Z
Zahmir
Guest
Got it.
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L
Leonius
Guest
Already did, see end of post 170.
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pray4peace
Guest
The Rosary is a form of meditative prayer on the Gospels,which lead us to Jesus , who IS the way.
Blessings
Blessings
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eucharisteo
Guest
Nicolep,
Joannm is correct. The LOTH is NOT a devotion. It is the official prayer of the Church. The laity are invited to pray is as well, but it is not required. We are strongly urged to take up this devotion. It’s is what makes saints Saints. I love it far more than the Rosary but the Rosary builds a relationship between the Blessed Mother and me and God. I pray it as much as I can daily. LOTH is sometimes difficult with a family and work. My work no longer allows access to online versions of it and I have to carry my Divine Office where I go. Even if I don’t pray it I still bring it. I carry it like it’s a sacramental.
G
GodsGadfly
Guest
OK, one last time for the road.
I have no problem with the Rosary itself. I say many rosaries. I sometimes say 30 decades in a day.
But the Rosary is just one component of my prayer life, and I see it as not the most important.
Someone has accused me of being “hot under the collar.” Not so. Just wanting to point out that there is more to Catholic prayer.
Some were accusing those who recommend the Office as a “higher form of prayer” (since it is Liturgy) of being “Protestants in disguise.” I then cited Fr. Frank Pavone, who has asked Catholics to pray the Office at pro-life rallies so as not to give offense to Evangelical colleagues. Let us remember that that is also one of the teachings of St. Paul (and many other Saints. It was St. Ambrose, I believe, who said, “When I am in Rome, I fast as the Romans do.”) I also pointed to my own experience that, as a tool of evangelism, the Office can be much more effective.
This was misinterpreted as “discouraging” the Rosary.
Let’s put it this way.
For dinner one night, I have wild rice, grilled chicken and California mix vegetables. All are wonderful, nourishing foods.
The next day, I want to decide which leftover to eat for lunch. The rice is the most appealing choice: pure carbs. Odds are, for convenience sake, I’ll tend to eat the rice. Now, the rice has some nutrients in it, and it’s healthy enough, and it’s better than eating a piece of pie for lunch.
But it would be technically “healthier” to eat the vegetables: less calories, more vitamins.
On the other hand, the chicken would be a balance: tasty, providing a lot of nutrients, providing a lot of energy and helping me feel full.
Different forms of prayer nourish our souls in different ways.
A healthy prayer life should be balanced. But, in practice, us busy laity have to choose.
If you had only 1/2 hour to give to God each day, it would be best to give God taht time at Mass. Next best would be the Office. After that, the Bible. After that, the Rosary.
But the whole point of the Rosary is that it’s supposed to be what you say so you can make the time. You say it at other times when more formal prayer is inconvenient.
Living off the Rosary only is like living off just the rice. It’s convenient. It gives us the sufficient grace.
Reading the Bible is kind of like eating our veggies: it gives us the nourishment, but it does not always seem to be “filling” in a subjective sense.
Praying the Office is like the meat: it gives us both the subjective sense of “prayer satisfaction” and the heartier spiritual nourishment.
Maybe it’s a straw man, but there seems to be such an emphasis on the Rosary at the exclusion of other options, and that sense is reinforced by many of the comments here.
Many have talked about “rattling off words.” I think the more significant issue than even that is having a one-sided conversation with God. When I pray from the Scriptures, when I pray the Office, it opens up the chance to see new things that God wants me to know.
When I pray the Rosary, I often get new insights, but it is still the same basic cycle. The Rosary tends to be more of an “I want” prayer: “God, I’m giving you this time because I want a better job; I want more grace; I want a pro-life victory in this election.”
I meditate on how the Mysteries relate to whatever problem concerns me.
There’s nothing wrong with petitionary prayer. And, when it comes to petitionary prayer, I agree that the Rosary is one of the best out there.
But the fear is that focusing on the Rosary limit’s one’s prayer life only to petitions, and some of the comments here, “Then, I guess we shouldn’t be saying the Rosary Novena for the election” or “I prayed the Rosary X times to be cured,” reinforce that notion that the Rosary is just the Divine Slot Machine.
My point in every post I’ve made in this very long thread is that you should never be content with just eating the rice, just eating the meat or just eating the vegetables. If you can afford it, you eat all three.
I have no problem with the Rosary itself. I say many rosaries. I sometimes say 30 decades in a day.
But the Rosary is just one component of my prayer life, and I see it as not the most important.
Someone has accused me of being “hot under the collar.” Not so. Just wanting to point out that there is more to Catholic prayer.
Some were accusing those who recommend the Office as a “higher form of prayer” (since it is Liturgy) of being “Protestants in disguise.” I then cited Fr. Frank Pavone, who has asked Catholics to pray the Office at pro-life rallies so as not to give offense to Evangelical colleagues. Let us remember that that is also one of the teachings of St. Paul (and many other Saints. It was St. Ambrose, I believe, who said, “When I am in Rome, I fast as the Romans do.”) I also pointed to my own experience that, as a tool of evangelism, the Office can be much more effective.
This was misinterpreted as “discouraging” the Rosary.
Let’s put it this way.
For dinner one night, I have wild rice, grilled chicken and California mix vegetables. All are wonderful, nourishing foods.
The next day, I want to decide which leftover to eat for lunch. The rice is the most appealing choice: pure carbs. Odds are, for convenience sake, I’ll tend to eat the rice. Now, the rice has some nutrients in it, and it’s healthy enough, and it’s better than eating a piece of pie for lunch.
But it would be technically “healthier” to eat the vegetables: less calories, more vitamins.
On the other hand, the chicken would be a balance: tasty, providing a lot of nutrients, providing a lot of energy and helping me feel full.
Different forms of prayer nourish our souls in different ways.
A healthy prayer life should be balanced. But, in practice, us busy laity have to choose.
If you had only 1/2 hour to give to God each day, it would be best to give God taht time at Mass. Next best would be the Office. After that, the Bible. After that, the Rosary.
But the whole point of the Rosary is that it’s supposed to be what you say so you can make the time. You say it at other times when more formal prayer is inconvenient.
Living off the Rosary only is like living off just the rice. It’s convenient. It gives us the sufficient grace.
Reading the Bible is kind of like eating our veggies: it gives us the nourishment, but it does not always seem to be “filling” in a subjective sense.
Praying the Office is like the meat: it gives us both the subjective sense of “prayer satisfaction” and the heartier spiritual nourishment.
Maybe it’s a straw man, but there seems to be such an emphasis on the Rosary at the exclusion of other options, and that sense is reinforced by many of the comments here.
Many have talked about “rattling off words.” I think the more significant issue than even that is having a one-sided conversation with God. When I pray from the Scriptures, when I pray the Office, it opens up the chance to see new things that God wants me to know.
When I pray the Rosary, I often get new insights, but it is still the same basic cycle. The Rosary tends to be more of an “I want” prayer: “God, I’m giving you this time because I want a better job; I want more grace; I want a pro-life victory in this election.”
I meditate on how the Mysteries relate to whatever problem concerns me.
There’s nothing wrong with petitionary prayer. And, when it comes to petitionary prayer, I agree that the Rosary is one of the best out there.
But the fear is that focusing on the Rosary limit’s one’s prayer life only to petitions, and some of the comments here, “Then, I guess we shouldn’t be saying the Rosary Novena for the election” or “I prayed the Rosary X times to be cured,” reinforce that notion that the Rosary is just the Divine Slot Machine.
My point in every post I’ve made in this very long thread is that you should never be content with just eating the rice, just eating the meat or just eating the vegetables. If you can afford it, you eat all three.
R
RyanML
Guest
Archbishop Alban Goodier wrote an excellent little book called “Spiritual Excellence: How to Make Progress in Prayer and Love” which I believe was first published in 1919. In chapter five, entitled “Do Not Limit Yourself to Forms of Prayer” he tells this story which I thought was very appropriate for this tread.
"A certain lady, who gave much of her time and her wealth to the poor, chanced in her rounds to come across an old woman in a humble cottage who had been bedridden for years. She sat by the sufferer’s side, gave her what comfort she could, and then asked her about her prayers.
“Do you say your Rosary every day?” she asked.
“Every day? Bless you no, not every day, Madame. I haven’t always time” was the answer.
Not always time! Yet the old woman was lying there all day long and every day, often with no one to visit her for hours together!
“Why, what do you do with your time?” the lady naturally asked.
“Well, Madame,” said the poor victim, “when I first broke my thigh and was told I would never rise from my bed again, I just thought I would give myself to my prayers. So I arranged some prayers that I would say every day, and some I would say at intervals. And to make them go better, I would say them very slowly. But soon the Our Father began to grow and grow, until now it sometimes takes me the whole week to get through it. Oh Madame, if people only knew what was in the Our Father!”
I think this is a wonderful example of how our prayer forms can, no matter how excellent, lead us to greater contemplation where we no longer need them. Archbishop Goodier also stressed that the best prayers we can offer to God are the words and sentiments of our hearts: “Forms of prayer are good insofar as they do this (the raising of the mind and heart to God) for us and no further: they help us to put into words the thoughts of our mind and the feelings of our heart. But if those thoughts and feelings can be taught to express themselves spontaneously, even without any words at all, or at least with very few, our prayer is better than that which depends upon a form.”
"A certain lady, who gave much of her time and her wealth to the poor, chanced in her rounds to come across an old woman in a humble cottage who had been bedridden for years. She sat by the sufferer’s side, gave her what comfort she could, and then asked her about her prayers.
“Do you say your Rosary every day?” she asked.
“Every day? Bless you no, not every day, Madame. I haven’t always time” was the answer.
Not always time! Yet the old woman was lying there all day long and every day, often with no one to visit her for hours together!
“Why, what do you do with your time?” the lady naturally asked.
“Well, Madame,” said the poor victim, “when I first broke my thigh and was told I would never rise from my bed again, I just thought I would give myself to my prayers. So I arranged some prayers that I would say every day, and some I would say at intervals. And to make them go better, I would say them very slowly. But soon the Our Father began to grow and grow, until now it sometimes takes me the whole week to get through it. Oh Madame, if people only knew what was in the Our Father!”
I think this is a wonderful example of how our prayer forms can, no matter how excellent, lead us to greater contemplation where we no longer need them. Archbishop Goodier also stressed that the best prayers we can offer to God are the words and sentiments of our hearts: “Forms of prayer are good insofar as they do this (the raising of the mind and heart to God) for us and no further: they help us to put into words the thoughts of our mind and the feelings of our heart. But if those thoughts and feelings can be taught to express themselves spontaneously, even without any words at all, or at least with very few, our prayer is better than that which depends upon a form.”
S
SacredHeartFan
Guest
the mass is the way, the rosary is a great tool to help along that way.
S
Sacredheart1208
Guest
P.S. The Liturgy of the Hours is the Official prayer of the Church.
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bsroufek
Guest
Our Lady commands us to pray the Rosary every day. And Jesus says often to some saints in visions, “Listen to her”.
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bsroufek
Guest
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ajecphotos
Guest
The title of the thread could have been written better.
I try to pray the rosary as often as i can.
When i do its always focused on Our Lord and the sorrowful mystery. The Rosary is a way to pray with the intercession of Our Blessed Mother Mary to God.
It is a wonderful prayer that everyone should try. Yes, it can get very repetitive and seem boring but it is so wonderful and spiritual. A definite way to pray to Our Lord through his mother.
Look at St Padre Pio. He used to say the rosary again and again during the day. He loved the rosary.
The rosary is only one way to pray to god. It is one gate that is ours to go through to reach God.
I try to pray the rosary as often as i can.
When i do its always focused on Our Lord and the sorrowful mystery. The Rosary is a way to pray with the intercession of Our Blessed Mother Mary to God.
It is a wonderful prayer that everyone should try. Yes, it can get very repetitive and seem boring but it is so wonderful and spiritual. A definite way to pray to Our Lord through his mother.
Look at St Padre Pio. He used to say the rosary again and again during the day. He loved the rosary.
The rosary is only one way to pray to god. It is one gate that is ours to go through to reach God.
S
Sacredheart1208
Guest
bsroufek;11066286 said:
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Ceil-1
Guest
I don’t suppose it hurts to mix it up a bit.
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nuntym
Guest
- JMJ +
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styrgwillidar
Guest
Perhaps it requires a bit from the catechism to contemplate:
2111 Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer the true God, e.g., when one attributes an importance in some way magical to certain practices otherwise lawful or necessary. To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions that they demand, is to fall into superstition.
2562 Where does prayer come from? Whether prayer is expressed in words or gestures, it is the whole man who prays. But in naming the source of prayer, Scripture speaks sometimes of the soul or the spirit, but most often of the heart (more than a thousand times). According to Scripture, it is the heart that prays. If our heart is far from God, the words of prayer are in vain.
M
MHT32
Guest
I know the thread is like 5 years old, but the OP made a good point. I know a lot of people who pray the Rosary more than they pray directly to God. Its weird. I get the devotion, but there’s a limit on how far you can go with it. Also, Im annoyed when people always say the Rosary is the solution to every problem out there. When I left the Church, what advice did I get? I was told to pray the Rosary. Why would I attempt it if I left the Church? The title is poorly worded, however. It can be the way for a lot of things.
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Sacredheart1208
Guest
I agree with you! I like Mary interceding for me, but I feel that going directly to Him is better. I mean He’s God after all!
I understand praying the rosary daily in addition to other prayers but making the Rosary your only prayer is too much. Pray to Jesus unceasingly and ask Mary for her intersession, but dont let prayers to her overcome to prayers to God!
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ajecphotos
Guest
Blimey, i didnt check the date of the thread! 5 years! yikes
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Ceil-1
Guest
It is pleasing to the Lord to contemplate his Passion, and HIs life, and heavenly things.
In saying it, one blesses the name of Jesus 50 times.
God demands from us a sacrifice of praise.
It is not merely rote prayers. It was inspired from heaven and given to St. Dominick who was a really holy guy. She called it “the angelic salutation”. You call down graces on yourself when you pray the rosary. There are many benefits, spiritually.
I think one makes a mistake to dismiss it outright. Don’t knock it 'til you try it. :heaven:
In saying it, one blesses the name of Jesus 50 times.
God demands from us a sacrifice of praise.
It is not merely rote prayers. It was inspired from heaven and given to St. Dominick who was a really holy guy. She called it “the angelic salutation”. You call down graces on yourself when you pray the rosary. There are many benefits, spiritually.
I think one makes a mistake to dismiss it outright. Don’t knock it 'til you try it. :heaven:
D
De_Montfort
Guest
The Church actually has had many encyclical’s written about the great things that come from saying the rosary.I agree with you! I like Mary interceding for me, but I feel that going directly to Him is better. I mean He’s God after all!
We must not make it what it is not, and its not a tug of war between Mary and Jesus
I know for myself when I do pray to Mary, it is always about Her Son and asking to be more conformed to Him. So it is always Christ centered
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