To converts - about Rosary

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vince2paul

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Hi allz,
I have a friend who just revert back to Catholic. She was protestant for about 8 years, since she was 16. She’s having problem with praying the Rosary.

In fact, she’s having problem with Mary. It’s very difficult to explain to her and actually I give up already, because she doesn’t understand it and not trying to find out about it.

I have a feeling that she’s waiting a miracle to happen that would convince her. So anyone can help me to help her?
She said no point praying to Mary if we could pray to Jesus.

For me Rosary is an important prayer and also helps me a lot in my spirituality and to keep my family together by praying Rosary together.
 
No point talking to Mom if you can talk to Dad. But why bother with Dad, when we’ve got Jesus?

No point asking a teacher if you can ask the Principal. But why bother with the principal, when we’ve got Jesus?

No point asking a police officer if you can ask the Judge. But why bother with the Judge, when we’ve got Jesus?

No point talking to your friend if you can talk to your sister. But why bother with your sister, when you’ve got Jesus?

Ask her why she’s talking to you, then, since she can talk to Jesus. You’re not Jesus, *either. * 😉

We don’t talk to Mary because we have to: we talk to Mary because we love her, and she also loves us, too.
 
I can think of a couple responses. First of all the Bible tells us that the prayers of the righteous man availeth much. Now, who is more righteous, your friend or Mary who is holy enough not only to be in heaven but to be the bearer of God? Of course we all know the answer to who is more righteous. Mary’s prayers are extremely powerful, her prayers are simply more effecacious than ours are because she is more righteous than we are (as are all the saints who are alive in Christ). She is the ultimate Prayer Warrior!!

Furthermore, we believe that God has willed for Mary and the saints to join Jesus in His ministry. It is an act of humility to petition Mary or a saint for help because we are submitting to God’s will. It is clear from the Bible that the angels and saints present prayers to God. Who am I to buck the system?🙂

When protestants talk about the Rosary they usually demonstrate a real ignorance about what it is all about. As I am sure you know, the Rosary has 20 meditations. Eighteen of them are centered directly on Christ. Two of the mysteries are about His gifts to Mary. I am ashamed to say I do not say the Rosary very often (a devotion I must get back to), however, the meditations have always brought me into a deeper relationship with Our Lord.
 
This link might help you help your friend, but you need to be patient with her. It is a good thing that she’s back to the Catholics, and it will takes time for her to fully understand all about the Catholic faith.

Allow her to grow gradually, and just pray for her. Do not show her your disappointment, she might not like to discuss with you in the future.

catholic.com/library/Rosary.asp
 
jmcrae said:
We don’t talk to Mary because we have to: we talk to Mary because we love her, and she also loves us, too.
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That’s the problem, it’s difficult for one to love someone whom s/he never know for years, especially when the person isn’t trying to.
Prayer_Warrior said:
When protestants talk about the Rosary they usually demonstrate a real ignorance about what it is all about. As I am sure you know, the Rosary has 20 meditations. Eighteen of them are centered directly on Christ. Two of the mysteries are about His gifts to Mary. I am ashamed to say I do not say the Rosary very often (a devotion I must get back to), however, the meditations have always brought me into a deeper relationship with Our Lord.
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I agree with you that praying the Rosary and meditating the mysteries brings me closer to Jesus. Somehow, she still has problem with the 50 Hail Mary’s. Oh well, she doesn’t even want to pray Hail Mary.
water said:
This link might help you help your friend, but you need to be patient with her. It is a good thing that she’s back to the Catholics, and it will takes time for her to fully understand all about the Catholic faith.
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Yes, patience is what I need, and it is difficult :rolleyes:
I’m praying that she’d understand it soon. 🙂

Thank you all for the response!
 
vince2paul, maybe she’d feel more comfortable with the Hail Mary if you showed her it came directly from scripture? “Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with you,” is what the angel said to Mary during the annunciation, “Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,” is what Elizabeth said to Mary during the visitation, and the final part is just obvious stuff; “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, amen.”

On another note, just as sort of an example, I can recall a time when I’d sinned, and what I’d done was a direct violation of something I’d promised God I wouldn’t do. I was really ashamed and felt I didn’t deserve to talk directly to God, so I spoke to Mary and St. Benedict instead about it and asked them to pray for me. When I felt a bit better I spoke to Jesus directly. Now, was I wrong to feel like I shouldn’t talk to Jesus? Probably, but it made me feel better to pray with someone rather than just waiting until I felt I could approach Jesus again.

Of course, she doesn’t need to talk with Mary to be a good Catholic…which sounds odd because why WOULDN’T we talk to Mary? In addition to praying for her, when talking about Mary I’d use the title “Mother Mary” or “Our Blessed Mother”, because if she starts to see Mary as her mother than she’ll start to feel closer to her. Just a suggestion.
 
Because Jesus is an obedient Son and doesn’t say “No” to His mother?😃

Peace,
Linda
 
Rawb said:
vince2paul, maybe she’d feel more comfortable with the Hail Mary if you showed her it came directly from scripture? “Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with you,” is what the angel said to Mary during the annunciation, “Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,” is what Elizabeth said to Mary during the visitation, and the final part is just obvious stuff; “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, amen.”
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Thanks for replying. 🙂
Actually, technically she knows almost everything about Rosary already. I already explained to her that we pray Rosary to meditate on Jesus’ life. The problem is she doesn’t have the feeling towards Mary.

So it’s like she’s joining a new family where there’s a Father, Brother (Christ), mother (Mary) and many brothers and sisters (saints), where before this she only had Father and a Brother (Christ). She may feel awkward talking to these new people and refuse to talk to them because she doesn’t know them personally. I want to know how convert overcome this situation.
 
One of the things that brought me to the faith was hearing the rosary on catholic radio by accident My protestant self felt that it was wrong but I was genuinely drawn to it. I feel that it was a gift of the Holy Spirit. Some advise given to a friend of mine was if you cant get into the rosary or Mary then you havent tried it enough!
 
vince2paul said:
So it’s like she’s joining a new family where there’s a Father, Brother (Christ), mother (Mary) and many brothers and sisters (saints), where before this she only had Father and a Brother (Christ). She may feel awkward talking to these new people and refuse to talk to them because she doesn’t know them personally. I want to know how convert overcome this situation.
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How long since she reverted? The answer may just be to wait. When I first decided to become Catholic (a few months ago…lol) I thought I’d rarely pray to Mary just because it seemed odd to do so. I knew it was Ok to do (that’s not an issue with her, right?) but I thought I’d leave that to others. Now one of my favorite prayers is the Hail Mary.

My other suggestion would be the saints. It might be less in her mind to talk with the saints, which eventually might build her up to Mary. That’s what happened to me too. I have a horrible habit of losing things, and I was told to pray “Dear Saint Anthony, please come around. My ________ is lost and cannot be found!”. Since I got in the habit of that Mary became easier to talk to. That prayer really works by the way, I always find whatever I’m looking for within a few minutes, and for me that’s saying something 😛

So I’d say be patient, introduce her to your favorite saint (or Saint Anthony and his prayer, because she might just find herself saying it out of frustration one day) and still refer to Mary as her Mother. Once she feels closer to her then she’ll feel better about it, I think.
 
Adult convert here, I bought a Rosary during RCIA, but just did not feel comfortable praying it. I’d been Catholic for 4 years, and I still could not pray a Rosary.

I read Scott Hahn’s “Hail Holy Queen”. That book did it. I now pray the Rosary every chance I get 👍
 
I’m a convert who loves our Bl. Mother and who feels very close to her, but after sponsoring in RCIA for a number of years I know that I’m the exception, not the rule. One thing that we emphasize to new sponsors (and to friends/relatives of potential converts) is not to push your favorite devotions or style of spirituality onto the other person. There are some people who just don’t get into meditative prayers of any kind. I know a lot of lifelong Catholics who freak over “shared prayer,” but no one thing is better than another if it brings the person closer to Christ. The church is rich and diverse which is part of what makes it so wonderful. We have hermits, evangelists and everything in between.

One person may really love Mary for their own reasons, but another person may never feel quite as close to her and eventually grow through a different devotion such as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I normally introduce converts to that before the rosary because it usually appears more Christ-centered to someone coming from a Protestant background.
 
kage_ar said:
Adult convert here, I bought a Rosary during RCIA, but just did not feel comfortable praying it. I’d been Catholic for 4 years, and I still could not pray a Rosary.

I read Scott Hahn’s “Hail Holy Queen”. That book did it. I now pray the Rosary every chance I get 👍
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I’m thinking of giving her a book for Christmas gift, which one do you think is better ‘Hail Holy Queen’ or ‘Saint Faustina’s Diary’? Have u read both?
 
vince2paul said:
I’m thinking of giving her a book for Christmas gift, which one do you think is better ‘Hail Holy Queen’ or ‘Saint Faustina’s Diary’? Have u read both?
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Get Hail, Holy Queen - it’s more relateable to a contemporary audience. St. Faustina’s Diary is beautiful, but if your friend is having trouble with the Rosary, then she will probably be totally freaked out by St. Faustina’s apocalyptic visions.
 
I’m a revert, and I pray the Rosary frequently. But, it is a personal devotion, and one can be a WONDERFUL Catholic without ever praying it. I hope that your friend will find someone else ~ another saint ~ that she will free comfortable with.

Perhaps get her the Rosary CD from the Mary Foundation and point her to track 9. It is the Divine Mercy Chaplet, takes about 6 or 7 minutes, and is very addictive. Perhaps then she may listen to the other tracks. One is About the Rosary and is very educational.
 
jmcrae said:
Get Hail, Holy Queen - it’s more relateable to a contemporary audience. St. Faustina’s Diary is beautiful, but if your friend is having trouble with the Rosary, then she will probably be totally freaked out by St. Faustina’s apocalyptic visions.
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Exactly my answer - Hail Holy Queen would make a great gift 👍
 
I’m a convert who struggles very much with the rosary, although I own a couple and do say it sometimes. I struggle with the repetition mostly. Can someone tell me WHY the repetitious “Hail Marys” are valuable? What is the point? Maybe if I understood it, I would embrace it better. I understand everything else about it, I think. I don’t even have trouble saying the “Hail Mary”. But 10 of them? Over and over and over, decade after decade? I really need some help with it.

On a positive note, for those who struggle with it, I would recommend the book, “Scriptural Rosary”. It has a verse that relates to the mystery prior to each “Hail, Mary.” I really like it, and this is what has helped me say it the few times I have done it. Not only because I don’t get lost in the “Hail Mary’s” and lose focus, but also because it grounds me more firmly in the mystery.
 
cherirose said:
I’m a convert who struggles very much with the rosary, although I own a couple and do say it sometimes. I struggle with the repetition mostly. Can someone tell me WHY the repetitious “Hail Marys” are valuable? What is the point? Maybe if I understood it, I would embrace it better. I understand everything else about it, I think. I don’t even have trouble saying the “Hail Mary”. But 10 of them? Over and over and over, decade after decade? I really need some help with it.
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It’s basically a timing device - you meditate on the Mystery for how long it takes you to recite 10 Hail Maries. So for example, if you are meditating on the Annunciation, you would hold that image of Mary with the Angel in your mind, while reciting 10 Hail Maries, and then when you move to the next Mystery, the Visitation, then you “change the slide” in your mind, and you hold the image of Mary visiting with Elizabeth in your mind for the length of the next 10 Hail Maries, and so on, until the end.
On a positive note, for those who struggle with it, I would recommend the book, “Scriptural Rosary”. It has a verse that relates to the mystery prior to each “Hail, Mary.” I really like it, and this is what has helped me say it the few times I have done it. Not only because I don’t get lost in the “Hail Mary’s” and lose focus, but also because it grounds me more firmly in the mystery.
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That’s a really good way to do it, as well.
 
Give your friend time. My parents have been “reverts” for the past three years, but only now are they becoming comfortable enough with mary and the Rosary to pray it. My mother prays it nearly every day now. She still doesn’t feel totally comfortable, but she figures the best way to discover the rosary is to pray it.

She really likes that “Scriptural Rosary” booklet someone mentioned earlier. I also recommend the books and tapes by Scott and Kimberley Hahn on Mary. As former Protestants, they are able to explain these things in language just about any Christian can understand, regardless of denomination, and sometimes even regardless of age. 🙂
 
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