The Rosary - Do I have to say it because I'm Catholic?

[blanc10]

I’ve been saying the rosary for more than a year now and I still haven’t got it mastered. Just do your best. Mary will take what you give to her and she’ll polish it up nice and pretty and present it to the Lord.

The rosary isn’t required to be catholic. It’s a private devotion. It gets better once you get in with the swing of things. St. Therese herself claimed that she never was perfect with the rosary.

If you try the best as you can, you can’t go wrong.

 

[po18guy]

Thanks this is very helpful as I have not been concentrating on the mysteries.

Try viewing this artwork of each mystery as you pray. The mysteries are along the right side of the page. Click on the image associated with each mystery, such as “annunciation images” or “visitation images.” Then, a picture of a hand holding a Rosary comes up. You can scroll down through the images beneath it, or simply click on the picture of the hand holding the Rosary. A larger image appears. Then, just arrow to the right through the various paintings that can inspire you to contemplation of the mysteries.

The entire point of the Rosary is contemplation. The prayers are essentially background music that sets the cadence of contemplation. I looked for a site like this for quite awhile before finding this one.

 

[FabiusMaximus]

Right.

I do believe you need a daily prayer life though. Basically it comes down to a daily conversation with the Lord.

More of a practice as understanding the Spiritual realm we definately live in.

Agreed.

However if he is uncomfortable with so many Hail Marys, perhaps he can reduce the number of times he recites it by reciting the Jesus Prayer more in its place, for instance. I think that could be a good alternative.

I do like the concept of the Rosary myself, though.

 

[campeador]

There are other devotions. St. Thérèse of Lisieux was devoted to the Most Holy Face of Jesus.

http://www.ajbonocore.com/images/theresa.jpg

She believed that by contemplating the sufferings associated with the Holy Face of Jesus, she could become closer to Christ. She composed many prayers to The Holy Face, including this one that I recite daily:

O Jesus, Who in Your bitter passion became “the most abject of men, a man of sorrows,” I venerate Your sacred Face whereon there once shone the beauty and sweetness of the Godhead; but now it has become for me as if it were the face of a leper! Nevertheless, under those disfigured features I recognize Your infinite love, and I am consumed with the desire to love You and make You loved by all men. The tears which well up abundantly in Your sacred eyes appear to me as so many precious pearls that I love to gather up, in order to purchase the souls of poor sinners by means of their infinite value. O Jesus, Whose adorable Face ravishes my heart, I implore you to fix deep within me Your divine image and to set me on fire with Your love, that I may be found worthy to come to the contemplation of Your glorious Face in Heaven. Amen.

There is also a Chaplet of Reparation to the Holy Face that I recite daily. Here’s a link if you’re interested: holyfacedevotion.com/extra_prayers.htm
(and they offer free chaplet beads at the bottom of the link!)

“I firmly wish that my face reflecting the intimate pains of my soul, the suffering and love of my heart, be more honored! Whoever gazes upon me already consoles me.” (Our Lord Jesus Christ to Sister Pierina)
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

I don’t mean to take away anything from the Holy Rosary. It is a wonderful and effective devotion. I’m just offering an alternative devotion that I personally am very fond of.

 

[CopticChristian]

I don’t feel comfortable saying so many Hail Marys and my mind drifts off.

If you ever have the opportunity to pray the rosary in a group, you will never be the same. I have had occasion to be at a Convention Hall with our Bishop and an entire indoor stadium prayed the rosary. It is indeed a meditation.

I will add that I have been taken to Promise Keepers and other Protestant stadium events with all the preaching, music, and emotionalism…and these venues are minor league compared to the convention hall rosary.

 

[GaryTaylor]

Agreed.

However if he is uncomfortable with so many Hail Marys, perhaps he can reduce the number of times he recites it by reciting the Jesus Prayer more in its place, for instance. I think that could be a good alternative.

I do like the concept of the Rosary myself, though.

Even the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, Divine Office. I mean this to say that if you if have an issue in one aspect, then it shouldn’t hinder your prayer life in Christ.

Spending the time I have spent in the CC its not incommon that many just don’t recite the Rosary. Those who seem to be in church on a regular basis seem to have gravitated towards a significant prayer life through. Often with the Rosary with the laity. Divine Mercy has become very popular also.

I have never seen the Rosary pushed in the church, nor will you see in at a Mass, unless for example you attend St Catherine Laboures Monday Mass which is basically worldwide. Which in this sense relates to what CopticChristian mentions.

Peace

 

[ufamtobie]

I don’t feel comfortable saying so many Hail Marys and my mind drifts off.

Cnegrace,

Why is it that you don’t feel comfortable saying so many Hail Marys?

Ufam Tobie

 

[veilofveronica]

Hi there,
You certainly don’t HAVE to, it’s not an obligation, but the Rosary is one of the most beautiful and treasured devotions we have available to us in the Roman Catholic Church and Tradition today.
I suggest you research and read and learn more about the Rosary and…corny as it sounds…pray to Our Lady and let her speak to your heart. It’s a very powerful prayer, and the more you say it, the more you will see that.
God Bless you.

 

[Indiana_Jones]

I’ve recently discovered the treasure that is the Rosary, and it has completely revitalized my devotional life.

 

[adstrinity]

At all the recent approved Aparitions of Our Lady, She requests us to pray the Rosary. She REQUESTS this. Pray the Rosary!!!

The two times we have driven back the Muslims in war, it was because the Pope told us to pray the Rosary. Pray the Rosary!!!

The devil HATES the Rosary. Pray the Rosary!!!

The rosary isn’t required to be catholic. It’s a private devotion. It gets better once you get in with the swing of things. St. Therese herself claimed that she never was perfect with the rosary.

I have heard this before. Though this may be true (have not read her works for myself), she still prayed the Rosary.

However if he is uncomfortable with so many Hail Marys, perhaps he can reduce the number of times he recites it by reciting the Jesus Prayer more in its place, for instance. I think that could be a good alternative.

NO!!! Absolutely not!!! That is NOT the Rosary. That is NOT appropriate.

Cnegrace,

Why is it that you don’t feel comfortable saying so many Hail Marys?

Ufam Tobie

It took two pages to ask this question? This shouldn’t have been more than after the third reply. Well done, Ufam Tobie!

I would like to know the discomfort of the situation as well.

“Do I have to,” is the wrong attitude. Find out why it makes you uncomfortable and go from there.

 

[Hesychios]

If we faithfully promise the Rosary, we are given the following promises:
…

No one has to believe those promises, not even Roman Catholics. It isn’t required to even believe that the BVM appeared to Saint Margaret Alacoque.

In fact, most Roman Catholics I know don’t take them seriously (the few who are aware of it). I think the whole thing damages the credibility of the church and actually repels potential converts, so I wouldn’t be too quick to publish them.

 

[ATeutonicKnight]

I don’t feel comfortable saying so many Hail Marys and my mind drifts off.

Mary said that praying the Rosary everyday is a very big sign that you are going to Heaven. She also granted many favors to those that said it properly. Why would you want to stop doing something so beneficial to your prayer life, to your love with God, and your salvation?

 

[GlobalWolf]

No one has to believe those promises, not even Roman Catholics. It isn’t required to even believe that the BVM appeared to Saint Margaret Alacoque.

In fact, most Roman Catholics I know don’t take them seriously (the few who are aware of it). I think the whole thing damages the credibility of the church and actually repels potential converts, so I wouldn’t be too quick to publish them.

Well, the 15 rosary promises do have an impramatur, which means that they are allowed by the Church to be published. That doesn’t mean that they were necessarily correct (the Church has also given an imprimatur to documents with the opposing view; an imprimatur pretty much just means that something is not opposed to Catholic doctrine). I believe that they are not, and that the rosary was a gradual development that emerged over time from individuals using prayer beads to keep up with the number of Hail Mary prayers needed to match the number of Psalms prayed by monastics.

At the same time, though, the sheer number of Marian apparitions and Papal pronouncements associated with the rosary should say something about its value. Even if the rosary did gradually develop (as I and most historians would probably agree it did), and even if one chooses to utterly ignore all of the approved Marian apparitions associated with the rosary (something I believe is really an extreme level of skepticism for Catholics), there’s still the fact that the rosary is a very heavily indulgenced prayer.

So, no, you don’t have to pray the rosary to be a good Catholic. The rosary, however, is a very valuable private devotion. The meditations on the life of Christ associated with the rosary help us to put Him at the center of our own lives. If you are able to do it, then you should. If you are unable to, then it doesn’t mean that you’re not a Catholic, but it is something that you might want to try even if you struggle. I have difficulties, too, with meditating while praying

 

[Angels_Eyes]

I do not pray the rosary, although I do plan to start and am wanting it to become quality prayer time for me.

Our Blessed Mother requested that we pray the rosary, and I feel I do truly want to do this to please her, so that my prayers may reach God.

At the moment my prayer time consists of lighting a candle, a few small prayers, one Hail Mary and Our Father, then quiet time. I just love to sit and wait to ‘hear’ our Lord. I recently read that the silent prayer, can actually be the best prayer. I like that, it’s quite deep.

Whatever feels right for you, is right. God will love your effort I am sure.

God Bless.

 

[Miriam1947]

Mary said that praying the Rosary everyday is a very big sign that you are going to Heaven. She also granted many favors to those that said it properly. Why would you want to stop doing something so beneficial to your prayer life, to your love with God, and your salvation?

Your post is based on private revelation which no Catholic has to believe or follow.

We follow Jesus Christ and his Church. And if I never pray a rosary it will not impact my final judgement.

 

[jwinch2]

I don’t feel comfortable saying so many Hail Marys and my mind drifts off.

As already noted above, if you try to focus on Christ and the gospel during each of the mysteries, that will help a great deal. If you can think about one specific part of the Hail Mary, “and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus”; well, that is what the rosary is all about (e.g. Mary leading us to Christ). This youtube page has been helpful to me as they show pictures of the various mysteries we are supposed to be contemplating, which I find helps me to focus on Christ during the Rosary: Catholic Devotions.

However, I can certainly understand your discomfort. I get a bit concerned with the level of Marian devotion expressed on occasion and find myself more in line with the Eastern understanding of he role rather than the extremes some take it to in the Western Church. My personal prayer life is structured around the Divine Office and an occasional devotion to St. Dominic, St. Michael, and our Blessed Mother.

As for the drifting of your mind, that might not be the worst thing in the world. Towards the end of his book: Sing a New Song: The Christian Vocation, Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP talks about the Rosary and suggests that allowing the mind to drift might not be a bad thing at all. The book: Beatitudes and Beads: Rosary Meditations on Blessedness by Fr. Phillip Powell, OP would likely be helpful as well.

Peace,

 

[cnegrace]

Thank you Miriam. The quiet time sounds good to me. That’s something I really need to do. I have also decided to use the book, The Scriptural Rosary. I have been doing the daily readings for the last 20 years and I think this will help me to concentrate better.

 

[Elisabeth51]

It seems concentration is sometimes an obstacle. I used to have that problem, but now I do something I learned from a Muslim friend----I pray out loud, even if it is just barely a whisper. I heard an Orthodox Priest say the same thing, if you pray out loud, you keep the devil from whispering into your ears and distracting you. This has worked for me, even just a very quiet whisper, like if you are in Church or on public transit and can’t be loud.

 

[TexanKnight]

I actually enjoy the Rosary. I do not pray it as often as I would like or should, but I still carry my Rosary with me everywhere I go and truly enjoy praying it.

 

[Alfonsus]

Simply put, the Catholic Church has a plethora of devotions (sometimes with competing “promises,” make you feel like living in a free market of powerful devotions).
Chose the one that suit you best.

Objectively, many Popes and saints recommend the Rosary.
But subjectively speaking, perhaps you are called to different kind of devotion. You need to follow the direction of the Spirit.

Sometimes in the middle of your spiritual journey, your attraction to devotion changes. No problem, pick up a new one, choose one or two devotion that you can humanly manage. The purpose is to help you grow spiritually.

Prayer is like exercise. You can’t enter advanced Pilates class right away. You need build it up from the basic class.
Some people have trouble keeping concentration for a long time, then start from shorter one.
But like any exercise, you need to have spiritual discipline.

At the moment, my own devotional practices work best around the following:

1. The Liturgy of the Hours. I picked up the habit about a decade ago. Since them, having ups and downs, but I never really able moved away from it. I always miss it. Theologically speaking, it is the most powerful and best prayer after Mass. Mass, Liturgy of the Hours, celebration of sacraments and blessings are public and official prayer of the entire Church.
2. Eucharistic Adoration. This is my second favorite. Of course you can have Liturgy of the Hours and several Christocentric devotion at the same time.
3. Lectio Divina. Pondering, munching, meditate the Sacred Scripture. If the Scripture is used for prayer, you do 2 things at the same time: addressing God using inspired words at the same time you hear God talking to you trough the inspired words.
4. Silent prayer. For quite a long time, I was under guidance of the Carmelites. John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila and Brother Lawrence method of prayer influence my prayer life and I love it.
5. Other devotions. In my spiritual life, I found Rosary works well for me when I keep my Lectio Divina going. So for me Rosary is an opportunity to extends my Lectio Divina meditation.
   Then the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, which I like very much but not really become a staple of my prayer life.

Basically in my daily routine, I try keeping the Liturgy of the Hours as my staple. If no time available, I pray a simple devotion that I can pray during commuting to/from work, like Rosary for instance.

Sometimes we can become spiritually greedy. Trying to get a hold of as many devotions thinking of many cool promises I will obtain. Don’t go there. Those Carmelites spiritual doctors advise us to become simple. They said, not how many devotions, not how much time you spend, not how many powerful devotions you can get hold that count, but the quality and discipline that important: for the love of God and not for any other motives. Not for the promises, not for consolations, not even for heaven. Keep it simple for the sake of loving God.

That teaching is so simple, but so deep, it blew my spiritual greediness and since then I have peace with devotion I chose