, through the intercession of Thy Holy Mother, detachment of the goods of this world.
Code: 
                            The Forth Joyful Mystery
              The Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Thou offer Thyself with perfect obedience and love to Thy Father, through the hands of the high priest, as the Victim that is to be immolated on the Cross ; every day also Thou offerest Thyself upon the alter by the hands of the priest, with the same obedience and love as our Victim always sacrificed and always living.
O sweet Victim, we adore Thee and we beg of Thee, through the intercession of Thy Holy Mother, the spirit of obedience and sacrifice.
Code: 
                          The Fifth Joyful Mystery
              The Finding of Our Lord in the temple
O Jesus, Thou withdrawest and leavest Joseph and Mary in tears to do the work of Thy Father; but Thou fillest them with joy when they find Thee in the midst of the Doctors amazed at Thy knowledge and wisdom. Veiled in the Eucharist, Thou impartest there divine teachings, and Thou fillest with joy those who seek Thee with their whole heart.
O hidden God !, we adore Thee and we beg of Thee, through the intercession of Thy Holy Mother, the grace of seeking Thee with a lively and persevering faith in the Sacrament of Thy love.
 
If someone is having a difficult time at an EF Mass, even though they are using “Latin-English Booklet Missal for praying the Traditional Mass”, perhaps they should attend the OF Mass.

That is why our Church offers both equally VALID forms in her wisdom.

We can say the Rosary before or after Mass, or at home.

I agree with Father Z -** "** I think there are more perfect ways of participating. I generally think that remaining in the texts of Mass is better during Mass. "
 
I am a traditionalist but I regard the initiative to suppress this practice to be one of the few good things to come out of the liturgical reforms of recent decades.

I pray the rosary myself, but not during mass. During mass I am engaged with the mass itself which is the greatest prayer of the church. The whole point of the church praying is that we all pray together the same prayer. If everyone is praying different prayers at the same time then there is confusion.

Everything in the mass is a prayer. If people can read, learn or remember the rosary then they also have the capacity to read, learn or remember some of the prayers of the mass and follow them with the priest during mass. That is what assisting at mass means.

I know that a lot of people just sit there at mass with their head in a fog and not concentrating or meditating on what is going on. But those who are praying the rosary make it painfully obvious to everybody that they are not engaged in the mass. Its very distracting.
 
i almost aways say a decade or more before mass and sometimes after mass
 
I was at a workshop this morning where our Archdiocesan Director of Liturgy was asked this same question. While I understand a previous poster’s comments about having time during a Missa Cantata, Father stated this morning that “active participation” called for by the laity is the act of being engaged in what is going on in the Mass without distractions. (I paraphrase…) I have a hard time thinking of the Rosary as anything but a distraction during Mass, even when squeezing in decades between prayers. I would think reflection on the prayers and Mass itself would be a more appropriate use of time. For those struggling with the Extraordinary Form, use the time to figure out what’s going on and coming up next - yes, a distraction, but in this case, one that leads to fuller participation.
 
Alexander_Smith said:
What sort of participation are you referring to? I always thought our participation was a focus on God, and the sacrifice at hand. The Rosary is all about that final sacrifice, and what it means for us. There is plenty of time in the NO and the LR to say the Rosary when no responses are needed.
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Shouldn’t one be praying in one’s heart along with the priest, at the same speed that the priest is praying? I doubt that there is any kind of empty silence of sufficient length to pray a whole Rosary, or even one decade - even when it’s quiet, the priest is still praying silently, and our hearts should be praying along with him.
 
At_Trent said:
Fr Z doesn’t have an issue with it
wdtprs.com/blog/2009/07/quaeritur-rosary-during-mass/
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It seems that Father is really saying that there are better ways of participating than saying the rosary. " I think there are more perfect ways of participating. I generally think that remaining in the texts of Mass is better during Mass. " That is saying that the rosary *during Mass *is a poor second to praying the words of the Mass and concentrating on them.

To the OP, I agree that there are other times to say the rosary, but only during the Mass can we prepare for and concentrate on the sacrifice.
 
The Holy Mass is the most perfect way the Church has to offer adoration to God.
The most perfect form of prayer there is.

To pray the Rosary during Mass is to pray the Rosary. It is not participating in Mass.
"Once, St. Teresa was overwhelmed with God’s Goodness and asked Our Lord “How can I thank you?” Our Lord replied, “ATTEND ONE MASS.”

The Greatest Prayer.
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
 
I also have a problem following all the procedures of the Latin Mass. The only town nearby that has one available does the Low Mass style, which should be the easiest to follow. My wife and I recently attended our first one and we were blown away by the reverence paid to God in both the Readings and Communion. Both of us were very lost throughout most of the Mass, even though we had a missal to walk us through it. Because many of the prayers were “secret”, we were often unsure of what we should be doing at those times. I told my wife after Mass that I just prayed “Lord, whatever I’m supposed to be doing right now, please know that I would be doing it if I knew what it was.” We plan to go into the next one much more prepared. I never considered praying the Rosary during the “secret” times, but I can completely sympathize with the person that did that.
 
Savo74 said:
I also have a problem following all the procedures of the Latin Mass. The only town nearby that has one available does the Low Mass style, which should be the easiest to follow. My wife and I recently attended our first one and we were blown away by the reverence paid to God in both the Readings and Communion. Both of us were very lost throughout most of the Mass, even though we had a missal to walk us through it. Because many of the prayers were “secret”, we were often unsure of what we should be doing at those times. I told my wife after Mass that I just prayed “Lord, whatever I’m supposed to be doing right now, please know that I would be doing it if I knew what it was.” We plan to go into the next one much more prepared. I never considered praying the Rosary during the “secret” times, but I can completely sympathize with the person that did that.
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This may seem counterintuitive, but I find that I can follow along better with the Latin Mass if I put the missal away. I prefer to read it before Mass, to get a sense of what will be happening, and then during the Mass itself, I simply remain quiet and listen to everything, and pray along as best I can. It helps.

But if I try to follow along in the missal, I get lost really fast, and then I get frustrated.
 
Mrs_Sally said:
It seems that Father is really saying that there are better ways of participating than saying the rosary. " I think there are more perfect ways of participating. I generally think that remaining in the texts of Mass is better during Mass. " That is saying that the rosary *during Mass *is a poor second to praying the words of the Mass and concentrating on them.

To the OP, I agree that there are other times to say the rosary, but only during the Mass can we prepare for and concentrate on the sacrifice.
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Sure it’s best to concentrate on the Liturgy first and foremost.

One of the posts mentioned in the OP was mine. I made it a point to advise one learn the Mass first in that post (we were discussing the EF).

I’m not suggestion anyone start praying the Rosary during Mass. I’m just saying it isn’t wrong to do so. As Lormar pointed out, Mediator Dei says as much. The closest I’ve ever read a pope as saying not to do it is Paul VI, and he expressed it as an opinion in Marialis Cultus.

So we have Pius XII saying it’s ok during the EF and Paul VI saying it’s not during the OF. I agree with both.
 
I want to thank everyone for participating.
Lormar, thank you for the link, I did read the parts you sited, and plan on reading the entire document.
I was born 3 months after the missal of Paul VI became the norm,
so that is all I have ever known.
I don’t know, it just seems kind of disrespectful to me (praying the rosary during Mass), but I do understand what Pope Pius was trying to say.

Excubitor,
Thak you for this. You put to words pretty much how I feel about the whole thing.
excubitor said:
I am a traditionalist but I regard the initiative to
suppress this practice to be one of the few good things to come out of the liturgical reforms of recent decades.

I pray the rosary myself, but not during mass. During mass I am engaged with the mass itself which is the greatest prayer of the church. The whole point of the church praying is that we all pray together the same prayer. If everyone is praying different prayers at the same time then there is confusion.

Everything in the mass is a prayer. If people can read, learn or remember the rosary then they also have the capacity to read, learn or remember some of the prayers of the mass and follow them with the priest during mass. That is what assisting at mass means.

I know that a lot of people just sit there at mass with their head in a fog and not concentrating or meditating on what is going on. But those who are praying the rosary make it painfully obvious to everybody that they are not engaged in the mass. Its very distracting.
Click to expand...
 
ANNE_2 said:
If someone is having a difficult time at an EF Mass, even though they are using “Latin-English Booklet Missal for praying the Traditional Mass”, perhaps they should attend the OF Mass.

That is why our Church offers both equally VALID forms in her wisdom.

We can say the Rosary before or after Mass, or at home.

I agree with Father Z -** "** I think there are more perfect ways of participating. I generally think that remaining in the texts of Mass is better during Mass. "
Click to expand...
👍
 
During mass we should focus on celebrating the Lord entirely. I pray rosary at home or in the church at the quiet hours long before mass when i can be alone with God and also devlelop my friendship to the blessed Virgin Mary and Lord Jesus Christ.
 
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