Tips for learning the Rosary and a few other related questions

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One of my goals for 2015 is to learn the Rosary better … memorize the prayers and the mysteries. I’ve got the little pamphlets that explain how to do it and has the prayers and mysteries listed but I feel like the experience is somewhat lessened because I’m reading it off a page. Does anyone know of some helpful tips or is it just a matter of repetition?

Also, I know that each mystery is to be said on specific days, but I was curious how that worked. For example, last night I wanted to pray for my brother who had a potentially life-changing job interview, but the mysteries for Tuesday are sorrowful. If I’m wanting to pray for someone’s happiness, can I substitute the joyful mysteries?

I frequently pray the Rosary before I go to sleep (the act of praying and the repetitiveness of the Rosary is rather calming for someone who frequently suffers from insomnia). I had read several years ago that if you fall asleep before finishing, then your guardian angel will finish it for you. Has anyone else heard of that?
 
First of all Michael 👍 for doing the Rosary!

Next point I’d like to address is that the name of the type of mysteries for each set isn’t indicative of the “use”, any mystery set of the rosary can be used to pray for any circumstance of intentions. This isn’t like… well, pagan magic where you have “spells” geared to different things like prosperity, romance etc.
Tied into the “not a pagan spell” is that while you can say a rosary for an intention, it is NOT like putting in an order for meatloaf to a waitress. (NOT saying that is your intent here or useage but I’d rather say this for the benefit of anyone new or uninformed who may read this thread then leave it out)

It behooves us to always recall that no matter how we pray for something, we do get our answer, but sometimes that answer is “no” or at least “not now”.

As for what days of the week you say this or that set of mysteries; I do enjoy going along with the norm most days as I can think of many others saying the same mysteries as I am and feel a heightened sense of community even when praying alone. However, some days I find myself drawn to a different mystery then is usually spoken on that day and there’s absolutely no prohibition against changing things up that way.

In learning the mysteries and prayers, the singlemost effective tool for learning them in any part by heart for me has been repetition and especially while having both a written form and a video format to go along with. I have a plain text file on my computer which has all the prayers and mysteries with some instructions to follow along as well as I usually watch and speak with the particular Rosary Mystery that I want to pray by Mother Angelica and the OLAM Nuns which I have recorded on my TV.

I am on medications and have conditions which can make it hard for me to memorize things, but using lots of repetition and as many of my senses as possible as aids has done wonders for me. And I do understand your desire to do things from memory instead of reading off a paper… but with the Rosary especially it is far more important that what you do allows you to meditate internally on Christ’s life in those mysteries than it is that you have everything perfectly memorized.

Hope this has helped in some way and God Bless you.

Julia
 
michael_pommier said:
I’ve got the little pamphlets that explain how to do it and has the prayers and mysteries listed but I feel like the experience is somewhat lessened because I’m reading it off a page.
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Don’t worry after awhile you will automatically memorize the prayers and mysteries, just keep at it. 🙂
 
When teaching my students, the first thin I do is to look over the pamphlet or page that lists all of the Mysteries.
We spend a couple of sessions examining the Mysteries. We talk about the Mysteries being a TIMELINE of the life of Christ.
Once you view the Mysteries in this way…it’s very easy to remember which mystery comes next in each of the sets.

You may need to use the pamphlet for the beginning and ending prayers for quite a while, no worries. The middle ( main body of the rosary) is fairly easy to catch on to due to the repetition of prayers.
As far as concluding prayers go, the Hail Holy Queen and the "Oh God, whose only begotten Son…Prayers, are pretty much standard. but many people tack on all kinds of extra prayers at this point due to their personal devotions…my husband calls these the “trimmings.”
Trimmings vary. As long as you hit the basics, you are good. You yourself may add various “St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us” type prayers, or St. Michael prayer, or another beautiful prayer to your devotions one day.

you will find that in rosary “groups” at parishes and homes, people may have a favorite little addition, don’t be rattled by this. Get a good pamphlet or online source and just go with it.

So lovely to pray the rosary, so enlightening, and so beautiful, peace.
God bless you!
Clare
 
I totally agree with others – the more you pray the rosary, the more your pamphlet will become obsolete. I’ll note, too, that if I’m out and about and can’t remember some part of the rosary (usually the Creed for me), I try not to let it phase me; I just pray what I remember. This is most pleasing to the Blessed Virgin as it would be to any wonderful mother! 🙂 Like you, I used to worry that using a guide was taking away from the experience. But we all need to start somewhere and some guides have actually helped me to center my thinking more meaningfully on each mystery. From time to time, I still pull up a rosary app on my phone, as well. Your attempts to pray the rosary are perhaps what are most important here.
 
I’m just in the process of learning the Rosary myself. Repetition really is the key, and you’ll be surprised how quickly you pick up the Mysteries (though remembering which ones get prayed on which days can take a little longer - I still have “cheat sheets” to help with that).

As was already mentioned, it helps to look at each group of Mysteries as a whole and connect with the timeline - they are more or less linear, so if you can remember the first Mystery, chances are it will prompt you to the second, which will prompt you to the third. I had a written form (on my iPad), but I would close my eyes as I prayed to try to encourage myself to remember each Mystery. If I blanked, I could always open my eyes and find the right spot. At this point, I have the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries down cold; I’m still struggling with the Luminous Mysteries, because having been raised in a secular home, they are the parts of the Christian “story” that are least familiar to me. It was also suggested to me that while it is good to pray the full set of Joyful Mysteries, for instance, if I wanted to pray an entire rosary while meditating on any one of the Mysteries, I was welcome to do that.

I also pray my Rosary before going to sleep, as a means of settling my mind and heart. I’d not been told about a guardian angel finishing it for me, but was told not to worry if I drift off to sleep before finishing (which happens sometimes - I’ve woken up more than one morning still holding my rosary!).
 
Also, CAF member **Miserissima **has a Rosary PowerPoint in her signature that you can download that highlights the proper beads as you prayt hem. Very cool.
 
michael_pommier said:
had read several years ago that if you fall asleep before finishing, then your guardian angel will finish it for you. Has anyone else heard of that?
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The Church has never taught this, and no Saint has either. Neither has it been revealed in private revelation. The idea that an angel or that the angels finish our unfinished rosaries is totally unfounded, so do not go by it and pray your rosaries at a good time that will allow you to complete it. God bless you.
 
michael_pommier said:
I had read several years ago that if you fall asleep before finishing, then your guardian angel will finish it for you. Has anyone else heard of that?
Click to expand...
ready said:
The Church has never taught this, and no Saint has either. Neither has it been revealed in private revelation. The idea that an angel or that the angels finish our unfinished rosaries is totally unfounded, so do not go by it and pray your rosaries at a good time that will allow you to complete it. God bless you.
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Yes, Michael, I have heard this as well. And there is absolutely no harm in believing it. The rosary isn’t a charm – saying the prayers fully is, of course, the intention of anyone praying it but not being able to do so because one falls asleep, one is pulled away by a screaming child, one arrives at her destination before the rosary can be completed doesn’t invalidate the prayers already offered. The completion of a full rosary, or decade, or Hail Mary is, of course, preferable. But if you fall asleep while praying the rosary, you are falling asleep while focusing on the mysteries and communication with the Blessed Virgin. By way of comparison, I have young children and I often pray a decade here and a decade there as I’m able. There are times when I cannot complete a decade because I must tend to a child. To believe that this somehow makes my prayers deficient is, I think, to misunderstand the heart of Mary.
 
I pray the Rosary daily. I got free app for my phone when I first started called “Rosario” that has images, scripture, and CCC references for each mystery, and that helped a lot with memorization.

I have heard the same about guardian angel’s finishing the prayer on your behalf if you should fall asleep during it, and I’m particularly guilty of doing so. OTOH, praying the Rosary cured my insomnia almost entirely. I do try to finish it myself if I re-awaken during the night if I can remember where I left off, even to the point of saying the Salve Regina as I’m preparing coffee the next morning. I HIGHLY recommend acquiring or making a cord Rosary (paracord is actually perfect material for this) if you make it a habit of praying it as you go to sleep. It’s no good at all to fall asleep with a beautiful set of blessed beads and destroy them by accident while unconscious.
 
Gracepoole,

It only makes sense that praying a full Rosary is better than praying an uncompleted Rosary. A five decade Rosary consists of opening prayers and closing prayers and a specified amount of Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glory Be’s. Not to pray ALL of these prayers is not to pray a Rosary, but part of the Rosary. Praying a full five decade Rosary is better than praying part of it, as the Blessed Virgin Mary herself had asked us at Fatima to pray AT LEAST five decades. If you can not fulfill our Lady’s request because of your busy schedule, you may want to consider changing your schedule by praying your Rosary as a family and by praying at a time when you are not so tired. God bless you.
 
ready said:
Gracepoole,

It only makes sense that praying a full Rosary is better than praying an uncompleted Rosary. A five decade Rosary consists of opening prayers and closing prayers and a specified amount of Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glory Be’s. Not to pray ALL of these prayers is not to pray a Rosary, but part of the Rosary. Praying a full five decade Rosary is better than praying part of it, as the Blessed Virgin Mary herself had asked us at Fatima to pray AT LEAST five decades. If you can not fulfill our Lady’s request because of your busy schedule, you may want to consider changing your schedule by praying your Rosary as a family and by praying at a time when you are not so tired. God bless you.
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:eek:

Sorry, I’m just stunned by your comments here and I can’t find another way to express it. Multiple priests, Women of Grace, and my own spiritual director stand in stark contrast to your perceptions. The rosary isn’t an all or nothing proposition – if it were, anything less than a FULL rosary (fifteen decades, not five) would be unacceptable. Yes, Our Lady commanded families to pray the family rosary daily. I know pregnant moms who fall asleep before the family rosary is complete – pregnancy has a tendency to do that. Do you really believe their prayers are less pleasing to Our Lady? Anyone who attempts to speak to the Blessed Virgin is acting righteously. To suggest that only those who can devote enough time to pray an entire rosary should even attempt to pray it is really frightening advice. I’m not sure where you’ve heard this but I hope and pray others don’t accept it.
 
gracepoole said:
Yes, Michael, I have heard this as well. And there is absolutely no harm in believing it. The rosary isn’t a charm – saying the prayers fully is, of course, the intention of anyone praying it but not being able to do so because one falls asleep, one is pulled away by a screaming child, one arrives at her destination before the rosary can be completed doesn’t invalidate the prayers already offered. The completion of a full rosary, or decade, or Hail Mary is, of course, preferable. But if you fall asleep while praying the rosary, you are falling asleep while focusing on the mysteries and communication with the Blessed Virgin. By way of comparison, I have young children and I often pray a decade here and a decade there as I’m able. There are times when I cannot complete a decade because I must tend to a child. To believe that this somehow makes my prayers deficient is, I think, to misunderstand the heart of Mary.
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Exactly. Of course the Church has never stated this. This comes from compassionate mothering. The best way to ensure your young child develops scruples is to tell them as children that if they didn’t finish their rosary, that Our Lord and our Lady will be mad, that their prayers don’t count and that they are doing it wrong.
I am always amazed at some people who harangue folks about this that or another on some of the threads, and then in the next thread say to the same person “Don’t be scrupulous!” I am not referring to anyone here, on this thread, but we see it happen so much. When people are learning, it’s easy to fall prey to the deadly scruples. They want to please. And they become fearful. I am certain that the angels pray for us. It’s part of their mission. If someone wants to believe that they pray the rosary along with us, I don’t think they going too far off the rails. :twocents:
But no, don’t start searching your textbooks, rubrics, and Saint biographies. it’s not in there.
 
gracepoole said:
:eek:

Sorry, I’m just stunned by your comments here and I can’t find another way to express it. Multiple priests, Women of Grace, and my own spiritual director stand in stark contrast to your perceptions. The rosary isn’t an all or nothing proposition – if it were, anything less than a FULL rosary (fifteen decades, not five) would be unacceptable. Yes, Our Lady commanded families to pray the family rosary daily. I know pregnant moms who fall asleep before the family rosary is complete – pregnancy has a tendency to do that. Do you really believe their prayers are less pleasing to Our Lady? Anyone who attempts to speak to the Blessed Virgin is acting righteously. To suggest that only those who can devote enough time to pray an entire rosary should even attempt to pray it is really frightening advice. I’m not sure where you’ve heard this but I hope and pray others don’t accept it.
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I taught Religion Classes in Catholic school. Our daily routine was to pray a decade of the Rosary at the start of each class. By the end of the week, we had a full rosary done, and the closing activity each Friday was a full rosary.
I’ve often had a penance to pray a decade of the rosary, meditating on a particular mystery. Of course, I would finish because I had set aside the time for Reconciliation.
But if I hadn’t the time, I would have certainly known that I completed by penance as the priest directed.
 
Thank you everyone for your feedback. Hearing other people’s stories helps me feel more at ease about having to follow along with the pamphlet. I especially appreciate the advice about the intent of the mysteries. I just always assumed that the joyful mysteries were for joyful times and so on. I feel a little silly now, but I’m glad I asked.

Thanks for all the encouragement.
 
ready said:
The Church has never taught this, and no Saint has either. Neither has it been revealed in private revelation. The idea that an angel or that the angels finish our unfinished rosaries is totally unfounded, so do not go by it and pray your rosaries at a good time that will allow you to complete it. God bless you.
Click to expand...
I think this come from Padre Pio …

Padre Pio used to tell the people to say the Rosary. Contact with Christ through the Rosary. Almost as though Christ was at Padre Pio’s side. He would say that your Guardian Angel will finish your rosary off for you. sthelenscrosby.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Talk5PadrePioRetreatAugust2012.pdf
 
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