So... how DO you pray the Rosary?

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tabsie3210

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Dear Traditionalists,

Help!

I know the mechanical process to pray the Rosary - how to start with the Sign of the Cross, the Our Father, three Hail Mary’s, the Glory Be, and then the five Decades.

I know that each Decade is supposed to be devoted to one of the four sets of Mysteries - Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorius. I know that one is supposed to meditate on the particular Mystery as one prays each prayer.

I know that praying the Rosary is supposed to be a full fifteen decades, one for each of the three original Mysteries (Joyful, Sorrowful, Luminous), but that praying five decades (or one set of Mysteries) is acceptable.

I know that the Rosary can be prayed either in private or in public.

I don’t know how to focus on the Mysteries, or to devote myself to the Rosary.

See, my mind is constantly wandering during Mass, for example (my priest says that if I’m not actively trying to ignore the Mass, then that’s simply human nature and being ADHD and is not sinful because it’s not something I’m doing willfully doing against God and I’m trying to conqure it).

I have trouble praying traditional, formal prayers because I have no idea what’s supposed to be going on inside my head while I’m praying. I read the Morning and Evening Prayers from a prayer card provided by the Jesuits of the New Orleans Province. Basically I make the Sign of the Cross and read the words, pausing to try to think of what they’re supposed to mean and asking God to give me a hand.

Praying the Rosary, I have no idea how to think about what’s going on. I mean, I read the cards talking about what each Mystery is and what the fruit of the Mystery is, but I have trouble doing more than just reciting the prayer. My brain doesn’t help me at all.

About half the time my mind is wandering, and the other half it’s empty. I feel useless and I know that so many graces are supposed to be poured out on people who pray the Rosary, but I feel like I’m just sitting repeating the prayers without them doing anything to me inside. I feel like I might be a disappointment to God and Mary.

I can pray the Rosary without the prayer cards, mind. I know the words to the prayers and what the Mysteries are supposed to be. I prefer to use the cards to keep myself on track and because I can focus on what I’m reading better than just trying to go from memory - if I read something, I can visualize a lot of what’s happening inside my mind (I don’t need TV, I see things very vividly in my imagination!).

Like, if I’m supposed to be meditating on the Agony in the Garden, I can visualize Christ in the Garden and imagine what He might have been feeling, the agony and dispair. I’ve been trying to do that. Unfortuantely, my mind still wanders at times.

I could really use some advice. I’d love to know how people pray.

Normally, when I pray, I just talk to God and imagine His answers to me (I asked and have been told that these imagined conversations aren’t sinful). I tell Him about my day, ask if I’m doing things right or wrong (and usually imagine the answer to be, “Whose Glory are you doing it for?” which is a good way to stop myself from doing something bad), complain about how I mess up, and ask for forgiveness, and I’m constantly asking for both Wisdom (which I sorely lack) and for God to give me the Grace to accept his Grace. Which I need fiercely.

Those are nothing at all like formal prayers, and the Rosary is way more formal than most prayers are even! I feel like I’m missing something inside my mind that will make me better at praying. About all I can figure is that I need to keep trying.

So, I’m turning to the Traditionalists whom I appreciate and rely on to steer me toward more Orthodox belief to give me a clue, because I couldn’t buy a clue right now.
 
🙂 You’re normal. Everyone has a human mind that is prone to distractions.

In fact, I’d imagine you focus more than the majority of people who pray the rosary. You know more than many others, do, also.

If it helps, get a scriptural rosary booklet that has you say a quote of scripture before each Ave. It keeps things a little more in focus, because it’s a more frequent reminder. It may help you a lot. If pictures help, by all means, study the pictures while you pray.

Ask our Lady and your angel guardian to help you to keep on track with your thoughts as you pray.

One thing that helps me a lot many times is imagining who I’m speaking to…You’re speaking directly to a living human person, our Lady. She is listening to you when you pray to her. Think of how you act when you talk to someone, anyone. Know that she is listening and attentive to every prayer you say in your rosary.

God bless!
 
tabsie3210 said:
Dear Traditionalists,

Help!

I know the mechanical process to pray the Rosary - how to start with the Sign of the Cross, the Our Father, three Hail Mary’s, the Glory Be, and then the five Decades.

I know that each Decade is supposed to be devoted to one of the four sets of Mysteries - Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorius. I know that one is supposed to meditate on the particular Mystery as one prays each prayer.

I know that praying the Rosary is supposed to be a full fifteen decades, one for each of the three original Mysteries (Joyful, Sorrowful, Luminous), but that praying five decades (or one set of Mysteries) is acceptable.

I know that the Rosary can be prayed either in private or in public.

I don’t know how to focus on the Mysteries, or to devote myself to the Rosary.

See, my mind is constantly wandering during Mass, for example (my priest says that if I’m not actively trying to ignore the Mass, then that’s simply human nature and being ADHD and is not sinful because it’s not something I’m doing willfully doing against God and I’m trying to conqure it).

I have trouble praying traditional, formal prayers because I have no idea what’s supposed to be going on inside my head while I’m praying. I read the Morning and Evening Prayers from a prayer card provided by the Jesuits of the New Orleans Province. Basically I make the Sign of the Cross and read the words, pausing to try to think of what they’re supposed to mean and asking God to give me a hand.

Praying the Rosary, I have no idea how to think about what’s going on. I mean, I read the cards talking about what each Mystery is and what the fruit of the Mystery is, but I have trouble doing more than just reciting the prayer. My brain doesn’t help me at all.

About half the time my mind is wandering, and the other half it’s empty. I feel useless and I know that so many graces are supposed to be poured out on people who pray the Rosary, but I feel like I’m just sitting repeating the prayers without them doing anything to me inside. I feel like I might be a disappointment to God and Mary.

I can pray the Rosary without the prayer cards, mind. I know the words to the prayers and what the Mysteries are supposed to be. I prefer to use the cards to keep myself on track and because I can focus on what I’m reading better than just trying to go from memory - if I read something, I can visualize a lot of what’s happening inside my mind (I don’t need TV, I see things very vividly in my imagination!).

Like, if I’m supposed to be meditating on the Agony in the Garden, I can visualize Christ in the Garden and imagine what He might have been feeling, the agony and dispair. I’ve been trying to do that. Unfortuantely, my mind still wanders at times.

I could really use some advice. I’d love to know how people pray.

Normally, when I pray, I just talk to God and imagine His answers to me (I asked and have been told that these imagined conversations aren’t sinful). I tell Him about my day, ask if I’m doing things right or wrong (and usually imagine the answer to be, “Whose Glory are you doing it for?” which is a good way to stop myself from doing something bad), complain about how I mess up, and ask for forgiveness, and I’m constantly asking for both Wisdom (which I sorely lack) and for God to give me the Grace to accept his Grace. Which I need fiercely.

Those are nothing at all like formal prayers, and the Rosary is way more formal than most prayers are even! I feel like I’m missing something inside my mind that will make me better at praying. About all I can figure is that I need to keep trying.

So, I’m turning to the Traditionalists whom I appreciate and rely on to steer me toward more Orthodox belief to give me a clue, because I couldn’t buy a clue right now.
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I recently read a statement from Pope Benedict XVI in which he suggested, and what he does, is repeat to yourself, between each Hail Mary, the name of the decade that you are praying. That does two things, it slows you down, and refreshes your mind to your intention. I have tried it and found it very effective at keeping me focused and not just lost in thought.
 
One other tip I picked up from a long-time daily Rosary friend: if you’re having trouble staying focused for the entire decade on the particular mystery, pick out some small phrase or word in the Hail Mary-- like full of grace, or the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, or pray for us sinners, etc-- and just go with that for a while.

Don’t be troubled if you get distracted. And don’t be troubled if it doesn’t “feel like” contemplative prayer-- the Rosary, even when said silently, is still considered a vocal prayer. It’s different, and different is okay. 🙂 Example: Sometimes I need to have a heart-to-heart conversation with my husband, and sometimes I just need to hear him say the same old stuff he always does, like, “I love you.” Same thing applies here. Our Lord knows that you’re using your time to pray the Rosary to tell Him how much you love Him.

I have to think that when we get distracted despite our best efforts, He probably gets a good chuckle out of it, like when my toddler completely mangles what he’s trying to say to me. Just smile back at Him and redirect yourself when your realize you’ve wandered off course.

Best,

Margaret
 
I would suggest that you obtain or print some images of each mystery. You may then focus on them as you pray. Try images from different sources, as each will have a slightly different take on each mystery. This visual (name removed by moderator)ut will help your thoughts to remain on the mystery that you are contemplating.

When your mind wanders, stop and re-focus on the mystery. You may begin praying again when you are focused. Call your mind back each time it wanders. I imagine the Joyful Mysteries from the person of Mary - how each mystery affected her. What she might have thought and pondered as it was happening. You may do this in the person of anyone who was present during the mysteries - the Apostles, Pontius Pilate, the Roman soldiers, the thieves on the cross, etc. Imagine how the experience affected them, and what they thought while experiencing it.

Get a CD of the Rosary so that someone else is leading you. Fr. Benedict Groeschel’s Rosary is great. He teaches that the Rosary is a spiritual place that you visit as you pray and contemplate. When someone else is leading he prayer, it is much easier to contemplate while they are reciting the first half of each prayer. Once you begin your contemplation while they are leading you, it is easier to maintain your focus as you switch to reciting the second half.

Pick a quiet time and/or a quiet place to pray. Our minds wander easily enough without distractions. An absolutely wonderful place to pray the Rosary is at Adoration. The silence and focus on Jesus that are present really help to maintain your concentration. You will receive many insights while in Jesus’ presence. Many other spiritual gifts may very well be yours as you pray and contemplate before our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

I pray that one of these helps.
 
Everyone’s suggestions for keeping focused are awesome, but I’d just like to add this:

Remember that when you are praying the rosary, you are praying through the Blessed Virgin and allowing her to point the way to Christ. As Christ points the way to the Father who is all love, so is Christ all mercy, and the Virgin all grace. Sometimes when it seems to me that I am not as devoted to the prayer or I am simply reciting the prayer, it helps me to remember that as I pray the rosary, I am in her arms, and she will let nothing happen to me. The contentment and safety I feel at that times pulls me back devotionally, and lets me pour my heart and soul into the prayers. As the hymn suggests, “He will lift you up on eagle’s wings”–and before that, Mary will hold your hand on the way. 🙂 Remember, she is infinitely more patient than you, so just keep on target, and she’ll help you along.
 
tabsie3210 said:
Dear Traditionalists,

Help!

I know the mechanical process to pray the Rosary - how to start with the Sign of the Cross, the Our Father, three Hail Mary’s, the Glory Be, and then the five Decades.

I know that each Decade is supposed to be devoted to one of the four sets of Mysteries - Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorius. I know that one is supposed to meditate on the particular Mystery as one prays each prayer.

I know that praying the Rosary is supposed to be a full fifteen decades, one for each of the three original Mysteries (Joyful, Sorrowful, Luminous), but that praying five decades (or one set of Mysteries) is acceptable.

I know that the Rosary can be prayed either in private or in public.

I don’t know how to focus on the Mysteries, or to devote myself to the Rosary.

See, my mind is constantly wandering during Mass, for example (my priest says that if I’m not actively trying to ignore the Mass, then that’s simply human nature and being ADHD and is not sinful because it’s not something I’m doing willfully doing against God and I’m trying to conqure it).

I have trouble praying traditional, formal prayers because I have no idea what’s supposed to be going on inside my head while I’m praying. I read the Morning and Evening Prayers from a prayer card provided by the Jesuits of the New Orleans Province. Basically I make the Sign of the Cross and read the words, pausing to try to think of what they’re supposed to mean and asking God to give me a hand.

Praying the Rosary, I have no idea how to think about what’s going on. I mean, I read the cards talking about what each Mystery is and what the fruit of the Mystery is, but I have trouble doing more than just reciting the prayer. My brain doesn’t help me at all.

About half the time my mind is wandering, and the other half it’s empty. I feel useless and I know that so many graces are supposed to be poured out on people who pray the Rosary, but I feel like I’m just sitting repeating the prayers without them doing anything to me inside. I feel like I might be a disappointment to God and Mary.

I can pray the Rosary without the prayer cards, mind. I know the words to the prayers and what the Mysteries are supposed to be. I prefer to use the cards to keep myself on track and because I can focus on what I’m reading better than just trying to go from memory - if I read something, I can visualize a lot of what’s happening inside my mind (I don’t need TV, I see things very vividly in my imagination!).

Like, if I’m supposed to be meditating on the Agony in the Garden, I can visualize Christ in the Garden and imagine what He might have been feeling, the agony and dispair. I’ve been trying to do that. Unfortuantely, my mind still wanders at times.

I could really use some advice. I’d love to know how people pray.

Normally, when I pray, I just talk to God and imagine His answers to me (I asked and have been told that these imagined conversations aren’t sinful). I tell Him about my day, ask if I’m doing things right or wrong (and usually imagine the answer to be, “Whose Glory are you doing it for?” which is a good way to stop myself from doing something bad), complain about how I mess up, and ask for forgiveness, and I’m constantly asking for both Wisdom (which I sorely lack) and for God to give me the Grace to accept his Grace. Which I need fiercely.

Those are nothing at all like formal prayers, and the Rosary is way more formal than most prayers are even! I feel like I’m missing something inside my mind that will make me better at praying. About all I can figure is that I need to keep trying.

So, I’m turning to the Traditionalists whom I appreciate and rely on to steer me toward more Orthodox belief to give me a clue, because I couldn’t buy a clue right now.
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Why make this so difficult on yourself? Why not just purchase a biblical rosary CD? This is the Rosary with biblical verses interspersed between each Hail Mary. It is a wonderful listening experience and should keep your attention.
 
It seems like it could be helpful to draw the distinction between what is usually called mental prayer and vocal prayer.

We start with vocal prayer. When the disciples asked Christ how to pray, He gave them the Our Father. Vocal prayer is when the words are pre-established. These can range in length. Ejaculatory prayers like “O Jesus meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto thine,” are very short, but very powerful if said with earnest good faith. When would God not answer such a prayer? The Divine Office occurs round the clock in a never-ending cycle of prayers which are pre-written and recited by preists and religious who are bound by vows to “say” the Office, the Church knowing how pleasing this public vocal prayer is to God. The Psalms are the foundation for these prayers which are not discouraged for laypersons who are inclined and able.

Mental prayer begins with self-consciously placing ourselves in God’s presence. This form of prayer in some ways takes more discipline and effort. With vocal prayer a good intention at the beginning can make our prayers pleasing to God and efficacious in spite of the inevitable distractions. We are clear of guilt if we have not deliberately daydreamed through our morning or evening vocal prayers and have made this effort to begin and end our day with God.

With mental prayer, after placing ourselves in God’s presence, we have to deliberately choose a subject for meditation. Any truth of the faith is a proper object. But the goal is to deliberately stir our hearts to an affective love for God that melts our stubborn wills and causes us to be happy to offer our hearts to God. One who meditates properly with faith, is only allowing the rational consequences of his belief to become realized in doing this. St. Paul said in Rom 12, to offer up even our bodies a living sacrifice…our “reasonable service”. I think St.Teresa of Avila always used a book to prompt her toward good meditations that leads to mental prayer. This, as I understand it is the goal of our meditations, and what follows will be an outflow of expressions of thanks, praise, and petitions for more grace for ourselves and others. This would be, as I understand it, mental prayer, and clearly, it cannot be pre-written.

As for the Rosary…it is both vocal and mental. There is value in the vocal prayer. But there is greater value, if, by meditating on each mystery we find ourselves even as we say the simple vocal prayers, our attention is taken up with thoughts of the announced Mystery.

Often my rosaries are merely vocal. Like you, I am dissatisfied when that is the case. It seems like a great great grace to be dissatisifed so. God is telling us He is willing to pour out more of His love into our hearts if we are cooperative. I am very stubborn and even deceitful to myself with attachments to things that are displeasing to God. I do not practice perfectly what I have imperfectly tried to explain above. This is what probably “short circuits” my prayers sometimes.

One help that I got from St. Francis de Sales for one like me (who has difficulty knowing how to start…what to say to God…He knows everything anyway, right?). He observed that statues in our churches serve an important purpose though they are deaf, blind, and dumb. That can be a perfect example of what we can offer to be when loving thoughts do not readily present themselves to our minds. We can, like these statues, place ourselves in a quiet corner in God’s presence neither saying nor doing anything. We can be a statue in a niche, if nothing else, and God with whom nothing is impossible, may, or may not bring the statue to life. But He cannot help but be pleased that we want to be near Him so much that we are even willing to be as it were, deaf, blind, and dumb so long as we are in God’s presence.

I’ll pray for your perseverance tabsie, and you for mine. The devil fears nothing more than true prayer and he will try to discourage us.

Rory

PS: For all…I am baby at this. I am a stupid truck driver who might have said some misleading things to our friend. I am the dumb statue. But I thought it might be helpful to distinguish the two forms of prayer and to point out that the Rosary kind of straddles both worlds. I didn’t see anyone else going that direction with it. Anyway, the thoughts I have tried to share would be better understood by reading Frs. Lasance and Faber and of course the doctors of the Church, like St. Francis de Sales, and the Carmelites Sts. Teresa and John of the Cross. Please forgive me if I have been a fool by my poking myself into this thread. I aspire, I have not reached.
 
RoryMcKenzie56 said:
It seems like it could be helpful to draw the distinction between what is usually called mental prayer and vocal prayer.

We start with vocal prayer. When the disciples asked Christ how to pray, He gave them the Our Father. Vocal prayer is when the words are pre-established. These can range in length. Ejaculatory prayers like “O Jesus meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto thine,” are very short, but very powerful if said with earnest good faith. When would God not answer such a prayer? The Divine Office occurs round the clock in a never-ending cycle of prayers which are pre-written and recited by preists and religious who are bound by vows to “say” the Office, the Church knowing how pleasing this public vocal prayer is to God. The Psalms are the foundation for these prayers which are not discouraged for laypersons who are inclined and able.

Mental prayer begins with self-consciously placing ourselves in God’s presence. This form of prayer in some ways takes more discipline and effort. With vocal prayer a good intention at the beginning can make our prayers pleasing to God and efficacious in spite of the inevitable distractions. We are clear of guilt if we have not deliberately daydreamed through our morning or evening vocal prayers and have made this effort to begin and end our day with God.

With mental prayer, after placing ourselves in God’s presence, we have to deliberately choose a subject for meditation. Any truth of the faith is a proper object. But the goal is to deliberately stir our hearts to an affective love for God that melts our stubborn wills and causes us to be happy to offer our hearts to God. One who meditates properly with faith, is only allowing the rational consequences of his belief to become realized in doing this. St. Paul said in Rom 12, to offer up even our bodies a living sacrifice…our “reasonable service”. I think St.Teresa of Avila always used a book to prompt her toward good meditations that leads to mental prayer. This, as I understand it is the goal of our meditations, and what follows will be an outflow of expressions of thanks, praise, and petitions for more grace for ourselves and others. This would be, as I understand it, mental prayer, and clearly, it cannot be pre-written.

As for the Rosary…it is both vocal and mental. There is value in the vocal prayer. But there is greater value, if, by meditating on each mystery we find ourselves even as we say the simple vocal prayers, our attention is taken up with thoughts of the announced Mystery.

Often my rosaries are merely vocal. Like you, I am dissatisfied when that is the case. It seems like a great great grace to be dissatisifed so. God is telling us He is willing to pour out more of His love into our hearts if we are cooperative. I am very stubborn and even deceitful to myself with attachments to things that are displeasing to God. I do not practice perfectly what I have imperfectly tried to explain above. This is what probably “short circuits” my prayers sometimes.

One help that I got from St. Francis de Sales for one like me (who has difficulty knowing how to start…what to say to God…He knows everything anyway, right?). He observed that statues in our churches serve an important purpose though they are deaf, blind, and dumb. That can be a perfect example of what we can offer to be when loving thoughts do not readily present themselves to our minds. We can, like these statues, place ourselves in a quiet corner in God’s presence neither saying nor doing anything. We can be a statue in a niche, if nothing else, and God with whom nothing is impossible, may, or may not bring the statue to life. But He cannot help but be pleased that we want to be near Him so much that we are even willing to be as it were, deaf, blind, and dumb so long as we are in God’s presence.

I’ll pray for your perseverance tabsie, and you for mine. The devil fears nothing more than true prayer and he will try to discourage us.

Rory

PS: For all…I am baby at this. I am a stupid truck driver who might have said some misleading things to our friend. I am the dumb statue. But I thought it might be helpful to distinguish the two forms of prayer and to point out that the Rosary kind of straddles both worlds. I didn’t see anyone else going that direction with it. Anyway, the thoughts I have tried to share would be better understood by reading Frs. Lasance and Faber and of course the doctors of the Church, like St. Francis de Sales, and the Carmelites Sts. Teresa and John of the Cross. Please forgive me if I have been a fool by my poking myself into this thread. I aspire, I have not reached.
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Dear God,

I admit that I’m very good at writing letters to You, and conversing with You on paper, but I have a hard time saying prayers, both vocal and mental. Prayer writing - writing letters to You - is the easiest way I know to pray because it helps me keep my thoughts on track.

Nevertheless, I would love to be better at vocal and mental prayer, so that I can be closer to You, and to fall in love with You more and more. Rory McKenzie and I both want to be closer to You and find ourselves not measuring up to what we want to do.

Please help us both to keep striving to be closer to You, and grant us the Grace we need to learn to pray as we ought to. Thank you for giving me everyone on this forum, who have all helped me very much in coming closer to You.

Amen.
 
Some place I encountered the advice, which I hand on to my students:

If you can pray well, by all means do so. If you can’t, then pray badly like the rest of us do. 😉
 
Dear Members,

I want to thank each and every person that responded to Tabatha in such a loving and caring way. I have been thinking about not participating in this forum any more since most of the threads don’t seem very devoted to God to me. A lot of arguing and…well it just doesn’t keep my attention.

I think this one is great.

Tabatha you are wonderful for being so concerned. We all have that same problem. At times I do OK but others I am all over the place. You’ve and me have been given some great tips.

God Bless You:angel1:

Cora
 
Joe_Kelley said:
Some place I encountered the advice, which I hand on to my students:

If you can pray well, by all means do so. If you can’t, then pray badly like the rest of us do. 😉
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I love this advice, and I will treasure it.
 
coracobb said:
Dear Members,

I want to thank each and every person that responded to Tabatha in such a loving and caring way. I have been thinking about not participating in this forum any more since most of the threads don’t seem very devoted to God to me. A lot of arguing and…well it just doesn’t keep my attention.

I think this one is great.

Tabatha you are wonderful for being so concerned. We all have that same problem. At times I do OK but others I am all over the place. You’ve and me have been given some great tips.

God Bless You:angel1:

Cora
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Dear Cora,

A lot of the time we all just come onto this forum to complain and talk and chat and rejoyce together because we want to talk to like-minded Catholics, or we want to vent. Soemtimes we get caught up in ourselves. We’re all excessively human.

But most of us are looking to talk about and please God, and to find better ways to Him. Sometimes it takes us a while to get around to discussing God and how to get closer to Him. Unfortunately, that’s true because we suffer from that excessive humanity I mentioned. But God leads us on by the hand to find our way to Him, and that means that eventually our thoughts turn to how best to serve Him.

Until recently, I avoided the Traditional Catholicism thread here because I was a little afraid of it. I had to work my way here. Now I’m here because I want to learn more about how to be very reverent toward God, and I couldn’t be happier.

Please be patient with all of us. We aren’t worth of Him, but we all do seek Him. It just takes us time to work our way toward Him.

Love,
Tabitha.

P.S. - You are VERY Sweet and welcome to the board!
 
coracobb said:
Dear Members,

I want to thank each and every person that responded to Tabatha in such a loving and caring way. I have been thinking about not participating in this forum any more since most of the threads don’t seem very devoted to God to me. A lot of arguing and…well it just doesn’t keep my attention.

I think this one is great.

Tabatha you are wonderful for being so concerned. We all have that same problem. At times I do OK but others I am all over the place. You’ve and me have been given some great tips.

God Bless You:angel1:

Cora
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Check the prayer intention threads. A lot more love over there!
 
I have trouble with focus. My mind wanders. I am not ADHD, I just have a very active imagination and am very good at free association of ideas. This causes problems when I need to concentrate on one idea for a long time,

I have a book that I use with my daily rosary,
aquinasandmore.com/index.cfm/title/Pray-the-Rosary/FuseAction/store.ItemDetails/SKU/230/imageSize/Lg/
It has all the prayers (which I needed when I came back to the Chjurch aftyert 40 yrs away), the schedule for when to say each mystery, prayers for before and after each Mystery, and short scripture readings to read between each Hail Mary. this keeps me focused on that mystery and still keeps my mind occupied.

It takes me about 30-35 min to say a rosary using this booklet, not rushing but not going real slow. The scriptures are taken from the RSV-CE.

There is a lady at my RCIA class that does the same thing but pulled her own scriptures from the bible and printed them for use during her rosary. I have another book (just got it) The Rosary by Gerry Wills, that suggests paintings to contemplate the mysteries. He has full color prints in the book plus scriptures and discussion about each mystery but that method does not work as well for me. I guess I am just not visual enough.

Hope this helps.

Patrick
 
tabsie3210 said:
Dear Cora,

A lot of the time we all just come onto this forum to complain and talk and chat and rejoyce together because we want to talk to like-minded Catholics, or we want to vent. Soemtimes we get caught up in ourselves. We’re all excessively human.

But most of us are looking to talk about and please God, and to find better ways to Him. Sometimes it takes us a while to get around to discussing God and how to get closer to Him. Unfortunately, that’s true because we suffer from that excessive humanity I mentioned. But God leads us on by the hand to find our way to Him, and that means that eventually our thoughts turn to how best to serve Him.

Until recently, I avoided the Traditional Catholicism thread here because I was a little afraid of it. I had to work my way here. Now I’m here because I want to learn more about how to be very reverent toward God, and I couldn’t be happier.

Please be patient with all of us. We aren’t worth of Him, but we all do seek Him. It just takes us time to work our way toward Him.

Love,
Tabitha.

P.S. - You are VERY Sweet and welcome to the board!
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Thanks for your kind words Tabsie,

Cora
 
IHeartAquinas said:
Everyone’s suggestions for keeping focused are awesome, but I’d just like to add this:

Remember that when you are praying the rosary, you are praying through the Blessed Virgin and allowing her to point the way to Christ. As Christ points the way to the Father who is all love, so is Christ all mercy, and the Virgin all grace. Sometimes when it seems to me that I am not as devoted to the prayer or I am simply reciting the prayer, it helps me to remember that as I pray the rosary, I am in her arms, and she will let nothing happen to me. The contentment and safety I feel at that times pulls me back devotionally, and lets me pour my heart and soul into the prayers. As the hymn suggests, “He will lift you up on eagle’s wings”–and before that, Mary will hold your hand on the way. 🙂 Remember, she is infinitely more patient than you, so just keep on target, and she’ll help you along.
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Cannot resist leaving this for you!!
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