Why won't non-Catholic Christians recite the Holy Rosary?

[Good_Fella]

Some may not pray the rosary simply because they do not feel the need too. It is not a sacrament. It is a tool in order to grow closer to God. If you want to use that tool you can, if you choose not to use that tool you do not have to. It’s a personal preference.

Where do we find what you just said in a papal encyclical? Would you care to provide a reference?

Our Holy Father’s have always encouraged us to recite the Rosary. None of this ‘you don’t have to if you don’t want to’ milarkey.

Pax vobiscum
Good Fella

 

[KenEOTE]

So you have to say the rosary? Its a Sacrament now?

Its a tool to grow closer to God.

Encouraging someone to recite it does not mean that it is a must. Why was it encouraged? It was encouraged so that you would spend time focusing on Christ and grow closer to God. Some people spend an hour everyday in pray and reading the Bible getting closer to God without a rosary. Some use the Rosary.

Show me where do you find in papal encyclical that you must use the Rosary?

 

[JRKH]

Where do we find what you just said in a papal encyclical? Would you care to provide a reference?

Our Holy Father’s have always encouraged us to recite the Rosary. None of this ‘you don’t have to if you don’t want to’ milarkey.

Pax vobiscum
Good Fella

The Rosary is a great devotional - Please don’t misunderstand. The Holy Father does encourage it. Agreed.

However, If you wish to get into the doctrinal area, please provide the Doctrinal Document that says praying the Rosary is required for salvation.

Peace
James

 

[KenEOTE]

Thanks James that is what I was saying.

 

[Good_Fella]

So you have to say the rosary? Its a Sacrament now?

Its a tool to grow closer to God.

Encouraging someone to recite it does not mean that it is a must. Why was it encouraged? It was encouraged so that you would spend time focusing on Christ and grow closer to God. Some people spend an hour everyday in pray and reading the Bible getting closer to God without a rosary. Some use the Rosary.

Show me where do you find in papal encyclical that you must use the Rosary?

What makes you think I’m elevating the Rosary to the status of a sacrament? My point is the popes have never raised the cynical question of whether the faithful have to recite it. Unfortunately many Catholics neglect to say the Rosary on the pretext that it is not required of them. Meanwhile they deny themselves a means of abundant helping graces. Through the Rosary Mary channels many graces to Christians who implore her intercession. The Rosary is a helpful instrument that enables us to live the life of grace we receive in the Sacraments. Grace is necessary for our salvation, and we can use all the helping graces we can get to persevere to the end.

Pax vobiscum
Good Fella

 

[KenEOTE]

The Rosary is a helpful instrument that enables us to live the life of grace we receive in the Sacraments.

That is exactly what I was saying it is a helpful tool or instrument. Many people are able to do the same thing with out the Rosary. I didn’t say it was bad. I said some use it others don’t. What did the faithful do before the Rosary was around? The Rosary should bring you closer to Christ, that is the point of it. Some people like to use it it helps them focus, others use other things to help them focus on God.

As this thread has proven there are Non-Catholic Christians who do use the Rosary, there are also Catholics who don’t. I don’t see that as bad, they choose not too. That does not mean they don’t have a close walk with Christ or that the one who does use the Rosary is better than them or worse then them. I was simply stating why some people don’t use it.

 

[JRKH]

What makes you think I’m elevating the Rosary to the status of a sacrament?

It might have been this statement of yours:

Our Holy Father’s have always encouraged us to recite the Rosary. None of this ‘you don’t have to if you don’t want to’ milarkey.

Obviously the Rosary is a great devotional. But it is not a “Requirement”. Obviously it should be used, and is widely used, but it has never bee declared as necessary for salvation. So - just as obviously - if a person chooses not to pray the rosary, but use different devotionals instead, it is not “Milarkey” but personal choice in personal devotions.

My point is the popes have never raised the cynical question of whether the faithful have to recite it.

Precisely. The Popes, while encouraging the use of the rosary, have left this very powerful personal devotion just that - Personal.

Unfortunately many Catholics neglect to say the Rosary on the pretext that it is not required of them.

All to true, and not just about the Rosary. All too many “Catholics” fail to take advantage of the many sources of grace available to them. Even to the point of failing to attend mass regularly. It is a sad thing indeed.

Meanwhile they deny themselves a means of abundant helping graces. Through the Rosary Mary channels many graces to Christians who implore her intercession. The Rosary is a helpful instrument that enables us to live the life of grace we receive in the Sacraments. Grace is necessary for our salvation, and we can use all the helping graces we can get to persevere to the end.

Very Well Said - Agree completely.

Peace
James

 

[Jimmy_B]

… The Rosary is a helpful instrument that enables us to live the life of grace we receive in the Sacraments. Grace is necessary for our salvation, and we can use all the helping graces we can get to persevere to the end.

Pax vobiscum
Good Fella

Amen

 

[AlexiaMusing]

Although I cannot speak for other non-Roman churches, the Episcopal Church surely uses the rosary. I myself pray the rosary, and it is firmly acceptable to do so. I am aware that some Protestants feel Mary is given too much emphasis in the Roman Church, but such has never been stated to me in the Episcopal faith. In fact, we in the Anglican tradition, find that there is not a great deal of difference in worship between the two. Having attended both on occasion, I can attest that that is true. We say the Nicene creed every Sunday, genuflect, cross ourselves, consecrate the bread and wine in a similar manner etc. These, as I understand it, are practices that have continued since the inception of the Church.

I’m not sure why it matters that others don’t perhaps use any or some of these rituals. They are but man-made constructs used to bring us in closer union with God. They are meant to be used, I would argue, as helps to express and reside in the divine spirit. Most people I know use some and not others as they appeal to them and help them reach upward to the divine.

 

[Good_Fella]

It might have been this statement of yours:

Obviously the Rosary is a great devotional. But it is not a “Requirement”. Obviously it should be used, and is widely used, but it has never bee declared as necessary for salvation. So - just as obviously - if a person chooses not to pray the rosary, but use different devotionals instead, it is not “Milarkey” but personal choice in personal devotions.

Precisely. The Popes, while encouraging the use of the rosary, have left this very powerful personal devotion just that - Personal.

All to true, and not just about the Rosary. All too many “Catholics” fail to take advantage of the many sources of grace available to them. Even to the point of failing to attend mass regularly. It is a sad thing indeed.

Peace
James

The Popes have left the Rosary as something personally devotional among the faithful, but they have never explicitly told us that saying the Rosary is not required of us. It isn’t a question of whether the Rosary is necessary for our salvation; it’s a question of whether the Rosary will help us achieve our salvation by presevering in faith through grace. No Catholic should ever presume to tell another Christian that saying the Rosary is not required of the faithful. Such a negative exhortation can actually do someone harm, especially if that person is already neglecting to attend Mass on a regular basis and is indifferent towards any form of private devotion to Our Lord and the Saints. Our advice to others should be just as positive as the teachings of the Popes in their encyclicals with regard to private Marian devotion. This is my point.

When someone asks me if we should recite the Rosary, I simply tell him that we should, explain why, and leave it at that. If he asks me whether it is required of Catholics to say the Rosary, I just tell him that it doesn’t matter. Think of the benefits for your soul; that’s what really counts.

If I say the Rosary daily because I sincerely believe, and know, it is a powerful means of resisting the devil, it doesn’t necessarily follow that I’m elevating it to the level of a sacrament. Why must we tell someone that it’s not necessary to say the Rosary because it’s not a sacrament?

“Say the Rosary daily.”
Our Lady of Fatima

Pax vobiscum
Good Fella

 

[JRKH]

The Popes have left the Rosary as something personally devotional among the faithful, but they have never explicitly told us that saying the Rosary is not required of us. It isn’t a question of whether the Rosary is necessary for our salvation; it’s a question of whether the Rosary will help us achieve our salvation by presevering in faith through grace. No Catholic should ever presume to tell another Christian that saying the Rosary is not required of the faithful. Such a negative exhortation can actually do someone harm, especially if that person is already neglecting to attend Mass on a regular basis and is indifferent towards any form of private devotion to Our Lord and the Saints. Our advice to others should be just as positive as the teachings of the Popes in their encyclicals with regard to private Marian devotion. This is my point.

When someone asks me if we should recite the Rosary, I simply tell him that we should, explain why, and leave it at that. If he asks me whether it is required of Catholics to say the Rosary, I just tell him that it doesn’t matter. Think of the benefits for your soul; that’s what really counts.

If I say the Rosary daily because I sincerely believe, and know, it is a powerful means of resisting the devil, it doesn’t necessarily follow that I’m elevating it to the level of a sacrament. Why must we tell someone that it’s not necessary to say the Rosary because it’s not a sacrament?

“Say the Rosary daily.”
Our Lady of Fatima

Pax vobiscum
Good Fella

Good Fella,
It seems there is some mis-communication going on between us, or just perhaps a difference in our outlooks.
Be that as it may, I do not wish for us to debate something that we both obviously feel so similarly about. Particularly since this thread is about non-catholics using the Rosary.

The Rosary remains a truly powerful personal devotional that has been blessed and encouraged by the Popes for some time now. There are, of course, many graces that can flow from the sincere and faithful recitation of the Rosary and meditation on the mysteries therein. None of this is in dispute at all.
You had made a comment that was possibly read by me in the wrong way. I read the comment that to tell someone they do not have to pray the rosary was “milarkey”. Perhaps I misunderstand the term milarkey, but to me that means foolish, wrong, rediculous. Please correct me if I am wrong in my understanding of that meaning.
I responded to that statement with the intent of clarifying the doctrinal position of the rosary in the Church. If my response seemed unduly harsh, or wrong based on my misreading of your original statement, then I apolgize for that. However the basic information remains correct. The Rosary is an intensely powerful personal devotional when used by those who sincerely and devoutly use it.
Of course as with any devotional it’s power is derived from the faith of the individual working in concert with God’s Will and heavenly graces. No devotional, blindly or blithely used, will likely yield great results. Therefore, as you say above, it is indeed good to encourage the proper use of the Rosary. In so doing one may achieve the greatest effect and derive the purest graces from it.

One should never do anything, simply because The Church requires it. Such empty effort is no effort at all. Thus in the circumstance you describe above this is what I would tell them. Of course it is not a requirement, rather it is a blessing and a privilege to have and use such a historically powerful devotion.

Peace
James

 

[Jimmy_B]

The Popes have left the Rosary as something personally devotional among the faithful, but they have never explicitly told us that saying the Rosary is not required of us. It isn’t a question of whether the Rosary is necessary for our salvation; it’s a question of whether the Rosary will help us achieve our salvation by presevering in faith through grace. No Catholic should ever presume to tell another Christian that saying the Rosary is not required of the faithful. Such a negative exhortation can actually do someone harm, especially if that person is already neglecting to attend Mass on a regular basis and is indifferent towards any form of private devotion to Our Lord and the Saints. Our advice to others should be just as positive as the teachings of the Popes in their encyclicals with regard to private Marian devotion. This is my point.

When someone asks me if we should recite the Rosary, I simply tell him that we should, explain why, and leave it at that. If he asks me whether it is required of Catholics to say the Rosary, I just tell him that it doesn’t matter. Think of the benefits for your soul; that’s what really counts.

If I say the Rosary daily because I sincerely believe, and know, it is a powerful means of resisting the devil, it doesn’t necessarily follow that I’m elevating it to the level of a sacrament. Why must we tell someone that it’s not necessary to say the Rosary because it’s not a sacrament?

“Say the Rosary daily.”
Our Lady of Fatima

Pax vobiscum
Good Fella

 

[AFISHN]

As a senior my memory sometimes takes a “time out”…so bear with me.
I am not trying to hijack this postor open up a can of worms by bringing up Marian Apparitions…so let’s just limit ourselves to 3 “biggies” IMHO.
Fatima,Lourdes, and La Salette.

If I recall correctlyfrom my extensive reading of these aparitions ,The Mother of God,usually includes some advice to ,we ,her earthly children.

I often wondered why the advice most frequently given by this "blessed " Mother is:“pray the Rosary”.

Tom
PS:Remember.Jesus was the only child born on this earth that could have selected His mother.So my guess is that He picked someone VERY SPECIAL

 

[Glutted]

Hi friend!

I just asked if Jesus spoke the word “Rosary” from his mouth.!? Did he? Please.

Thanks

He could have. The Bible is incomplete (Jn 21:25).
If Protestants read the whole Bible instead of just spitting out teir 20 anti-Catholic verses, they would know God.

 

[AFISHN]

Glutted:I believe the Roasary as a devotional series of prayers originated aroung the 12th Century.

So ,if Jesus used the term during his life ,6BC-27AD,no one would know what he was talking about.

 

[Good_Fella]

Good Fella,
It seems there is some mis-communication going on between us, or just perhaps a difference in our outlooks.
Be that as it may, I do not wish for us to debate something that we both obviously feel so similarly about. Particularly since this thread is about non-catholics using the Rosary.

The Rosary remains a truly powerful personal devotional that has been blessed and encouraged by the Popes for some time now. There are, of course, many graces that can flow from the sincere and faithful recitation of the Rosary and meditation on the mysteries therein. None of this is in dispute at all.
You had made a comment that was possibly read by me in the wrong way. I read the comment that to tell someone they do not have to pray the rosary was “milarkey”. Perhaps I misunderstand the term milarkey, but to me that means foolish, wrong, rediculous. Please correct me if I am wrong in my understanding of that meaning.
I responded to that statement with the intent of clarifying the doctrinal position of the rosary in the Church. If my response seemed unduly harsh, or wrong based on my misreading of your original statement, then I apolgize for that. However the basic information remains correct. The Rosary is an intensely powerful personal devotional when used by those who sincerely and devoutly use it.
Of course as with any devotional it’s power is derived from the faith of the individual working in concert with God’s Will and heavenly graces. No devotional, blindly or blithely used, will likely yield great results. Therefore, as you say above, it is indeed good to encourage the proper use of the Rosary. In so doing one may achieve the greatest effect and derive the purest graces from it.

One should never do anything, simply because The Church requires it. Such empty effort is no effort at all. Thus in the circumstance you describe above this is what I would tell them. Of course it is not a requirement, rather it is a blessing and a privilege to have and use such a historically powerful devotion.

Peace
James

Agreed, James. Whether we participate in the Sacred Liturgy or practice any form of personal devotion, we must act out of genuine love and sincerity and not out of formality. This is what I mean by saying it is not a question of whether we are obligated to say the Rosary (the subject of this thread), so there is no reason to raise the question. We should recite the Rosary daily because of the helping graces we receive by sincerely saying it daily regardless of whether we are obligated to by the teaching authority of the Church. Of course, I do not mean that we forfeit our salvation by intentionally refusing to say the Rosary at all. If I knowingly reject the Sacraments, then that is a different story.

Personally, I feel that I would be opposing Our Lady by qualifying her messages “Pray the Rosary daily,” or “The Rosary will save mankind,” by adding the clause “but you don’t have to say the Rosary if you don’ t want to.” Surely our Blessed Mother does not want us to say the Rosary as something imposed on us. But we are not to judge who is sincere and who isn’t when promoting the Rosary. What lies in the human heart is strictly an affair between our Lord and the individual person. Sorry if I gave the impression that the Rosary has been necessarily imposed on us.

Pax
Good Fella

 

[Jimmy_B]

The Rosary is the prayer of the Gospels

The Prayer of the Rosary is a very powerful prayer, because it is the prayer of the Gospels. We are reminded to “Pray without ceasing”, 1Thessalonians 5:17 and that Jesus himself, “prayed a third time, saying the same thing again”, Matthew 26:44.

The Rosary predates any Protestant religion, with the first clear historical reference to the Rosary, dating back to 1221 and there is evidence that an ancient form of the Rosary existed in the 2nd century of Christianity, prior to the formation of the Bible.

For many centuries, the Rosary has been useful to Christians, to teach and know the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Early Christians had very limited access to the Bible until after the advent of the printing press in 1452, but they had the Rosary.

All Christians could benefit from the Rosary. Catholics, who recite the Rosary regularly, are familiar with the Gospels.

• ****The purpose of the Rosary is to reflect on the Gospels and on Jesus Christ. ****
• The Rosary is a devotional prayer that allows us to contemplate on the life of Christ Jesus.
• ****We grow closer to Jesus Christ in the Rosary, because the Rosary leads us to Jesus. ****
• The Rosary is 100% Biblical and 100% Christian.
  Why won’t non-Catholic Christians recite the Holy Rosary?

The Rosary is the prayer of the Gospels

 

[justasking4]

Jimmy B;3508280]The Rosary is the prayer of the Gospels

The Prayer of the Rosary is a very powerful prayer, because it is the prayer of the Gospels. We are reminded to “Pray without ceasing”, 1Thessalonians 5:17 and that Jesus himself, “prayed a third time, saying the same thing again”, Matthew 26:44.

The Rosary predates any Protestant religion, with the first clear historical reference to the Rosary, dating back to 1221 and there is evidence that an ancient form of the Rosary existed in the 2nd century of Christianity, prior to the formation of the Bible.

For many centuries, the Rosary has been useful to Christians, to teach and know the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Early Christians had very limited access to the Bible until after the advent of the printing press in 1452, but they had the Rosary.

The limited access to the Scriptures in the early centuries explains why there are many unbilical practices in the church. The rosary is incapable of teaching people the deeper truths of the Scriptures for example.

All Christians could benefit from the Rosary. Catholics, who recite the Rosary regularly, are familiar with the Gospels.

Most catholics i know are not that familar with most of the Scriptures though. They are missing out in so many of the truths of the Scriptures that would greatly enrich their lives. It is in the Scriptures that we see how we are to live in and for Christ.

• ****The purpose of the Rosary is to reflect on the Gospels and on Jesus Christ. ****
• The Rosary is a devotional prayer that allows us to contemplate on the life of Christ Jesus.
• ****We grow closer to Jesus Christ in the Rosary, because the Rosary leads us to Jesus. ****

An understanding of the Scriptures is a far greater thing to do. By it we grow in respect to salvation. I Peter 2:2 is clear about this when Peter writes–like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,

It is also by knowing the words of Christ and having those words abide in us that whatever we ask we recieve. See john 15:7.

Also it is by keeping His commandments that we abide in His love. John 15:10

• The Rosary is 100% Biblical and 100% Christian.
  Prayer to Mary is not biblical. There are no prayers or exhortations in the Scriptures to pray to Mary.

Why won’t non-Catholic Christians recite the Holy Rosary?

Praying to Mary is not biblical.

 

[Ronald_E]

The limited access to the Scriptures in the early centuries explains why there are many unbilical practices in the church. The rosary is incapable of teaching people the deeper truths of the Scriptures for example.

The Holy Spirit teaches the deeper truths through praying the Rosary. It was Mary who joined with the Holy Spirit like nobody before or since and created and brought God through Her Womb as Jesus. That is pretty deep. Name any human being who is greater than Mary. None of the apostles are. They could never know Jesus like Mary the Mother of God. No man can know the love a mother has for her child. No man can know the bond that exists between them. Can you describe that bond? No. Theology will fall short of knowing the Truth that is in the bible of the Union between Mary, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, and God the Father. That union is something that cannot be put into words. Paul did not know that Truth. He could not know that Truth. He was a man.
That is a GREAT MYSTERY. That is one of the GREAT MYSTERIES we contemplate praying the Rosary.
So tell me how much deeper do you want to go with this?

Most catholics i know are not that familar with most of the Scriptures though. They are missing out in so many of the truths of the Scriptures that would greatly enrich their lives. It is in the Scriptures that we see how we are to live in and for Christ.

An understanding of the Scriptures is a far greater thing to do. By it we grow in respect to salvation. I Peter 2:2 is clear about this when Peter writes–like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,

It is also by knowing the words of Christ and having those words abide in us that whatever we ask we recieve. See john 15:7.

Also it is by keeping His commandments that we abide in His love. John 15:10

Prayer to Mary is not biblical. There are no prayers or exhortations in the Scriptures to pray to Mary.

Praying to Mary is not biblical.

We do not pray to Mary. We pray with Mary to Her Son Jesus. By doing this we honor the 4th Commandment. As a result all of the Commandments are honored.

 

[Good_Fella]

The limited access to the Scriptures in the early centuries explains why there are many unbilical practices in the church. The rosary is incapable of teaching people the deeper truths of the Scriptures for example.

Most catholics i know are not that familar with most of the Scriptures though. They are missing out in so many of the truths of the Scriptures that would greatly enrich their lives. It is in the Scriptures that we see how we are to live in and for Christ.

An understanding of the Scriptures is a far greater thing to do. By it we grow in respect to salvation. I Peter 2:2 is clear about this when Peter writes–like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,

It is also by knowing the words of Christ and having those words abide in us that whatever we ask we recieve. See john 15:7.

Also it is by keeping His commandments that we abide in His love. John 15:10

Prayer to Mary is not biblical. There are no prayers or exhortations in the Scriptures to pray to Mary.

Excessive access to the scriptures to free spirits explains why Protestantism was doomed to be divided from the very start and mortal men created the unbiblical doctrines of Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Christu, Sola Gratia, etc.

Most Protestants I know are proficient at quoting chapter and verse of Scripture but fail to see the true meaning in light of Apostolic Tradition. They erroneously mistake their own fallible interpretations for the infallible Word of God which lies with the Catholic Church - “the pillar and foundation of the truth”.

The pure milk of the Word is given to us from Holy Mother Church. Christians outside communion with the Church are like new born babies who have ended up spiritual orphans.

By rejecting the teachings of the Apostolic Catholic Church, one rejects the teachings of Christ. Outside the Church one is more inclined to abide by his own misunderstandings of Christ’s words. He who hears the words of the Apostles and their valid successors hear the words of Christ and abide by them.

Too many Christians publicly dishonour our Blessed Mother and thereby violate the Fourth Commandment. These Christians do not abide in the love of Christ in their indifference and presumptuous behaviour towards the mother of our Lord and our heavenly Mother.

Devotion to Mary has traditionally existed in the life of the Church since the first century. The Gospels of Luke and John indicate the high esteem in which Mary was held by the Christian community in Palestine and her high position above all the faithful: her Divine maternity, sinlessness, perpetual virginity, and powerful intercessory role. The early Church prayed through Mary for her intercession believing that she is alive body and soul in heaven together with Jesus. The traditional belief in Mary’s Assumption originated from the time the Apostles found her tomb near Jerusalem empty. Her Assumption was not witnessed first hand, so the Apostles were not in a position to record the event. Moreover, their primary concern was with the Death and Resurrection of Christ, whom they believed would return in their life time. So it was vital to preach the good news of salvation to the ends of the earth as quickly as possible. Mary’s Assumption is a sign of the promise of our own resurrection, it is not a primary sign of our salvation as is the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour. If Jesus hadn’t risen from the dead and sent the Paraclete, there would never have been the Church.

The New Testament was not written to record every single devotional practice in the life of the Church. And all such practices have formed through experiences of faith from one generation to the next by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Pax vobiscum
Good Fella