Rosary Help For a Cradle Catholic

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Duke12VonFalkenburg

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I am a cradle Catholic who has had a spiritual awakening. Mostly because I have been in China for the past 4 years and being so far away from family and friends in America I turned to God for refuge, solace, and peace. Now I have been in quarantine at a hotel for the past week. Today I decided I would take a look at the rosary. I was shocked to see how difficult it seemed to be. An almost impossible mountain to climb and the mysteries seemed to make it even harder. I was hoping anyone might have some advice or a resource that could help get me on the path to be able to pray the rosary. The Rosary seems really intimidating and I hoping I could get some help. Also, about the mysteries. Do you just contemplate one of the mysteries during a single rosary or are you to do all of them? Do you pause to reflect on the mysteries or do you try to keep focused on the mystery throughout?

It is clear to me that the Rosary requires a great deal of mental and spiritual discipline. I know I shouldn’t be intimidated by it but I know if i take baby steps I can do it.
 
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What about it seems difficult to you, specifically?
 
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Thank you for editing your post to include more info.
Duke12VonFalkenburg said:
Do you just contemplate one of the mysteries during a single rosary or are you to do all of them?
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In between: generally we would contemplate one mystery per decade.
Duke12VonFalkenburg said:
Do you pause to reflect on the mysteries or do you try to keep focused on the mystery throughout?
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Either or.
Duke12VonFalkenburg said:
I know I shouldn’t be intimidated by it but I know if i take baby steps I can do it.
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If you don’t have a habit of praying the rosary, it can seem complicated. When I was a child, I learned to pray the rosary without meditating on the mysteries. Once I got the hang of that, my mom added the mysteries to our prayer. I was never intimidated by it, probably because Mom started me off simply. Maybe an approach like this would help you get started praying the rosary without being stressed about it.
 
Hi. The rosary is a powerful prayer that you’re being invited to take part in.
Here’s my experience. My husband and I both were recommended the rosary and started learning it together 3 years ago, before my entering the church. It was intimidating for me because I had to memorize the prayers. (Hail Mary, Apostles Creed) Glory Be, Jesus Prayer, So I started off writing those down and reading them while reciting.
The mysteries can seem overwhelming at first, but don’t worry too much about doing it right. Be open to whatever comes to you about that mystery. Maybe start with a video on youtube to play along with you that might offer a piece of the mystery and help you focus or flow through. Or a booklet. Now I pray the rosary everyday, sometimes mentally, sometimes verbally.
I would say the biggest discipline that comes along with it for me is the battle of prayer. Sometimes I just don’t feel like it. But I know that I’ve made the choice to be devoted and that only the enemy would want to tempt me out of it.
God bless.
 
Congratulations on making your first steps to be interested in the Rosary.

It is actually really simple. I was taught to say it when I was about 7 years old. I could not do the longer prayers at that age (like the Creed, the Hail Holy Queen, nor did I know the Fatima Prayer) but most of the Rosary is just the easy little prayers of Our Father, 10 Hail Mary and Glory Be, repeated 5 times.

I suggest you just follow these “For Dummies” instructions for now:


As far as “meditating on the mysteries”, we typically do this:
  1. Pick one set of 5 mysteries (Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, or Luminous) for one 5-decade rosary. Usually people pick a set based on the day of the week, but since you’re just starting out, pick any set you want.
  2. Once you have your set, then for each decade of the Rosary, you think about one mystery. I would suggest that, as a beginner, you simply think about the mystery for a minute or two right at the beginning of each decade, before you start the Our Father, and then after thinking, go ahead and pray the prayers.
Example:
I choose the Glorious Mysteries. They are:
  1. The Resurrection
  2. The Ascension
  3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles
  4. The Assumption
  5. The Crowning of Mary Queen of Heaven
I do the initial Rosary prayers on the little tail part (the Creed, the first Our Father, 3 Hail Marys, and a Glory Be - the “Dummies” page describes this).
Now I’m ready for the first Glorious Mystery. It’s The Resurrection.
I say, “The First Glorious Mystery: The Resurrection”.
Then I think about it for a couple minutes.
Some people use a picture or a Bible passage to help them think.

Then I pray the Our Father, 10 Hail Marys and Glory Be for the decade. (Described on the Dummies page).

Then for the second Decade I go to the second Glorious Mystery, the Ascension, and I do the same thing.

It’s quite easy once you get used to it.

If it’s still too complicated, just do one decade and work your way up to a whole Rosary.
Good luck!
 
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My current favorite online Rosary recordings to pray along with are those produced by The Catholic Crusade, available at www.YouTube.com:

Joyful Mysteries (suggested for Mondays & Saturdays)
Sorrowful Mysteries (suggested for Tuesdays & Fridays)
Glorious Mysteries (suggested for Wednesdays & Sundays)
Luminous Mysteries (suggested for Thursdays)

I also like their ‘The Rosary with Scripture’ offerings.

In group settings, like those mentioned above, the person (on the recording) who is leading the Rosary announces the appropriate mystery and says the first half of each of the prayers and you join the others in saying the last half of those prayers. For example, when saying a Hail Mary Prayer, the person leading the Rosary says the first half, i.e., “Hail, Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” Then, with the others, you say the last half of the prayer, “Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

Praying in a group with another person leading the Rosary makes it easy to remember what prayer to say and when and what mystery to meditate on. Praying with a group, you can also practice fingering your rosary beads without worries.
 
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@Tis_Bearself Thank you so very much for this information, it is very helpful indeed.

I truly love the link you posted, as I am very much a “dummy,” lol, when it comes to all things Catholic, but am trying.

After holding the crucifix of my rosary, I cross myself with it, and then before the apostles creed, I kiss the crucifix.

Kissing it makes me feel more in love with God and draws me closer to Him.

Does anyone else feel this way, if they are kissing it?
 
@(name removed by moderator), thank you, really lovely post.

Are you saying to try saying only one decade first?

That is a great idea for the OP…just focus on saying one decade first.

@Todd_Easton Thanks so much!!

I followed your link to the Catholic Crusade and found that they have all kinds of ways to say the rosary.

I LOVE this one I am posting that shows images and has scripture.

It is really good stuff!

I need these kinds of things to learn.

The Rosary with Scripture: Sorrowful Mysteries (Tuesdays & Fridays) - YouTube
 
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Totally got into the guidence from watching World Rosary on EWTN on youtube.

The words were in Italian on the screen, and the interpreter on the live video spoke in English.

I tried my best to speak in Italian by follwoing the screen.

It was truly heart meltingly beautiful…

Between the decades, they added in, extra things like singing a song with Ave Maria as the chorus.

Then someone got up and spoke about each mystery for a bit before they continued.

This was totally doable and I badly needed to do this.

What made the difference for me is that this was LIVE and had the words on the screen, but most importantly, the total love and dedication emanated to my soul right off the screen.

This may help you along as well, if you can get this in China and there arent any blocks from your country as far as internet access.
 
Don’t pray it alone. I started by praying the rosary alone, but I find it better to pray when you are praying with others. Here are two sites I use:



Here is another site where you can watch Catholic Daily Mass. There Rosary doesn’t update, but it has previous recording from Bishop Reed.

http://www.catholictv.org/shows/the-rosary

Build up to praying the Rosary appropriately. By that I mean, if you have to lay down while you pray and not be on your knees then try it that way at first and build up until you can pray it on your knees.
 
The flip side of the coin is that there is someone who desires us to avoid the Rosary. We defeat him by praying it.
 
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When I kiss the cross, I remember that Jesus reportedly said to Bl. Maria Pierina de Micheli (who was one of the proponents of the Holy Face devotion) that no one ever kissed his face except for Judas.
We are always paying homage to Jesus by kissing his wounds, for instance on Good Friday for veneration of the cross (This is assuming there’s even a Jesus figure on the cross these days to kiss - usually seems to be a plain cross nowadays, although when I was a child it would have a corpus on it and we would kiss the feet), and in the approved Flame of Love devotion where we kiss Jesus’ five wounds in turn. But we don’t kiss his face.

So when I kiss the crucifix I try to do so as kissing Jesus’ face.
One of my favorite saints, St. Therese, was “St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face” (she was allowed to have both), so that is a nice fit too.
 
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Yes. I do this everytime. It does stir up the love. Alot of times I feel the body of Christ on the crucifix and it makes that love bubble up too. His legs and feet, his face (although so tiny on the crucifix of a rosary) the physical touching of Jesus on the Cross makes me feel close to Him.
 
First and biggest tip: Memorize the prayers. When you can recite the prayers by rote, meditating on the mysteries simultaneously becomes a piece of cake. When you’re still learning these prayers, of course your mind will be more focused on the words of the prayers than the mysteries.
  1. the Hail Mary (this is said 50 times (53 including the preface)
  2. the Our Father (this is said 5 times (6 including the preface)
  3. the Glory Be (this is said 5 times)
  4. the Fatima prayer (optional; this isn’t always said, so you don’t have to use it right away if the other prayers are already intimidating enough to memorize)
You don’t have to memorize the Creed or the Hail Holy Queen at first; you can just read them off a piece of paper at the beginning (creed) and end (Hail Holy Queen) of the whole rosary.

Second tip: at first, definitely use a pamphlet or written reference, to remember the order of the mysteries (and of the prayers). So you can glance at the list each time you get to the next ‘Our Father’ bead. Over time (especially if you make a concentrated effort to memorize each set of mysteries, and the days they’re associated with), you won’t need this resource. But at first, it’s definitely helpful to have the sheet of paper to look at. With images, if you can find them, is also good. So e.g. if you go online or make yourself a collage of beautiful religious artwork corresponding to each mystery, you might visually gaze upon each mystery (e.g. a painting of the Annunciation, or of the birth of Jesus) while praying your Hail Mary’s, and gradually contemplate the mysteries that way. <<-- I actually strongly recommend this method. Gazing visually upon a painting or statue of a mystery, while praying, is helpful when we’re having trouble internally visualizing while saying prayers.

Don’t get too stressed! If it’s easier for you, maybe try one decade at a time. Announce a mystery to yourself (e.g. the Annunciation), reflect for a minute or two on that event; consider how your own life relates to it; then say the Our Father. Then, pray ten Hail Mary’s. Then one Glory Be. Then you’re done!

Then add another decade the following day, if you feel able. It’s really just repeating the same sequence of (1x)Our Father, (10x)Hail Mary, (1x)Glory Be, five times. While contemplating one different mystery each time (for a total of five mysteries). The preamble and closure, you can add in later, if that’s throwing you.

It can definitely seem like a lot at first. Do whatever you can, and know that God is pleased with your efforts!
 
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Follow up note: Don’t beat yourself up if at first, you feel like you’re more mechanically reciting prayers, than meditating on the mysteries. There’s a certain degree of rote learning in anything, and sometimes it’s necessary to get that rote learning down, before we can relax into reflecting on what we’re actually saying.

Even for consecrated religious, there’s often an early period of rote learning (e.g. learning the tunes and special prayers of their new community), and it’s not until after their initial stage of formation that they’ve sort of got those basics “under their belt” and can properly think about what they’re singing.

Like learning times tables, or Greek grammar.

Still though, if you’re really hoping to spend more time in meditation on the mysteries right now, it’s okay to just pray one decade at a time, and take a few minutes to reflect on the mystery at the beginning, before praying the Hail Mary’s. It may take a while before your meditation continues through the Hail Mary’s, and that’s okay. Sit in meditation with the mystery as long as you like before saying the prayers.
 
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