Rosary is stressful

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St Padre Pio said that if he stopped praying the rosary every time he got distracted he would have not finished even a single one in his whole life.
 
I thin it’s important to pray the rosary because the Lord and Our Lady have revealed they wish it to be prayed - a powerful prayer. Much like the Divine Mercy Chaplet, there are promises associated.

I do sympathize. I’ve had difficulty taking on new spiritual practices because of frustration.

I started the rosary by having a CD of it in my car, on the way to work etc.
I also have the rosary on my IPod.

If you are doing something in addition, like also praying The Hours, it may just be too much.
 
Communication with God, and contemplating your Savior’s life should provide comfort. If this has occurred only recently, it could certainly be a spiritual attack. There are spiritual warfare prayers which can be amazingly effective.

As an alternative, consider offering the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Here is a particularly calming participatory version, with artwork to allow visual stimulation: youtube.com/watch?v=AlsHL0GDlVc&list=PL0C32DB914C228951&index=2
 
I agree with those who recommend finding something on line with which you can pray along. There are videos on You Tube of Mother Angelica praying the rosary. Those are my favorites!
 
I pray a decade here and a decade there throughout the day. Praying 5 all at once is hard for me. I receive so many graces from my daily rosary though that it encourages me to stick with it.
 
Just my opinion, but it isn’t the Rosary that is stressful, but some inner conflicts-worries-problems, that rise to the surface as you try to relax and think about the mysteries. As you have been offered many modes of good advice and still wish to pray the rosary, you might ask the Lord to help and see you through the first ten decades and return later. To climb a mountain you must start at the bottom before you can conquer the top. All of us have distractions, so don’t give up. One step at a time or even one Hail Mary at a time. Peace.
 
Yes. Pray ten Hail Mary’s well.

A wise priest once told me that if everyone prayed a single Our Father WELL…the Lord would be very pleased.
 
AmericanRose said:
I know the rosary is an amazing prayer, and I love it’s idea and things, but when i try to pray it, I get distracted, and it seems almost painful to pray it. I dread beginning it and am very happy when it is over. The amount of will power it takes for me to finish a rosary is a lot, and when I have committed myself to praying the rosary every day, I always fail after a few weeks or so. Why?
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This is normal and good.

That’s how our minds work. They wander, and for some of us [like me], they wander pretty aggressively. So, a meditative prayer like the Rosary will feel like you are in combat against yourself, because you will be trying to keep yourself anchored on the Gospels, when there are hundreds to thousands to tens of thousands of other subjects your conscious will wander into. This by itself is a difficult but beneficial mental exercise to very gradually build focus and discipline (although, the Rosary is far more than a mental exercise, because it is a real spiritual weapon that really does change the world). When Mary asks us to pray the Rosary, she knows what she is asking. She isn’t expecting us to be elated by it at all times.

Enjoying praying the Rosary is not a sign of God’s favor, or of personal holiness. Not enjoying the Rosary is not a sign of God’s disfavor, or of personal lack of holiness. This isn’t my opinion: it is the opinion of the saints. In the real world, we pray, and sometimes it is satisfying, and sometimes it is not satisfying, but it is always extremely beneficial if our will is set towards God’s will. If we were to pray only in order to feel spiritually uplifted and satisfied, then our prayers would be self-serving, empty, and deplorable.
 
If our mind wanders 10 times, 20 times, or 100 times, and we bring it back to the prayers and finish, then we have pleased God 100 times in our prayers.
 
Honestly…I was waking down my stairs yesterday and I was going to where I usually say my Rosary…

I was filled with such anticipatory joy…

like a child on Christmas Eve

God Bless God!

Peace
 
pianistclare said:
Yes. Pray ten Hail Mary’s well.

A wise priest once told me that if everyone prayed a single Our Father WELL…the Lord would be very pleased.
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This is what St. Theresa of Avila writes in her book, The Way of Perfection. The book is a guide for the sisters of her order. She tells them how important it is to pray slowly and deliberately, even if the only prayer that is prayed is the Our Father.
She writes about how praying a vocal prayer, like the Our Father can lead to contemplative prayer. Contemplative prayer is a gift from God. She one sister as an example whose only prayer during the day was the Our Father.

Back to the subject of distractions during prayer. We all have them.
Prayer has never been stressful for me, especially the rosary. The rosary was part of family life for me. That doesn’t mean that I have been consistent nor does it been I am free of distractions when I pray. The rosary is not meant to something to checked off a do list. The idea that “I must finish” or “I must do this” can create stress. It’s what has sometimes been referred to as the “shoulds and should nots” of being a Catholic.’
Think of prayer as the communication that it is. You are going to spend time with your loving Mother. If you are going to read the Bible, you are climbing in the arms of your loving Father.
Don’t think that everything needs to be perfect.
I like to begin my rosary with St. Louis de Montfort’s prayer. Partly this is to help remind me of my purpose, to help slow me down.
I do pray a scriptural rosary. I did learn during catechist training a word or phrase to add after the name of Jesus to help me remain focused on the particular mystery for each decade as I pray.

What if I am still distracted while praying the rosary? And it does happen. I think it was Mother Teresa who suggested treating distractions during prayer as so many buzzing flies, and just swat them away. In most cases, it’s just so much noise.
 
When the Virgin Mary appeared in Nicaragua she taught the Seer how to pray the Rosary.She asked him to meditate on the Mysteries on certain extracts from scripture.Ther is a website rosarycenter.org which has a site"How to pray the Rosary"and this site gives clear ideas for meditation for each bead which is very helpful.What I do is I pray the Rosary with my Computer on and follow this website and then you cannot be distracted,For information this apparition is approved by the Church
 
antonabe said:
When the Virgin Mary appeared in Nicaragua she taught the Seer how to pray the Rosary.She asked him to meditate on the Mysteries on certain extracts from scripture.Ther is a website rosarycenter.org which has a site"How to pray the Rosary"and this site gives clear ideas for meditation for each bead which is very helpful.What I do is I pray the Rosary with my Computer on and follow this website and then you cannot be distracted,For information this apparition is approved by the Church
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I don’t know if I could pray in front of a computer.
I learned to pray the rosary as a child, as part of the family gathered around my parents’ bed. It was the only time of the day we were allowed in their room.
I currently have my own prayer corner in my small apartment.

This suggestion does provide an idea for an individual just beginning to pray the rosary.
I don’t know whether or not you have a television. I personally don’t.
If you do have a television, with cable that receives EWTN, I think the rosary is televised.
The televised programming is not simply nuns reciting the rosary, but has some beautiful scenery that will help with your meditation.

I do watch television programming on my computer, so if you can’t find the EWTN program, or if it’s not available do give the website a try.
I was just thinking that the scenery with the meditations would not only help with focus, but also relaxation.

Saint Pope John Paul II recommended using scripture when praying the rosary.
 
You have been given some great advice. I too, struggle with the Rosary. I have a lot of trouble meditating on the Mysteries, trying to think of things to ponder.

I mentioned once to a relative who was a holy missionary priest, (he has since passed away), that I didn’t enjoy praying the rosary. He said, all the more merit for you when you pray it!)

Don’t give up. God bless you.
 
jaimeleglise said:
You have been given some great advice. I too, struggle with the Rosary. I have a lot of trouble meditating on the Mysteries, trying to think of things to ponder.

I mentioned once to a relative who was a holy missionary priest, (he has since passed away), that I didn’t enjoy praying the rosary. He said, all the more merit for you when you pray it!)

Don’t give up. God bless you.
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I don’t try “to think of things to ponder.” Allow the rhythm of the prayers to help you.
Have you tried praying a scriptural rosary? There are books and pamphlets available that will give you a verse for the beginning of each decade. That verse can provide the visualization.

Saturday is dedicated to Our Lady. It is the day of the week when I am mostly likely to pray all the mysteries, using a verse for each Hail Mary. When a person says they are praying a scriptural rosary, they generally mean they are using a scriptural verse for each Hail Mary. It can be for whatever set of mysteries you are praying. I wanted to clarify understanding.
What Pope John Paul II recommended was reading a scripture verse before each decade. The book that I like best is My Complete Rosary Prayer Book. I haven’t used it yet, but I received a free Praying the Rosary with St. Josemaria Esciva in the mail. It likewise has scripture verses and meditations to read before each mystery.

I have never taken an Ignatius retreat. I do know that one of the concepts is reading scripture and visualizing the scene, placing yourself in the scene. I mentioned in an earlier post how I add a word or phrase after the name of Jesus in the Hail Mary to help keep me focused on the particular mystery, as well as our Lord. At the Visitation, He is Sanctifying, at the Nativity, He is Emmanuel. When He is being Crowned with Thorns, He is King of kings. In the Garden, I may see myself asleep with the Apostles, or see Him tending the the garden that is my soul. Part of this not “trying to think of things to ponder” may come from how I learned to read scripture on retreats. I learned to journal and not worry about where a particular passage might take me.
 
I started off by praying a novena of Rosaries leading up to Easter and another to Christmas.

Some time later I decided to pray the Rosary every Sunday, the first Sunday of the month being the Joyful and so on.

It took some years before I started praying daily and that began really with a marital tribulation so I guess it was good that happened if it meant I now pray it daily.

It is kind of like starting running, it seems like a lot of hard work and very tiring at first but the more you run the easier it gets and you begin to enjoy it.

I wonder how I ever went without it.
 
In the rosary we speak to our Mother.
We pray to the Father and the Son.
As children of a merciful God, we can’t really do it wrong.
Children speak to their father and mother. The parent listens with love.
God and Our Lady are no different.

Any way you can manage it, is pleasing. If one finds the mysteries problematic…don’t do them. Just say the prayers with love.

So much worry over something so simple and beautiful.
Say a Hail Mary. Then say another…

Like we would say as children: mama, daddy, Christ my brother, I love you!
 
I say it everyday. It is such a consistent plea from Mary in her apparitions. If I do nothing to advance the cause of the Church and my own holiness during the day, I at least do this. Along with the Divine Mercy chaplet, I think these humble and simple prayers said on lowly beads by humble believers will indeed bring about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Whew! I guess this thought is what keeps me going! I have days when I’m really into it (meditation does get easier once you get the habit) and days when I have to fight to keep my thoughts in line for even half a Hail Mary! It helps tremendously to read the saints on distraction in prayer. Teresa of Avila said for much of her early prayer life she not only had to start with a book (spiritual reading) but she had to hold onto the bench with her hand so she wouldn’t flee!! I love that! Therese of Lisieux opined that yes, she indeed loved the Blessed Mother but kept falling asleep at the communal Rosary! She couldn’t figure it out. All the saints who wrote on the topic say that distractions are inevitable–you simply cannot control “thoughts” says Teresa of Avila, they are like wild horses! Just forge on on those days when it is tedious, and lovingly bring your mind back to the mystery every time you catch it going off course. As we are told over and over, prayer is “work”; it is not necessarily, perhaps even rarely, something pleasurable for many-- it is Opus Dei.
 
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