You provided the words of St Louis de Monfort below, and I embrace every single one of them. Not sure why you have a problem with me embracing what you cited.
"I do not know how this should be, but it is perfectly true; and I know no surer way of discovering whether a person belongs to God than by finding out if he loves the Hail Mary and the Rosary. I say, “if he loves”, for it can happen that a person for some reason may be unable to say the Rosary, but this does not prevent him from loving it and inspiring others to say it."
Not sure why the anger, but I wasn’t trying to anger you or attack your post. What I meant was that with all of these sort of “having trouble with the Rosary” threads, there are always posts that encourage dropping the Rosary, along with the typical “it’s not required anyhow” comments. It certainly isn’t required that Catholics pray the Rosary. But…
I still think you are missing the message of St Louis in his words you quoted. He wasn’t saying it’s ok to steer anyone away from the Rosary. Quite the contrary.
I see your point, but I don’t think we can interpret it as saying “urging/nagging every single Catholic to say it.” Yes, he says “loving it,” which is doable without actually saying it; for example I don’t say the Rosary unless it’s with others who wish me to join them, but I keep a blessed Rosary right next to me as I sit here and type all day.
And I can encourage others to say it, but this is where I differ in your interpretation. I can encourage others to say it, while accurately holding that not everyone either needs to or is called by God to say it. It’s optional, period. The saint did not say, in letter or IMO in spirit, “talk every single person into saying it even if they don’t want to.”
Here’s the problem I have with these threads. Someone says they have a hard time praying the Rosary, and wants to know if that makes them a Bad Catholic. The objective answer is “no,” but that’s not what they get. They get: “well, TECHnically no, but it’s a great blessing and you should really try to do it,” or, “have you tried doing it this way … or that way,” or, “while it is not ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED, it is a great thing and you are missing out if you don’t do it.”
This, I’m confident, is what nuntym is referring to by making it guilt ridden. No, it isn’t for everybody, but you’re strange or an outcast or “not getting it” if you don’t.
If the person had asked, “how can I focus better when I say the Rosary,” then that should be the question that is answered. But we seem to morph the question, “is it required for me to pray the Rosary,” into, “please help me I desperately want to pray the Rosary so I want advice on how to do that.” It makes the OP “less than” for even having asked.
And there is nothing wrong with encouraging someone to say the Rosary, but when they don’t want to then IMO it is not charity to try to goad them into doing it. Maybe they just need a quiet room. Maybe they need to readjust their priorities. We’re like Sam I Am in
Green Eggs and Ham. We love it so much, that maybe – just maybe – If we just make a good enough case for how to eat green eggs and ham, the dude will finally give in and try them. Maybe that’s a bad example because the nagging eventually pays off for Sam I Am.
Maybe a better example showing how I feel when people tell me their devotions are better and that I should choose of my Own Free Will to do it their way: Office Space. The restaurant scene where Janet (Jennifer Aniston) always wears the required “pieces of flair,” but her boss wants her to wear more but wants it to be her own decision.
Here she is being talked to by her boss about her flair, and
this is the effect it had on her.
Alan
Good for you! Keep it up!
