The Holy Rosary

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Blood_Angel

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I am studying Catholicism and am told the holy rosary is for everybody, not just Catholics.

As I am not a Roman Catholic, not baptised, I am curious.
I am looking for God and was told that praying to the rosary can help me with my journey.

Also, I am not sure how it works. From what I father, you begin with the The Sign of the Cross and end with The Hail, The Holy Queen. So you recite all seven of these prayers, http://www.theholyrosary.org/rosaryprayers.
How often do you do this?
And is there times when you only pray one of the mysteries, depending upon the state of mind, circumstance and reason for the prayer?

Thanks.

Wasn’t sure if this was the right place, perhaps a mod can move it to the correct one.
I’m a newbie!
 
I, too, have only started praying the Rosary. I downloaded a series of podcasts that tell the stories of the mysteries between each “Hail Mary”, so that I may not only pray along, but understand what I am meditating upon. It also tells me which Mystery to pray upon each day of the week. It is on iTunes under “Rosary Army.” Very helpful!
 
I really don’t understand it!

And would feel very silly, if I was doing it wrong.

I don’t know any religious people at all, let alone Catholics to educate me on such matter.
Truly, the reason internet is created is to teach one another.
 
The rosary is a very beautiful prayer, I’m glad you’re looking into it!

Step 1. Sign of the Cross - Jesus told us when we pray, we should pray in His name (as well as the name of the Father and Holy Spirit.)

Step 2. **Apostle’s Creed **- statement of our faith; calls us to proclaim what we believe; and reminds us of the beliefs that many early Christians died for.

Step 3. Lord’s Prayer (Our Father) - the prayer Jesus taught His disciples. Should be said on the first bead above the crucifix.

Step 4. **3 Hail Marys **- Notice, you should be on the three beads above the crucifix as you say these (one Hail Mary for each bead). Generally each Hail Mary is offered for the increase of faith, hope, and charity.

Step 5. **Glory Be to the Father and the Fatima Prayer ** - (these prayers don’t have beads, but are said before moving on to the next bead.)

Step 6. State the first mystery (such as frist joyful mystery - the annunciation) and say an Our Father - This is on the single bead just before the large loop or circle.

Step 7. **10 Hail Marys **- these are said on the 10 beads that follow. Try focusing on the mystery, such as the Annuciation, while reciting the Hail Mary’s.

Step 8. **Glory Be and Fatima Prayer **- again, not beads for these but they are said after the 10 beads are finished and before the next individual bead.

Repeat Step 6-8 four more times with a new mystery at each Our Father (individual bead). So for the next one you would say, “The second joyful (or whatever one you are doing) mystery - the Visitation. Our Father…”

Once you finish the loop and all the mysteries, say the Hail Holy Queen.

As far as how often you should pray it, I’d say as much as you are called to. The rosary is a great prayer, but not necessarily for everyone. Some people may prefer other methods and styles of prayer (such as using your imagination while meditating on a Scripture passage). The point is if it works for you and you enjoy it that’s great! But if you find that another type of prayer helps you more than stick with that - at least for the beginning! Also, you can pray one mystery (decade) at a time - it’s not an all or nothing type of thing. I often pray just one decade (Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, Glory Be) at a time for practical reasons throughout a busy day!

Hope that helps! Let me know if you’re completely lost with my organization 👍
 
There is a section Holy Rosary on my favorite website [favorite because I helped create some of the site, though I wasn’t involved in the Rosary section]. It offers instruction on how to say the rosary and scriptural reflections for each mystery.
 
Blood_Angel said:
I am studying Catholicism and am told the holy rosary is for everybody, not just Catholics.

As I am not a Roman Catholic, not baptised, I am curious.
I am looking for God and was told that praying to the rosary can help me with my journey.

Also, I am not sure how it works. From what I father, you begin with the The Sign of the Cross and end with The Hail, The Holy Queen. So you recite all seven of these prayers, http://www.theholyrosary.org/rosaryprayers.
How often do you do this?
And is there times when you only pray one of the mysteries, depending upon the state of mind, circumstance and reason for the prayer?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
AnthonyPadua001 already gave the general guidelines as to what to pray (there are oftentimes many variations depending on who’s praying it, but the his description is how many Catholics do it), so I won’t repeat it here. But as you may not be familiar with the mysteries yet:

The Mysteries of the rosary follow the life of Christ from the Annunciation to the Resurrection. The meditations are known as the Joyful Mysteries, the Sorrowful Mysteries, and the Glorious Mysteries. Each of these Mysteries has within it five different stages of Christ’s life to be contemplated. In his apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae (October 2002), Pope John Paul II recommended an additional set called the Luminous Mysteries, which focuses on Christ’s ministry.

JOYFUL MYSTERIES
  1. The Annunciation
  2. The Visitation
  3. The Nativity
  4. The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
  5. The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple
SORROWFUL MYSTERIES
  1. The Agony in the Garden
  2. The Scourging
  3. The Crowning with Thorns
  4. The Carrying of the Cross
  5. The Crucifixion
GLORIOUS MYSTERIES
  1. The Resurrection
  2. The Ascension
  3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit
  4. The Assumption
  5. The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
LUMINOUS MYSTERIES
  1. The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan
  2. The Wedding at Cana
  3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God
  4. The Transfiguration
  5. The Institution of the Eucharist
There is some slight variance on which mystery you should say on a particular day depending on whether you choose to say the Luminous Mysteries or not:

With the Luminous Mysteries

Sunday - Glorious Mysteries
Monday - Joyful Mysteries
Tuesday - Sorrowful Mysteries
Wednesday - Glorious Mysteries
Thursday - Luminous Mysteries
Friday - Sorrowful Mysteries
Saturday - Joyful Mysteries

Without the Luminous Mysteries

Sunday - Ordinary Time, Easter to Sunday before Advent: Glorious Mysteries
Advent and Christmas: Joyful Mysteries
Lent to Palm Sunday: Sorrowful Mysteries
Monday - Joyful Mysteries
Tuesday - Sorrowful Mysteries
Wednesday - Glorious Mysteries
Thursday - Joyful Mysteries
Friday - Sorrowful Mysteries
Saturday - Glorious Mysteries
 
Praying the Rosary is meditating on the life of Jesus Christ as seen through the eyes of his mother, Mary. You can find leaflets about the rosary which are probably $1.50 or so at any Catholic bookstore or even in many Catholic churches on the literature rack. These leaflets show you exactly how to pray the rosary on each bead, even a picture depicting the particular mystery and maybe a short meditation and indicating which day of the week to pray a particular type of mystery: Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious or Luminous. Yes, it is for everyone who loves Jesus Christ and the powerful prayers and meditations can only help us increase our love for Him and His blessed mother. I pray at least one rosary each day, sometimes more if I am traveling along in my car, or have difficulty sleeping. Its a wonderful way to delve deeper into the life of Christ.
 
So you don’t just make anything personal up to pray, it’s more of reciting a scripture and refecting on the life of Jesus?
 
Blood_Angel said:
So you don’t just make anything personal up to pray, it’s more of reciting a scripture and refecting on the life of Jesus?
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Correct. You meditate on a given mystery while reciting the Hail Marys. Admittedly not so easy (I should know, I find some difficulty ‘meditating’ as well!), but may be worthwhile and spiritually beneficial.
 
Blood_Angel said:
So you don’t just make anything personal up to pray, it’s more of reciting a scripture and refecting on the life of Jesus?
Click to expand...
Don’t make a mistake of thinking that Catholics don’t pray spontaneously as well. We do. However, we are speaking about praying the rosary. Additionally, you are free to meditate on each mystery as long as you need to and any spontaneous prayer you say is fine. Praying a rosary does not preclude other types of prayers!
 
Blood_Angel said:
So you don’t just make anything personal up to pray, it’s more of reciting a scripture and refecting on the life of Jesus?
Click to expand...
To put this another way, one is meditating upon God’s plan of salvation for us, and we call these events in salvation history “mysteries.” As you can see, the majority of the mysteries of the rosary reflect upon things Jesus did in the gospels. The forth and fifth Glorious Mysteries are more grounded in Sacred Tradition (and, in the case of the 5th Glorious Mystery, imagery from Revelation). But they still tie into salvation history because they beautifully illustrate how far God is willing to go to love humanity (as represented by the special graces he bestows upon our mother, Mary).

When describing the gospel orientation of the rosary, it is worth noting that the first part of the “Hail Mary” comes from the Gospel of Luke (a combination of the greetings of Gabriel and Elizabeth) and the “Our Father”, of course, comes from Jesus’ instructions on how we are to pray.

All Christians agree that it is important to read the gospels, know the gospels, teach the gospels and follow the gospels.
But Catholicism goes one step further by offering the rosary as a way of praying the gospels.

As one final note regarding your question, we still can personalize rosary prayer, at least internally. Here is what I mean by this: While we prayerfully meditate upon the mysteries of the rosary, we can focus on one or more of the spiritual fruits that they represent and apply this to our lives.

For example, when meditating upon the 1st Sorrowful Mystery, we picture Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane saying to our Heavenly Father, “Not my will but Thine.” One of the fruits of this mystery is obedience to the will of God. So while I recite the ten Hail Marys and picture this scene, I can mentally ask myself, “How obedient have I been lately to the will of God and his commandments?” Maybe I caved under the temptation to sin and, in effect, said “Lord, MY will be done, not yours!” And if that is the case, I can take this time to express sorrow for having sinned and ask God for forgiveness. Or maybe I realize that I was tempted to sin but, by the power of God and the exercising of virtue, I resisted the temptation and continued to walk the path of life. If that is the case, I can take this time to express thanksgiving to God for giving me the grace and guidance to achieve that moral victory, and I can ask him to be with me during all the future spiritual battles that come my way.
 
Sherry_G said:
Don’t make a mistake of thinking that Catholics don’t pray spontaneously as well. We do. However, we are speaking about praying the rosary. Additionally, you are free to meditate on each mystery as long as you need to and any spontaneous prayer you say is fine. Praying a rosary does not preclude other types of prayers!
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I have a cross necklace, which I bought about 4 or 5 years ago, when I was thinking about God another time, I have been through many times were I questioned my faith. Sometimes, I have worn it and without thinking, often just hold the cross in my hands and feel better.
I never prayed or anything, but just holding it, felt safe.

Does the rosary give a similar feeling to this?
And can you simply hold the cross on the rosary, and make improvised and personal prayers, if you wanted to, when not just praying the rosary?
 
Blood_Angel said:
I have a cross necklace, which I bought about 4 or 5 years ago, when I was thinking about God another time, I have been through many times were I questioned my faith. Sometimes, I have worn it and without thinking, often just hold the cross in my hands and feel better.
I never prayed or anything, but just holding it, felt safe.

Does the rosary give a similar feeling to this?
And can you simply hold the cross on the rosary, and make improvised and personal prayers, if you wanted to, when not just praying the rosary?
Click to expand...
Of course! I often just hold my rosary during personal prayer as it keeps my mind focused on what I am doing and helps avoid distractions. There are actually other prayers you can pray with the physical rosary (such as the Divine Mercy Chaplet). But simply holding a rosary or a cross or crucifix during prayer is a great thing to do!
 
AnthonyPadua001 said:
Of course! I often just hold my rosary during personal prayer as it keeps my mind focused on what I am doing and helps avoid distractions. There are actually other prayers you can pray with the physical rosary (such as the Divine Mercy Chaplet). But simply holding a rosary or a cross or crucifix during prayer is a great thing to do!
Click to expand...
Ok then, I think I’m beginning to see how this works.
Thanks bro.
 
Oh, I forgot to include this but I just downloaded a free document with Scripture citations for the Rosary. It is attached to this post.
 
Blood_Angel said:
I have a cross necklace, which I bought about 4 or 5 years ago, when I was thinking about God another time, I have been through many times were I questioned my faith. Sometimes, I have worn it and without thinking, often just hold the cross in my hands and feel better.
I never prayed or anything, but just holding it, felt safe.

Does the rosary give a similar feeling to this?
And can you simply hold the cross on the rosary, and make improvised and personal prayers, if you wanted to, when not just praying the rosary?
Click to expand...
Sure! I generally have a rosary in my pocket, wherever I am, just in case I have some extra “wait time” or free time between other appointments to take a walk, etc. Sometimes, I also just keep my hand in my pocket and hold onto Jesus on the cross as He is my rock. 👍
 
Again I need to ask.

I feel that I am a long way off become a Catholic. I sin still, though I feel the shame and guilt, it’s just common practice and hard to change the programming, within my mind. I can’t get my head around the concept of public worship and mass, because I believe worship could be done privately. I guess I can’t reach salvation and baptism, without actually being a believer, and becoming a Catholic but do you Catholics believe that with a rosary, a non-believer could begin to understand your Church and religion, if I begin praying like a Catholic and with a symbolic object such as the rosary?

Or am I being stupid?
 
Blood_Angel said:
Again I need to ask.

I feel that I am a long way off become a Catholic. I sin still, though I feel the shame and guilt, it’s just common practice and hard to change the programming, within my mind.
Click to expand...
That’s why our Lord commissioned the apostles the way He did in John 20:21-23.
I can’t get my head around the concept of public worship and mass, because I believe worship could be done privately.
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Acts 20:7, 1st Corinthians 16:2, & Hebrews 10:24-25.
I guess I can’t reach salvation and baptism, without actually being a believer, and becoming a Catholic but do you Catholics believe that with a rosary, a non-believer could begin to understand your Church and religion, if I begin praying like a Catholic and with a symbolic object such as the rosary?
Click to expand...
You could I suppose. Especially if you do so meditating on each of the mysteries of each decade.
 
Blood_Angel said:
Again I need to ask.

I feel that I am a long way off become a Catholic. I sin still, though I feel the shame and guilt, it’s just common practice and hard to change the programming, within my mind. I can’t get my head around the concept of public worship and mass, because I believe worship could be done privately. I guess I can’t reach salvation and baptism, without actually being a believer, and becoming a Catholic but do you Catholics believe that with a rosary, a non-believer could begin to understand your Church and religion, if I begin praying like a Catholic and with a symbolic object such as the rosary?

Or am I being stupid?
Click to expand...
Here is a link to the Didache…the earliest known form of instructions from the Apostles…

earlychristianwritings.com/text/didache-roberts.html
 
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