The Rosary- Am I just bad at it?

  • Thread starter Thread starter DiscerningTheTruth
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
D

DiscerningTheTruth

Guest
I’m a fairly “young” Catholic, coming out of the Wesleyan Methodist tradition. I added praying the Rosary to my spiritual life even before my conversion, mostly out of devotion to Our Lady (she was a huge player in my becoming Catholic) and a little bit out of a sense of duty, as it seemed to be what Catholics “just do”. I have a question regarding the prayer itself. I find when I am praying I can either focus on the mysteries or the prayers themselves, but am unable to meditate on both simultaneously. Is there some technique I am unaware of that a long time Catholic would know? Am I supposed to be focusing on just one aspect? Thanks!
 
Long, long time pray-er of the Rosary here and I also can’t think of both the prayers and the meditations at the same time. I do the meditation and just let the prayer happen. Sometimes I can’t meditate so I concentrate on the words of the prayer. Either way it is good! So don’t fret…do the best you can!
 
As long as your focused on one aspect or the other in prayer, it is fine. I say it daily, and personally I think I’m concentrating on the Our father/Hail Mary aspect about 75% of the time and the actual mystery about 25%. I can’t focus on both full at the same time…sometimes the Hail Mary fades a bit into the background.

As long as it is in prayer, I think you’re fine. Personally when I say it too slowly, I tend to lose focus. I’d estimate a “good” rosary for me is about 20 minutes.

If I have the time, I mix a little Bible reading between the mysteries to break it up a little. Either the actual appropriate corresponding Gospel section, or as for me, I’m alternating between Acts and Exodus right now.
 
Last edited:
I can do one or the other, not both. Please don’t worry about it. Some people just cannot do it, and that’s okay.
 
DiscerningTheTruth said:
I’m a fairly “young” Catholic, coming out of the Wesleyan Methodist tradition. I added praying the Rosary to my spiritual life even before my conversion, mostly out of devotion to Our Lady (she was a huge player in my becoming Catholic) and a little bit out of a sense of duty, as it seemed to be what Catholics “just do”. I have a question regarding the prayer itself. I find when I am praying I can either focus on the mysteries or the prayers themselves, but am unable to meditate on both simultaneously. Is there some technique I am unaware of that a long time Catholic would know? Am I supposed to be focusing on just one aspect? Thanks!
Click to expand...
If you can get a book of photos for each mystery and look at it during the prayer it can help. You can think of the related scriptures briefly before the decade.
 
Last edited:
There are dozens of websites dedicated to praying the Rosary effectively.
It can be as simple as looking at a picture of each mystery to help you keep focused. The rosary will become more easier and the muscle memory will be more efficient the more you pray it to the point where you will have no problem meditating fervently while reciting it. sometimes when I pray the rosary my concentration on the mystery itself is so good the mystery is completed before I know it lol I wouldn’t worry too much about one or the other although meditating on each mysteries fruits imo gives the rosary a deeper meaning and increases ones appreciation for it.

St Louis de Montfort is probably one of the best experts on the rosary that we have.
“If you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I do assure you that, in spite of the gravity of your sins ‘you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory.’ Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practise black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and will save your soul, if-- and mark well what I say-- if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your sins.”
Click to expand...
-St. Louis de Montfort from The Secret of the Rosary

I highly recommend reading the secret of the Rosary by st. Louis de Montfort. It is a truly an insightful treasure.
 
It seems that I can have a couple thoughts running through my mind, but one is usually dominant. Aside from the prayer itself and the meditation, I am think about who I am praying for.

Look closely at the wording and see that we are really praying for everybody. I don’t think there is anybody excluded from “we” “our” or “us.”

Remember that in prayer, we are talking to God, and I try to focus on that as well as on the words. If I am praying privately, I will repeat especially the Lord’s prayer if I was distracted excessively.

I would take every rosary as a form of practice towards getting better at it. On EWTN radio, psychologist Dr Ray Guarendi quips that he has only NOT been distracted during the rosary about twice in his life.

I read a thought in a Jewish commentary that said that the recitation of the “Shema” is about the longest a person can pray without distraction “Hear O Israel the Lord is God, the LORD alone,” This is the most important prayer in Jewish practice and it should be an important one in ours, too, by the way (see Dt 6 verse 1 and following).

For me, often the hardest thing is to get started saying the rosary; it’s all downhill from there.

There are some recordings of the Rosary in youtube.com if yu want to try following along at a clip.
 
Many Catholics cannot “multitask” in this way. They often do one of two things:
  1. Meditate on the mystery, maybe read a little reflection out of a Rosary book, at the beginning of the decade. Like this:
  • Say to yourself, “The First Sorrowful Mystery: The Agony in the Garden”
  • Then read a reflection about the Agony in the Garden, or just think about it for a minute and picture it.
  • Then pray the decade.
  1. Alternatively, some people use a Scriptural Rosary book or web page where you read one verse of Scripture before saying each Hail Mary. This method obviously means you need to be able to sit and read, or be listening to a recorded version. It doesn’t work well if you’re trying to say a Rosary “on the go” like while you are driving.
After you’ve said a few hundred Rosaries, you might get the knack of praying as sort of like a background mumble while you think about the Mystery, or you might not. And those of us who don’t spend hours a day in prayer in a monastery usually will struggle with our mind wandering to other subjects when we’re trying to think about the Mystery.

Just do the best you can and don’t worry about it.
 
I think about the mystery for a moment, then resume the prayers.
 
Dude, I have major ADHD. Focusing is next to impossible for me. I consider a successful Rosary to be when I say a decade and haven’t made a good start on my grocery list by the end of the Glory Be’s.
 
Erase the duty! Make conversation with God your joy! Place yourself willingly within a sense of awe as you address and interact with the Creator of all that is.

Droning along out of duty drains the supernatural - the love - out of any task that is intended to be filled with joy.

Find a scriptural Rosary on YouTube. Go to Come Pray the Rosary and ponder images of the holy land while you offer the prayer.

http://www.comepraytherosary.org/

Even better, offer the Rosary in the Presence of Christ during Adoration!
 
DiscerningTheTruth said:
I find when I am praying I can either focus on the mysteries or the prayers themselves, but am unable to meditate on both simultaneously. Is there some technique I am unaware of that a long time Catholic would know?
Click to expand...
I am right there with you, and this isn’t really a problem. I have often heard from Catholic speakers that the prayers are the “background music” as you reflect on the life of Jesus. This isn’t to downplay the prayers, reflecting on them is also a very good practice; but getting to know Jesus, reflecting on His life with our Blessed Mother at our side guiding us, that’s the point of the Rosary.

As Limoncello4021 mentioned, the scriptural rosary is a great way to reflect on the mysteries and keep your mind focused. Here is a great website I found just last week that has an audio version: https://www.scripturalrosary.org

I would also like to say … Welcome to the Church! Thank you for saying the Rosary faithfully. We need more faithful Catholics like you for the battle going on in this age.

God bless you! God loves you! Be a saint!
 
When I first started I used to just look at a picture of the mystery which was easier.
 
This is what we Catholics often forget in prayer! Great comment!
 
I sometimes use the iRosary app on my phone. It has beautiful religious art for each mystery. I find that I can usually both pray and meditate upon the scenes featured in the artwork.
 
I find that reflecting on God and life rather than the actual mysteries sometimes can be helpful.
 
You are not bad at it, and just keep doing what you’re doing. I’m going to suggest a few things that just mirrors what many of us here have already wrote about.

When you get to the Our Father bead and announce the mystery, at the very least, take a pause to reflect on the mystery for a bit. If I am praying a rosary by myself, this pause can take on many forms because I vary it depending on my circumstances and what I am moved to do. Things like:
  1. I follow along and read from one of those “Pray the Rosary for World Peace” pamphlets that seem to be everywhere. This is an example: Pray The Rosary Daily (English)
  2. I memorize a bit of scripture relevant to the mystery and recite it. This helps when I’m driving and praying at the same time. That’s some serious multi-tasking, but I’m a work-a-day busy guy who is tries to get in a rosary during my waking hours.
  3. I expand the scripture and read more relevant passages from the Bible.
  4. I reflect on the mystery and the pause sort of turns into an episode where I space-out for an indeterminate period of time (minutes?) and I perceive how the mystery relates to current events and concerns in my life. Obviously - not while driving…
  5. I’m gradually learning how to pray the rosary in Latin.
You need to just keep praying the rosary. Let the prayers become a part of you. I don’t know if you’ve prayed the Rosary in a group setting, but if you haven’t yet, be forewarned that it can be a disorienting experience the first time. Some groups recite the Rosary in 10-12 minutes, which can be difficult to keep up with. In that case, don’t make it a reason to think you are doing anything wrong.
God Bless,
-Matas
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top