should even non-Catholics pray the rosary?

[crazzeto]

The point made that praying the rosary is entirely optional for Catholics:
Really? I wasn’t aware of that. What if the rosary is part of penance after confession then? It is sometimes part of that from what I’ve always understood, or am I wrong? And the bigger question is, why wouldn’t a Catholic want to pray the rosary anyway? It’s a beautiful part of being Christian.
Note that I’m not yet a Catholic.

You are correct that if your preist requests that you pray the rosary as penance, then it ceases to be optional for you. In my experience, I’ve only gone up to a decade of the rosary in this way I do however try to pray 5 decades of the Rosary daily. I have yet to pray the entire rosary, this is a goal of mine. You are also correct in that all Catholics should want to pray the Rosary. It’s a very beautiful gift she gave us, a crow of thorns to pray. For a second time, she gave us Christ. Why wouldn’t was all take advantage of this? Or at least to the greatest extent possible, if you only have time to do one decade on a given day, then do that much.

 

[Departed_Light]

i never said it was mandatory…

all i know is that it saved me… from sin and isn’t tht hat eing a Christian is supposed to be all about??

This is where I think your fellow Catholics would disagree.

We are saved by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, and walked out in charity. A thing does not save us. We don’t save ourselves through any work. The Councils of Trent have some great stuff to say about Christian Salvation.

What being a Christian is all about is following Christ. Christianity is not quid pro quo. It’s a faith based system centering on filial love.

Prayer is a central focus of the Christian life. The meditative prayers of the rosary are great.

 

[burritobrother]

You are correct that if your preist requests that you pray the rosary as penance, then it ceases to be optional for you. In my experience, I’ve only gone up to a decade of the rosary in this way I do however try to pray 5 decades of the Rosary daily. I have yet to pray the entire rosary, this is a goal of mine. You are also correct in that all Catholics should want to pray the Rosary. It’s a very beautiful gift she gave us, a crow of thorns to pray. For a second time, she gave us Christ. Why wouldn’t was all take advantage of this? Or at least to the greatest extent possible, if you only have time to do one decade on a given day, then do that much.

Thank you for the response. I knew there was something I wasn’t getting with the rosary being optional. Honestly I’m surprised it is optional, it seems so necessary to grow in faith.
I’ve not been as diligent with it as I should, I’ve prayed the entire rosary but only a few times.
I have prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy as well but not yet the Holy Wounds. I thought those two variations were optional only, but options I fully wish to take.

 

[ralphinal]

Good thread.

If I can help with the intercessory part for a second. What is the link between heaven and earth? God. IT is God that allows for our prayers to be heard by the saints. It has nothing to do with the saint themselves. Now, as heaven is outside of our time, we can think that all the prayers do not come in at once.

I hope that helps

 

[burritobrother]

I would think that if anyone has any doubts concerning the intercession of saints they should go to their priest and talk about it. It is, as far as I can tell, a basic part of Catholicism, and to not fully accept it is an issue they need guidance with. To be honest I never understood why Protestants saw it as a problem; it’s even Biblical.

 

[distracted]

The point made that praying the rosary is entirely optional for Catholics:
Really? I wasn’t aware of that. What if the rosary is part of penance after confession then? It is sometimes part of that from what I’ve always understood, or am I wrong? And the bigger question is, why wouldn’t a Catholic want to pray the rosary anyway? It’s a beautiful part of being Christian.
Note that I’m not yet a Catholic.

what an uplifting post…

Protestants make some of the best Catholics…

would like to hear your conversion story… what first attracted u to the Churc. etc…

 

[kooldood]

Yes, non-Catholics should and do pray the rosary. (Some Protestant friends-of-friends pray it)

 

[poetryforjesus]

Thank you for the question. I will do my best to articulate my point of view though it may not be the most educated. Lets look at the second part.
Hail Mary, full of grace.
Our Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
Jesus.
(the above completely from Scripture)

Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

The first bit of the second part Holy Mary, Mother of God; this is ok for me as God made Mary Holy and Mary is obviously the mother of God.
Pray for us sinners; this is where I personally still balk. I just have a hard time with the intersessory (sorry bad speller) prayer part. Mary and the saints are physically dead and not with us on this earth. Yes alive in heaven. Now if we are asking intersesory prayer and this comes in all over the world from millions of people and Mary is not omni present how can all these prayers be heard by her. (still my Lutheran side coming out).

I don’t know if that explains it well at all.

Ok, I think of it this way. Isn’t it the christian hope that at the end of everything we become totally one with Christ? Isn’t that the reason why the church is called the Body of Christ? So, every christian will eventually become one with Christ even as a physical body is one, with Christ being the Head of the Church.

So, when the saints go to heaven and finally rest in Christ, they have achieved this union: they are now completely one with Christ.

If that is true, then the problem is solved. If Christ is omnipresent, and the saints are totally one with Christ, then they also know what’s going on, everywhere and all the time.

Does that make sense?

 

[burritobrother]

what an uplifting post…
Protestants make some of the best Catholics…
would like to hear your conversion story… what first attracted u to the Church. etc…

Thank you, very kind of you.

I was never really a Protestant, I was baptized as an infant in the Presbyterian church but that was just about the extent of it. My father was raised Catholic in a very religious household it would seem; two of his sisters were nuns (I remember attending the last one’s funeral when I was in second or third grade and several nuns laughing when I asked if they could fly like the one on TV), but he wasn’t religious at all. Maybe that influenced me though. This might sound silly, but art as well; looking at Catholic-influenced art compared to Protestant art, it’s simple to tell which is more religious. Every single Protestant I’ve ever asked even agrees with that. It’s not a reason to join the Church in and of itself, but as a youngster it made a huge impression on me. Inspirational.

I began looking at religion as a young teenager and it was pretty obvious that the Roman Catholic was the real Church. But that interest came and went a few times over the next 30 years. Other things took my attention. I would study Catholicism off and on so I always knew what was right. But a marriage to a Baptist who hated (I never could change her mind on it) the Church has recently ended and I feel it’s time for me to accept God’s Love and return it to the best of my ability, and that is done through His Church…

For as beautiful as the Church is, it’s also somewhat intimidating, believe it or not. To behold God’s Truth and understand it with a clear conscience isn’t a very easy thing to do when you’re not used to it - at least that’s what I thought. It turns out to be the easiest and most natural thing I’ve ever done.

I have known many Protestants so I know where they’re coming from, and I suppose technically I was baptized as one, but I never considered myself as such and certainly never joined any Protestant church. The Roman Catholic Church will be the only church I’ve ever wanted to be a part of and ever will be a part of.

Sometimes I wonder how worthy I am of belonging to His flock. But I’ll do my best.

 

[distracted]

You are correct that if your preist requests that you pray the rosary as penance, then it ceases to be optional for you. In my experience, I’ve only gone up to a decade of the rosary in this way I do however try to pray 5 decades of the Rosary daily. I have yet to pray the entire rosary, this is a goal of mine. uch.

i pray the whole rosary all the time… guess i am holier than you

 

[distracted]

Thank you, very kind of you.

I was never really a Protestant, I was baptized as an infant in the Presbyterian church but that was just about the extent of it. My father was raised Catholic in a very religious household it would seem; two of his sisters were nuns (I remember attending the last one’s funeral when I was in second or third grade and several nuns laughing when I asked if they could fly like the one on TV), but he wasn’t religious at all. Maybe that influenced me though. This might sound silly, but art as well; looking at Catholic-influenced art compared to Protestant art, it’s simple to tell which is more religious. Every single Protestant I’ve ever asked even agrees with that. It’s not a reason to join the Church in and of itself, but as a youngster it made a huge impression on me. Inspirational.

I began looking at religion as a young teenager and it was pretty obvious that the Roman Catholic was the real Church. But that interest came and went a few times over the next 30 years. Other things took my attention. I would study Catholicism off and on so I always knew what was right. But a marriage to a Baptist who hated (I never could change her mind on it) the Church has recently ended and I feel it’s time for me to accept God’s Love and return it to the best of my ability, and that is done through His Church…

For as beautiful as the Church is, it’s also somewhat intimidating, believe it or not. To behold God’s Truth and understand it with a clear conscience isn’t a very easy thing to do when you’re not used to it - at least that’s what I thought. It turns out to be the easiest and most natural thing I’ve ever done.

I have known many Protestants so I know where they’re coming from, and I suppose technically I was baptized as one, but I never considered myself as such and certainly never joined any Protestant church. The Roman Catholic Church will be the only church I’ve ever wanted to be a part of and ever will be a part of.

Sometimes I wonder how worthy I am of belonging to His flock. But I’ll do my best.

this was very enlightening. i have always wondered waht it was like to have grown up o/side the Church… i am curious about such things…
at that one forum they are talking about how you have to be a Catholic to be saved… (@ Traditional Catholicism) but it is a little more complicated than that because thye aren’t saying that non-Cs definitley can’t be saved… something to the effect that if they are Catholic interiorly… (they used the words “inner forum”…) then you can be saved and i have always noticed how some non-Cs are more Catholic than a lot of Catholics… :coffeeread:which might not be saying a whole lot…
anyway… do you think your father being Catholic was the most influential thing? also was wondering if your marriage broke up over the Catholic thing? i have learned so much about the RCC that there is no way i could marry someone who is against the church in any way… they would have to understand / accept Catholicsim (preferable BE Catholic, for sure) in order to u/stand ***ME… ***I am Catholic before i am … female… or wahtever… I’ve been Catholic all my life (except for about 9 1/2 months when i was in the womb and not baptized until i was a few wks old)…

***anyway… have you had much persecution in your life now that you are joining the Church?? ***

my whole family hates me (strong word but whtever…that’s the way it comes across… and Funny thing most of them are supposed 2b Cahtolic… go figure… )

god bless…

 

[distracted]

This is where I think your fellow Catholics would disagree.

We are saved by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, and walked out in charity. A thing does not save us. We don’t save ourselves through any work. The Councils of Trent have some great stuff to say about Christian Salvation.

.

that’s almost like saying that Jesus’ physical death on the cross was a “thing”… as if there is no meaning behind it…

the physical rosary was NOT what i was talking about…

but you’re excused because you are not Catholic and don’t u/stand…

i doubt you have pryaed the rosary?? you say its about following Christ… The rosary was got me to doing that…

uh… not the physical rosary… but the meaning behind the prayers…

 

[crazzeto]

i pray the whole rosary all the time… guess i am holier than you

All 20 mysteries? That’s certainly something I would like to do.

 

[distracted]

All 20 mysteries? That’s certainly something I would like to do.

i don’t do them all all the time but sometimes when i have a block of free time, i do… haven’t done it in awhile but will probalby start up again soon… the world needs it… i need it…

i have just been very distracted lately… very long story…

 

[distracted]

Yes, non-Catholics should and do pray the rosary. (Some Protestant friends-of-friends pray it)

why aren’t they Catholic??

 

[burritobrother]

do you think your father being Catholic was the most influential thing

I don’t think so. He was very negative about religion and never had much of anything to say about it. If it weren’t for his sister’s funeral I may not have known about his upbringing for several years at least. I wish I could ask him precisely what the problem was but he’s been gone for 20 years now.

also was wondering if your marriage broke up over the Catholic thing

No, Catholicism had nothing to do with it.

• i have learned so much about the RCC that there is no way i could marry someone who is against the church in any way… they would have to understand / accept Catholicsim (preferable BE Catholic, for sure) in order to u/stand I am Catholic before i am … female… or wahtever… I’ve been Catholic all my life (except for about 9 1/2 months when i was in the womb and not baptized until i was a few wks old*

That is certainly the way I will be thinking in the future. At the time I didn’t consider it much of a problem since I wasn’t actually a Catholic anyway. If other things had worked out between us, in time I would like to think she would’ve let me go that way without much opposition. But who can say.

anyway… have you had much persecution in your life now that you are joining the Church??

None whatsoever. My mother is still alive and although she used to have a somewhat negative view of the Church (because of a marriage prior to the one with my father, a long and dull story actually), she thinks it’s great that I’m doing this. Better God than self-destruction is what she’s likely thinking. She isn’t religious and she doesn’t want to attend with me, but you never know…
Everyone else in my family (the ones I know and speak with) couldn’t care less what church I go to or even if I go at all as long as I’m happy. They’re not religious either.
So I have it pretty easy, be it support or indifference, no persecution.

my whole family hates me (strong word but whtever…that’s the way it comes across… and Funny thing most of them are supposed 2b Cahtolic… go figure… )

I don’t understand that. They have a problem with you for being devout in the religion they themselves - or most of them - profess? Is that right? What can that be about?

god bless…

And God bless you. I enjoy this conversation…

 

[JonNC]

distracted:
can you summarize what is different about … a rosary Lutherans can use???

I gave a link to one, but in summary Lutherans do not invoke the saints or The Blessed Virgin for intercessory prayer, so any aspect that would include invocation Lutherans would exclude

Jon

 

[LilyM]

You are correct that if your preist requests that you pray the rosary as penance, then it ceases to be optional for you.

Although you can actually request a different penance from your priest if he gives you something that you can’t do - and you can certainly discuss any penance with him if it’s something you don’t want to do.

Might lead to an interesting and enlightening discussion about those parts of the Rosary that you are having difficulties with!

 

[LilyM]

can you summarize what is different about … a rosary Lutherans can use???

Except that Luther himself, if memory serves, prayed the Rosary, exactly as Catholics do. Funny that he didn’t have problems with intercessory prayer yet you guys do.

Not to mention one of the Wesley brothers, founders of Methodism (forget whether it was John or Charles) also prayed the Rosary regularly, again exactly the same as Catholics do.

 

[burritobrother]

Although you can actually request a different penance from your priest if he gives you something that you can’t do - and you can certainly discuss any penance with him if it’s something you don’t want to do.
Might lead to an interesting and enlightening discussion about those parts of the Rosary that you are having difficulties with!

Hope I’m not speaking out of turn since I’m not yet Catholic, but…
Debate with the priest when you’re in confession…?
Why on earth would that be a good idea, and what valid reason would you give to say you don’t want to pray the rosary? What are you there for?
I think enlightening theological discussions would best take place elsewhere.
I’m not against open dialogue even on such seemingly rudimentary gifts as the rosary, but pulling a stunt like this while receiving the Sacrament would seem disrespectful.
Am I wrong? Is this common at all?