Rosary - Straight Up

[milimac]

roemer:

I like my rosarries neat, no mixing with anything else, just the apostles creed, hail Mary’s, glory be’s, and our Fathers, and the mysteries of the day.
Rosary groups who add stuff before, after, and in the middle make it more difficult and less appealing to those outside their groups, so their groups fade away .
So next time you do a public rosary, leave out fillers and buffers.

Interesting. The reason I prefer to pray the Rosary in private rather than public is because it always seems like public rosaries are a sprint to the finish line rather than a meditation. The “meditation” is a one sentence announcement of the mystery, followed by the firing of the starters pistol. Meditation doesn’t seem all that suitable as a group activity anyway – it’ll always be too long for some or too short for others.

I like to take about an hour walk and actually meditate on the mystery for awhile – see how much of the story I can recall from scripture, and what questions I would have if I were witnessing the scene – What was going through Jesus mind? What was going through Mary’s mind? Then continue the meditation while praying the prayers at a comfortable pace.

If you’ve never gotten emotional while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary or received new insights, perhaps it might be good to be open to different ways of praying it – visual aids, scripture reflections, background music, “fillers and buffers”, whatever.

But if these “fillers and buffers” are only added to a speed Rosary, I can understand your annoyance. It defeats the purpose of finishing as quickly as possible, and you’re not likely to break any records either.

I have also enjoyed the CD productions of MercySong. They’re not on the web yet, but you can send an email to Mercysong@aol.com to get a price list and product description. They have all 4 sets, Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, and Luminous.

 

[hsmom2four]

nancy3159:

While roemer might like his rosary “straight up,” it’s only one way of saying it. I never knew that there was a single “right” way of saying it…ultimately, it’s about what helps each us best focus on God.

How true; and remember, the Rosary is a private devotion - one does NOT have to say it at all to be a good Catholic.

That being said, why not say it? Such a beautiful way to meditate on the life of Christ. This is why the Rosary is NOT vain repetition. No meditation on the life of Chirst would be considered “vain” in my book.

In fact, I’m going to offer a rosary for bernie tonight…

 

[Mike_Rainville]

The Rosary may not be required by God, but it has been requested by Our Blessed Mother, and in my experience it is a clear litmus test for a Catholic.

I remember reading somewhere that heretics can say the Our Father, but not the Hail Mary, if anyone knows the source, just say so.)

It seems to me that omittiing all “embellishments” would satisfy the minimum requirements. I’m even sure that it would lead the person praying to eventually add more devotion, at least the Fatima prayer and the mysteries.

To silence the members of small Rosary groups limits the action of the Holy Spirit. For example, once when I was praying in our little group, I asked for prayer for a family of my acquaintance (everything appeared to be fine, no known problems) only to discover that at that same time they were undergoing the greatest trials, but completely unknown to me.

If you’re content with a Heavenly mansion without paint, carpets or nice furniture, with just a beautiful, gracious Hello! from Our Lady when she sees you, OK. I’m hoping for real comfort: lots of room for friends to visit. library, observatory, great Mac (would it be heaven otherwise) and great big hugs whenever I meet Our Lady in heaven! That is, if Karol (John Paul II ), Jesus and Joseph will let go of her long enough…

Just remember to love her, and
how sad our failings can make her, and
how much people without understanding can hurt her and
how much more deeply she feels and understands, and
how much she loves us …

 

[bernied]

Authorkat:

If you’re going to go by the “plain teaching” of scripture, then you must believe in John 6:54-55 where it tells us “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” In other words, we need the Eucharist.

If that’s what Jesus meant, then why didn’t his followers eat him right there and then? Why wait? He never said to do it later. He said it present tense.

If you read it with understanding, you’ll see he was speaking symbolically. As He says, the Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. His words were spiritual.

Communion is not supposed to be a mind-trick (such as saying that even though it looks like bread, it’s really his physical body). Rather, it’s a beautiful remembrance.

…Bernie (former Catholic)
www.FreeGoodNews.com

 

[Robert_in_SD]

I try to say the rosary daily. I even downloaded a virtual rosary program onto my computer at work. It pops up every morning and reminds me to pray. It’s a great program. If anyone is interested, the website is: virtualrosary.org/

The download is free! You can also download to your Palm Pilot.

Tempus Fugit Memento Mori

 

[Meggie]

but adding things is also confusing to someone learning. I was never taught the rosary from my parents and after two years have still failed to learn more than the basic prayers (including the O My Jesus prayer) When the pope added the luminous misteries I really got confused.

 

[MarLee]

Poisson:

Boy was I embarrased.

Why? Didn’t Our Lady request this addition?

 

[hsmom2four]

bernie d - Don’t want to highjack this thread as it pertains to the rosary and not the Eucharist; however, will try to give a very brief answer since you brought it up. You may want to look for this thread on the Apologetics forum

bernied:

If that’s what Jesus meant, then why didn’t his followers eat him right there and then? Why wait? He never said to do it later. He said it present tense.

Kind of symantical here? For example, I can say, “I am a mother.” It doesn’t mean I am only a mother now; I was a mother yesterday, and I will be a mother for the rest of my life.

bernied:

If you read it with understanding, you’ll see he was speaking symbolically. As He says, the Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. His words were spiritual.

The actual quote is:
It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. Jn 6:63 (emphasis mine)

First of all, where else in Scripture is the word “spirit” used synonymously with “symbolic?”

Secondly, those present understood exactly what he meant:

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jn 6:52
Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” Jn 6:60

Third, Jesus assured him he did not mean this symbolically:

For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. Jn 6:55.

bernied:

Communion is not supposed to be a mind-trick (such as saying that even though it looks like bread, it’s really his physical body). Rather, it’s a beautiful remembrance.

I don’t see it as a mind-trick, just something we accept on faith because Jesus said it was so. And, it’s not an either/or proposition - it’s not either a symbol or real, its BOTH a symbol AND the Real Presence of Jesus.

This is something that has been debated, and been hard to accept since the beginning:

After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. Jn 6:66

My apologies again for going off-topic.