Rosary-Thinking about what you are saying

[Joyful_1]

My mom has a problem with praying the rosary because she doesn’t understand how you can be saying one thing (Hail Mary’s) and thinking about something else (the Mysteries). She thinks it is a contradiction not to be thinking what you are saying. How can I explain to her why the rosary is a healthy prayer?
She is a former Protestant and is still getting over the “repetitive prayer” thing.
She joined the Church at the same time as my whole family this past Easter and she still isn’t in on the whole “Mary” thing.

If anyone can help me I would be really thankfull!!

Joyful_1

 

[Dawn]

I had problems with the rosary when I first started praying it. The best thing I did was get a little booklet called the Scriptural Rosary. It gives a bible verse between each Hail Mary, after doing this many times, I now have no problem saying the Hail Mary while thinking about the mysteries. I am in the “story”. Get her it for Christmas!

 

[water]

yeah, Scriptural Rosary is great. Sunday mass at our parish, we pray the Scriptural Rosary before mass too.

About praying, if your mom sometimes prays about something and half of her mind is thinking about what she is going to shop for Christmas, what to cook for her family tonight, then she can surely pray the Rosary and mediate on the mysteries.

Many times, our minds are so distracted while praying and we allow this distraction to convince that we cannot think or mediate on something else.

 

[puzzleannie]

My mom has a problem with praying the rosary because she doesn’t understand how you can be saying one thing (Hail Mary’s) and thinking about something else (the Mysteries). She thinks it is a contradiction not to be thinking what you are saying. How can I explain to her why the rosary is a healthy prayer?
She is a former Protestant and is still getting over the “repetitive prayer” thing.
She joined the Church at the same time as my whole family this past Easter and she still isn’t in on the whole “Mary” thing.

If anyone can help me I would be really thankfull!!

Joyful_1

she might be helped by a scriptural rosary book, because what Catholics absorbed growing up by hearing those scriptures repeated, she will recognize as familiar, and realize our thoughts revolve around the event is the life of Christ revealed in those scriptures, and the repetetive rhythm of the recited prayers is an aid in that meditation. It is really a question of the how the mind works on several levels at once, which is not really a religious but a science issue. Once she understands the matter of this prayer is more than the formal recited prayers, she will be overjoyed at the scriptural basis. Also, more study on the doctrines about Mary, and how they were formulated to enunciate true doctrine about Christ is always indicated for someone who has a problem with the “whole Mary thing”.

 

[LilyM]

My mom has a problem with praying the rosary because she doesn’t understand how you can be saying one thing (Hail Mary’s) and thinking about something else (the Mysteries). She thinks it is a contradiction not to be thinking what you are saying. How can I explain to her why the rosary is a healthy prayer?
She is a former Protestant and is still getting over the “repetitive prayer” thing.
She joined the Church at the same time as my whole family this past Easter and she still isn’t in on the whole “Mary” thing.

If anyone can help me I would be really thankfull!!

Joyful_1

Has she never tried to pat her head and rub her tummy at the same time or vice versa? Or watched the TV while cooking or doing something else? Did she find herself unable to focus on both things simultaneously?

It’s hardly impossible to do or think about two things at once.

 

[Joyful_1]

Thank you guys so much. You were really a help. You’re right about thinking one thing and doing another. (aren’t women supposed to be multi-taskers?)

Get her it for Christmas!

I think I will! That’s an exellent suggestion. I had been having a hard time figuring out what to give her anyway !

God Bless
Joyful_1

 

[mangy_dog]

My mom has a problem with praying the rosary because she doesn’t understand how you can be saying one thing (Hail Mary’s) and thinking about something else (the Mysteries). She thinks it is a contradiction not to be thinking what you are saying. How can I explain to her why the rosary is a healthy prayer?
She is a former Protestant and is still getting over the “repetitive prayer” thing.
She joined the Church at the same time as my whole family this past Easter and she still isn’t in on the whole “Mary” thing.

If anyone can help me I would be really thankfull!!

Joyful_1

Repetitive prayer is the way a temporal being (us) mirror the eternal prayer of the angels in heaven. Holy, holy, holy Lord God of power and might etc etc. Eternally!
When the Lord was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, how many times did - what’s his name???..Lot! How many times did he ask the Lord the same question over and over again.
Our prayers are repetitive for a reason. A child will nag and nag their parents until finally a parent says, “what!!! what is it!”
You get the point, I hope.

 

[Joyful_1]

Repetitive prayer is the way a temporal being (us) mirror the eternal prayer of the angels in heaven. Holy, holy, holy Lord God of power and might etc etc. Eternally!
When the Lord was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, how many times did - what’s his name???..Lot! How many times did he ask the Lord the same question over and over again.
Our prayers are repetitive for a reason. A child will nag and nag their parents until finally a parent says, “what!!! what is it!”
You get the point, I hope.

Yes, I get your point. The thing my mom has a problem with is repetitive prayer where you are repeating one thing and thinking about something else - whether it be the mystery or your intention or what to have for dinner that night.

That’s why I like the Scriptural Rosary. It seems like a good way to keep focused on the mystery and be praying the Hail Mary’s with feeling as well. I saw that book in a Catholic book store once. It seemed like a good idea.

Often the rosary is as much a meditative prayer as it is an vocal, petitioning prayer. That dual property is sometimes hard to understand.

God Bless,
Joyful_1

 

[The_Truthinator]

In movies, our eyes are focused on one scene, and we are listening to it as well: the dialogue, etc. Yet music in the background that we are almost unaware of at times makes the scene more powerful and adds to the viewing experience.

Think of the Hail Marys as background music to the meditation, so to speak.

 

[Joyful_1]

In movies, our eyes are focused on one scene, and we are listening to it as well: the dialogue, etc. Yet music in the background that we are almost unaware of at times makes the scene more powerful and adds to the viewing experience.

Think of the Hail Marys as background music to the meditation, so to speak.

That is an exellent analogy! Thank you Truthinator!

God Bless
Joyful_1

 

[stringbeanduck]

My advice is to have your mom practice Hail Mary’s Our Father’s Glory be. I say can the Hail Mary’s while thinking about the Mysteries because the prayer its self is deeply rooted in my heart as well as Our Father, Glory be. Practice will help. That’s why it helps to say the rosary on a regular schedule. Trust me if she’s a mom then she can multi task and if she can multitask then she can say the rosary

 

[thomasf]

Yes, I get your point. The thing my mom has a problem with is repetitive prayer where you are repeating one thing and thinking about something else - whether it be the mystery or your intention or what to have for dinner that night.

Joyful_1

I think of it this way. How many times when praying does your mind wander? You think about what’s going on around you, what to eat for dinner, the errands you have to do, etc. I get distracted easily. So if you pray the Hail Mary, and concentrate on the mysteries, isn’t it better to be distracted by one of those two things rather than the mundane? If you’re distracted from the Hail Mary by the Mysteries, or from the Mysteries by the Hail Mary, isn’t that the best possible situation?

Good luck, btw.

 

[Joyful_1]

I think of it this way. How many times when praying does your mind wander? You think about what’s going on around you, what to eat for dinner, the errands you have to do, etc. I get distracted easily. So if you pray the Hail Mary, and concentrate on the mysteries, isn’t it better to be distracted by one of those two things rather than the mundane? If you’re distracted from the Hail Mary by the Mysteries, or from the Mysteries by the Hail Mary, isn’t that the best possible situation?

Very good point. I am planning on letting her read this thread after Christmas since otherwise it would kind of give away her present.

Good luck, btw.

Thank you.

God Bless
Joyful_1

 

[Holly3278]

I’d get her a rosary CD and maybe a book about how scriptural the rosary is. That should help her.

 

[NewUlm1976_2000]

I’d get her a rosary CD and maybe a book about how scriptural the rosary is. That should help her.

I agree. I have a link to one in my signature that I listen to every night (though ripped to my iPod).

Even so, a mind can wander and it can still be productive when saying it. Maybe something else (type of inspiration) will come across to help in the short and long term.

 

[Elzee]

It took me about 6 months of saying the rosary to finally be able to say the prayers and meditate on the mysteries or the fruits of the mysteries at the same time. I still remember the first time ‘it happened’ - wow! It was a spiritual breakthrough.

I started by meditating first on the mystery before each decade, and then after each Hail Mary I thought about the mystery for awhile. Eventually, I was able to do both at the same time. I also found it better to not focus on doing a whole rosary since I would get tired and frustrated. Many times, as I was “learning”, I only did one decade.

 

[AngelRose81]

I, too, had problems meditating on the mysteries when I first started praying the rosary. What helped me was getting a pamphlet that had the fruits of the mysteries on them. I think the Marian Helpers (marian.org, I think) has one that they put out. It might be somewhere on their website too.

 

[Joyful_1]

Thanks guys.

I gave her a Scriptural Rosary book for Christmas. I don’t think she’s used it yet though. She is very busy and has a hard time finding time to pray. Maybe the one decade at a time thing would help.

Unfortunatly, I didn’t look close enough at the book before I bought it - it lacks the Luminous mysteries.

God Bless
Joyful_1