Rosary while driving?

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It’s almost 2 am here, and I’m falling asleep at the computer. Need to go to bed, as I’m meeting with two of my Widowed friends for breakfast, then going house hunting for a nice rental. I’m selling my home that I shared with my deceased husband – just can’t keep it up any more alone. Pray I find a nice place at a decent price with good neighbors! See you tomorrow night. Good Night and God Bless! I’m really worn out tonight!! :signofcross:
 
I pray the rosary while driving or another type of prayer such as the chaplet of St. Michael. I pray along with cd type reading with this or I pray the Divine Mercy prayer. It is quiet at that time and I am praying not just saying. When I am by myself at that time I feel as though I can really stress my prayers. Also, it is keeping me safe. Many times I have had to drive in bad winter weather or drive on a particular road that I dislike, which are a couple of my fears, and the Blessed Mother has been there to keep me safe. If I am driving somewhere that is unsafe to hold my rosary beads my fingers work fine and I don’t have to move them to use them. Many times I get in the car and think what prayers can I pray while God and I travel along. I do live in the country and most roads are not too busy. If I lived in a large city or if I should happen to get into heavy or dangerous traffic. I pause and tell God “be back” and trust in His help.
 
I pray the rosary while driving, but I did realize it was unsafe to do it while meditating on the mystery in the same way that I do when sitting in a chair at home. I realized I was so absorbed mentally that it was a distraction or interference with focusing on the road. Usually now I put in a CD and pray along with it. Meditations are more sporadic and not as deep.
Much safer.
 
I am of the mindset that driving requires our undivided attention, and the Rosary would be an unnecessary distraction.

I drive a lot; my commute is 100 km each way (62 miles). I have to drive it 3x per week in all kinds of weather (on 2 days I work from home). Needless to say fuel consumption is a big concern of mine to keep costs down, as is my safety and that of others I share the road with. I keep my mind occupied with minimizing fuel consumption. The skills to do that also require being alert to one’s surroundings and anticipate what’s going to happen, which contribute to safety. I even avoid listening to the radio on the busiest parts of my drive. There’s one really busy stretch of stop-and-go traffic that I drive near the city end of my commute. By keeping a big gap between me and the next car, driving zen, looking far down the road and anticipating slowdowns, I can drive that stretch (about 6 or 7 miles) without touching the brakes and get about 45 mpg with my car (a VW diesel Golf). I couldn’t do this while praying the Rosary or any other distraction.

Today driving to church in a minor snowstorm, on a snow-covered road, I rounded a curve at about 70 km/h (45 mph) only to find myself face-to-face with an SUV square in my lane, and he had no plans to move back over into his lane. I barely squeezed past him on the shoulder (and due to the snow I couldn’t quite see where the ditch began). I’m glad I was paying attention.

Keep safe folks, driving is a serious task. God loves it when we pray, but He also loves it when we take a task seriously, offer it up to Him, and work hard at keeping our loved ones in the car with us, and other road users, safe. That to Him, is just as much a prayer as the Rosary.
 
I think this depends on the drive and the person.

I have a short drive to work each day (15 minutes), all city street driving. I can pray the Rosary or Chaplet of Divine Mercy by including the road and traffic in my prayers. I notice the other drivers and road conditions and pray for everyone I encounter. When road conditions are dangerous, I pray for safety for everyone on the roads that day.

Just a few blocks from my school, there is a stretch of road that has adult bookstores and live shows. I especially try to pray on that road for all those employed there, for all those who go there, and all those tempted by those places. And as my school is in an area of town filled with gangs, drugs, and related violence, my “meditation” is on the Lord’s protection, healing, and salvation for my students and their families and I drive while praying.

I have some friends who purposely drive through certain areas while praying the Rosary, especially after dark when there is apt to be more violence and crime. These prayers can be spiritual work of mercy.

While the meditations are certainly different than when praying at home or in the adoration chapel, they are certainly worthy prayers.

God bless you all!

Gertie
 
Carmelite1 said:
I see many posts on CAF where people post that they say the Rosary while they drive to work. They seem proud of this.

I wonder if this is just as dangerous as texting while driving. After all, you are not supposed to “say” the Rosary - you are supposed to “pray” the Rosary. It is not a matter of reciting the Our Father and Hail Mary many times - the purpose is to meditate on the Mysteries of the Rosary.

How can you do this while traveling in traffic - possibly even on a highway?:confused: I don’t think that you can.

:blessyou:
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It is very possible to meditate on the mysteries of the rosary while driving. There are plenty of audio CDs and mp3’s one can use to assist them. Sometimes I even chant the rosary while I drive since this helps me think about what I’m saying while I’m saying it. Saying a rosary is a great way to spend the drive and it is a most effective weapon against traffic jams. 👍

I will also say three Hail Mary’s before I drive anywhere. After praying the three Hail Mary’s I will conclude the prayer by saying: “Please Blessed Mother, help us have a safe trip. No car crashes, no car problems, no cops or tickets. No animals, pedestrians, or bicyclists. No sins against charity and may I not be the cause of a lack of charity in others. Saint Christopher, pray for us. Saint Raphael, pray for us. Amen”
 
Mirror_Mirror said:
I pray the rosary on the way into work and have done so for almost 7 years. I pray the Chaplet on the way home. I would not compare that to texting. One can contemplate the mysteries while driving just as they could comprehend a radio talk show host. To pray the rosary we do not have to go into a deep meditation to make it beneficial for our spiritual life.

If you think that in the car you are only “saying” the rosary, I say that it is much quieter than praying with 6 kids ages 15 to 1 month…with a very active 3 year old that likes to entertain his siblings while we pray.
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ditto…I pray the Holy Rosary almost perpetually…I have no problem placing myself at the mystery…besides…I’m almost certain that Our Creator knows our heart…ofcourse I also pray the Rosary while seated in my den…during Adoration…etc…the actual act of praying albeit quickly sometimes…it’s still nonetheless Prayer eh…?
 
I know I can’t - I can’t concentrate enough on the prayers the way traffic is around here. I tried using a rosary CD, but found that it just became “background noise” and my thoughts wandered too much.

I have a much shorter commute now, so I don’t worry about how to productively use my commute time.
 
I am a better driver while praying the rosary. I do not use beads. I am calmer, more charitable. HOWEVER I do not close my eyes like I sometimes do when praying… that could be very dangerous… :eek:
 
I only pray when I’m either a passenger, or sitting in gridlock. On the other hand, it’s quite possible to say the rosary while sitting in gridlock.
 
Don’t you think about things when you are driving? Of course you won’t be deeply meditating, but you certainly can pray and think about it. I used to try to maneuver a rosary while driving, and that was difficult. Now I just use my fingers.
 
Carmelite1 said:
I see many posts on CAF where people post that they say the Rosary while they drive to work. They seem proud of this.

I wonder if this is just as dangerous as texting while driving. After all, you are not supposed to “say” the Rosary - you are supposed to “pray” the Rosary. It is not a matter of reciting the Our Father and Hail Mary many times - the purpose is to meditate on the Mysteries of the Rosary.

How can you do this while traveling in traffic - possibly even on a highway?:confused: I don’t think that you can.

:blessyou:
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I would say that this is dangerous. It may not lead to road rage, but how can you devote your concentration to driving if you’re concentrating on saying the rosary?

I would say that this practice could put the lives of pedestrians and other road-users at risk.

Even keeping count on your fingers is not good when driving, as this does require a degree of concentration.
Aramis said:
I only pray when I’m either a passenger, or sitting in gridlock. On the other hand, it’s quite possible to say the rosary while sitting in gridlock.
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That’s fair enough, if you’re practically stationary that’s not an issue, but driving along a local road where a child might step out in front of you, driving on a fast motorway, or driving in busy town traffic would not seem the best of places to be devoting any of your concentration on saying the rosary.

In the UK it is illegal to eat an apple or have a soft drink while driving. Personally I think I’d be a lot safer eating an apple than saying the rosary while driving.
 
Listening to the all-news station while driving leaves me stressed. Praying the Rosary while driving leaves me blessed. I also became more courteous.
 
topaz1456 said:
Listening to the all-news station while driving leaves me stressed. Praying the Rosary while driving leaves me blessed. I also became more courteous.
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More relaxed, I’m sure. More courteous no doubt. My worry is about situational awareness.

Sometimes I listen to audio books to pass the time while commuting which for me is 1.5 hrs each way each day. I find it difficult at least in the heavy traffic part of the drive, I often have to repeat chapters because I miss too much as there’s too much going on around me. I suppose it’s a good thing, because it means as a task I’m prioritizing the driving, which is the way it should be.

Perhaps the Rosary requires less concentration… I find praying the Rosary tends to make me drowsy and sometimes even fall a sleep… not a good thing while driving! I have a quite tough schedule to follow at age 55, so I find the driving and commuting tough and often I have to fight to stay alert. The Rosary would work against that for me.

But everyone’s different, I just pray that people praying the Rosary while driving remain entirely focused on driving!
 
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