Simple rosary question

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dang71

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in praying the rosary, are we supposed to meditate on the mystery AS we say the Our Father and ten Hail Marys (i.e. at the same time), or are we supposed to meditate FIRST, then say the prayers? i guess my question relates to attention at prayer, if we are thinking of the mystery while reciting the prayers then wouldn’t this mean we not paying attention to the words of the prayer? or is this a left brain/right brain thing, where we say the rote prayers to occupy one side of the brain while the other side is free to meditate on the mystery?
thanks
 
The Rosary is all a meditative prayer. When we recite the Rosary it is to help us to mediate on the Mystery of the Life of Christ. Therefore we mediate on the mystery as we recite the prayers of the Rosary.
 
I treat the Rosary as a meditative prayer. I’ve even found myself zoned out mentally picturing the activity of the particular mystery yet those around me say I didn’t miss a beat in saying the prayers. I do know that if I’m in a group Rosary I become very monotone in my vocalization of the prayers. No inflections or “feeling” in my voice. No problem as I don’t think the Lord or our Mother cares much about the quality of our voices, only that we unite ourselves closer to them through the action of meditative prayer. With that being said, I don’t meditate much when I pray the Rosary while driving! I’ll still think of the mystery but not visualize it mentally lest I become distracted.

Man, talking about the Rosary makes me want to go pray it! Off to pray a few decades!!

Simon
Tuus totus ego sum, et omnia mea tua sunt
“I am all Yours, and all that I have belongs to You”
 
RCSeminarian said:
The Rosary is all a meditative prayer. When we recite the Rosary it is to help us to mediate on the Mystery of the Life of Christ. Therefore we mediate on the mystery as we recite the prayers of the Rosary.
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This is what I do too, it comes across, as for example, the movie The Passion of Christ, that is what I see in my mind while praying the Sorrowful mysteries, almost like I am really there, seeing it all.
 
dang71 said:
in praying the rosary, are we supposed to meditate on the mystery AS we say the Our Father and ten Hail Marys (i.e. at the same time), or are we supposed to meditate FIRST, then say the prayers? i guess my question relates to attention at prayer, if we are thinking of the mystery while reciting the prayers then wouldn’t this mean we not paying attention to the words of the prayer? or is this a left brain/right brain thing, where we say the rote prayers to occupy one side of the brain while the other side is free to meditate on the mystery?
thanks
Click to expand...
The best book for me to learn how to meditate is the book written by Saint Louis de Montfort “The secret of the Rosary”. He shows you how to meditate - for example: in the middle of the Hail Mary, you can pause and think of the mystery. This can help many of us a lot who are struggling with the meditation. Also, the Saint can help you see how Virgin Mary is connected in all the mysteries. With the explaination of the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be, you will definitely learn how to pray the Rosary the way you have never done before.

So, get the book 😉
 
Hi “dang71”… you’ve been given some excellent answers here. I’d like to share a link, which may be of help to… as well.

The Rosary is almost like… a double meditation. Because, as you’re saying each Mystery… the prayers THEMSELVES… are scriptural! It’s so beautiful! I think this is probably why St. Louis de Montfort compared the Rosary to a Rose Garden.

Here is that link. I like this one. Because it has lovely pictures of each Mystery, and they help me to focus on the Mystery, being prayed. God bless you.

rosary-center.org/howto.htm
 
I am one of those “one-track mind” type people, who have trouble focusing on two things at once … so trying to say the prayers and meditate on the mysteries is difficult for me.

I have been using this recently:

virtualrosary.org/

It’s a free download, has all of the individual prayers (and the bead positions in case you get lost), a scripture verse for each “Hail Mary” prayer, and a piece of artwork for each Mystery. Using this has helped me to focus better. In time, I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to do it on my own (without using the program) 🙂
 
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