Catholic Info
Traditional Catholic Faith => General Discussion => Topic started by: Daegus on July 08, 2011, 06:41:55 PM
-
For so long now, I've always had an aversion to praying the Rosary. I'm not sure why, but I feel this force pulling me away from the Rosary and yet I've been praying it almost every day for the last little while. Without the Rosary there's no way I would have even cared about the traditionalist movement. Without it, I'd probably still be despairing, given up all hope on God because I am too pathetic to even try to remove the shackles that I put on my own feet. There isn't a doubt in my mind that I'd be damned without the Rosary..
Yet... Why do I feel like not praying the Rosary? It seems as though because it is long and a bit repetitive, I get discouraged.. I don't know. Does anyone else experience this?
-
Yes, it is satan tempting you away from it .. Never give up, always do a Rosary even when you don't feel like it. That is the grace of God being given to you and you choosing to overcome the devil's influence.
-
There isn't a doubt in my mind that I'd be damned without the Rosary..
Well, the demons know this, too, which is why they make it seem onerous to you...
Yet... Why do I feel like not praying the Rosary?
Uh, you are a human being...and ALL of us, at one time or another (if not quite often), do not FEEL like praying.
Does anyone else experience this?
Almost everyone. Shut up and go pray the Rosary :)
LOL! Really...there is NOTHING odd/unusual/exceptional about what you are saying. Carry on, young man...
-
i will quote you own words daegus:
"Trust me when I say this: Even if you hate to say the Rosary, find it boring/depressing or whatever, just SAY IT. You will not regret it, and feel better about yourself after. I promise. "
good advice, and i can relate to what you saying, that even though you know it beneficial you find yourself resisting it. i still have not bought that rosary.
-
i will quote you own words daegus:
"Trust me when I say this: Even if you hate to say the Rosary, find it boring/depressing or whatever, just SAY IT. You will not regret it, and feel better about yourself after. I promise. "
good advice, and i can relate to what you saying, that even though you know it beneficial you find yourself resisting it. i still have not bought that rosary.
Heh,
Sometimes we all need to be reminded of the things that we say! I've always felt an aversion to the Rosary, but I try to ignore it and feel better after anyways. I was just wondering why it ALWAYS seems to be there when I even think about praying it.
-
maybe you could try spicing up the mysteries. Put some peculiar characters in the rosary, like in the nativity scene, imagine one of the shepherds making funny faces, and the Christ Child giggling.
This may seem outrageous, but if it gets you to the rosary, I'm sure Mary will forgive you.
Thought of another one, put in a roman soldier that keeps falling on his face every time he has his nose in the air (during the carrying of the cross).
-
wouldnt that be disrepectful lybus?
-
maybe you could try spicing up the mysteries. Put some peculiar characters in the rosary, like in the nativity scene, imagine one of the shepherds making funny faces, and the Christ Child giggling.
This may seem outrageous, but if it gets you to the rosary, I'm sure Mary will forgive you.
Thought of another one, put in a roman soldier that keeps falling on his face every time he has his nose in the air (during the carrying of the cross).
Man, are you serious? :furtive:
-
I'm not comfortable saying the Rosary either. It's a hassle... all the more reason to force myself to sit down and say it, because it's a sacrifice and an opportunity to gain some extra graces.
Something that might help you concentrate on the Rosary and help keep out the typical distractions is if you do a deep meditation on the Mysteries. It's easier to do this when you've done some spiritual reading in association with them or some other aspects of the faith before prayer.
-
maybe you could try spicing up the mysteries. Put some peculiar characters in the rosary, like in the nativity scene, imagine one of the shepherds making funny faces, and the Christ Child giggling.
This may seem outrageous, but if it gets you to the rosary, I'm sure Mary will forgive you.
Thought of another one, put in a roman soldier that keeps falling on his face every time he has his nose in the air (during the carrying of the cross).
I think they're trying something similar with the (N.O.) Mass lately... right I think it's called a "Youth Mass" or "Rock Mass" or something like that.
-
I was feeling a bit gitty when I wrote that. I suppose that would be something that a little child would think about if he were to meditate on the mysteries. I don't think it's particularly disrespectful, at least as far as I could tell. It's just simple.
-
I was feeling a bit gitty when I wrote that. I suppose that would be something that a little child would think about if he were to meditate on the mysteries. I don't think it's particularly disrespectful, at least as far as I could tell. It's just simple.
Ok, strictly speaking there is nothing wrong with imaging the Baby Jesus gurgling as it would only be expected that He would (being a baby). The shepards making faces is really stretching it, as they were frightened initially then reverent and awful (forgivable for a young child I suppose). However that bit about the Roman soldier is completely unacceptable, we are talking about the Passion of Christ! An innocent Man, God the Son no less died one of the most painful, degrading and terrible deaths imaginable, to save us. If anybody (especially a young child) finds humour in that, they have a serious problem!
-
Thought of another one, put in a roman soldier that keeps falling on his face every time he has his nose in the air (during the carrying of the cross).
Well, there is the 3rd, 7th & 9th stations of the Cross where Jesus falls to the ground in three separate occasions.
John 1:3 All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made.
He who created the world fell flat on His face under the burden of His cross. If anyone has seen Mel Gibson's movie you can recall the point where St. John was leading the Virgin Mary to be able to look upon her Son. She passes through an alley and as Christ comes by he falls to the ground, and their eyes meet.
I think of this when recalling this time:
Luke 2:35 And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.
Although, that might be concerning the Crucifixion, the death of Jesus.
[edited]
-
After having slept on what I said I conclude that I was completely out of my mind when I wrote that. Please disregard what I said, I'm really embarrassed about it...
I don't know what line of reasoning I was following but it made sense at the time. I think I was trying to make the rosary fun to meditate on, but it cannot be at the expense of the gravity of the message. I wrote that in haste, I'm sorry if I came off as not taking the mysteries themselves seriously.
-
After having slept on what I said I conclude that I was completely out of my mind when I wrote that. Please disregard what I said, I'm really embarrassed about it...
I don't know what line of reasoning I was following but it made sense at the time. I think I was trying to make the rosary fun to meditate on, but it cannot be at the expense of the gravity of the message. I wrote that in haste, I'm sorry if I came off as not taking the mysteries themselves seriously.
That's okay Lybus. Everyone of us has a wee bit too much to drink sometimes. :dancing:
:wink:
-
The Rosary is difficult to pray? Great! The harder it is the more Grace is available when you tough it through anyway.
Sometimes it helps to pretend you are leading The Rosary for those who are learning It. Meditate (for them) the various points of the decade. It will help you keep focused.
God Bless,
Bruno
-
For so long now, I've always had an aversion to praying the Rosary. I'm not sure why, but I feel this force pulling me away from the Rosary and yet I've been praying it almost every day for the last little while. Without the Rosary there's no way I would have even cared about the traditionalist movement. Without it, I'd probably still be despairing, given up all hope on God because I am too pathetic to even try to remove the shackles that I put on my own feet. There isn't a doubt in my mind that I'd be damned without the Rosary..
Yet... Why do I feel like not praying the Rosary? It seems as though because it is long and a bit repetitive, I get discouraged.. I don't know. Does anyone else experience this?
Oh yes, I experience it frequently. And yet, I've said the Rosary every day since June 2009 (with the exception of 2 days). The devil is trying to pull you away from saying it. As others have said, say it even if you don't feel like it. I also recommend wearing the Brown Scapular. By weaing it, Mary will protect you.
-
Our family Rosary time at our house is often very stressful for me. My husband sometimes falls asleep, our 5 y/o complains, somebody is always making faces at the dog, etc.
But we pray it anyway.
The times we have gone for several days without praying, it seems all sorts of things happen.
Personally, I believe the devil HATES the Rosary. He hates Our Beloved Mother in general.
It is sometimes very hard for us, but we do it anyway.
Just pray, pray and pray some more
-
Does it still count as "family rosary" if only 2 people pray it daily, but rest of family not?
How does one answer a question from someone who wants to be Catholic but wonders "Why not just pray to God instead"?
Pray the Rosary daily. All 15 decades if you can. Remember the 15 promises to people who faithfully pray the rosary daily:
1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.
2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.
3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.
4. The Rosary will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.
6. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.
7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenititude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
9. I shall deliver from Purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.
11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.
12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.
14. All who recite the Rosary are my sons and daughters, and brothers and sisters of my only Son Jesus Christ.
15.Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
-
Does it still count as "family rosary" if only 2 people pray it daily, but rest of family not?
How does one answer a question from someone who wants to be Catholic but wonders "Why not just pray to God instead"?
To answer the first question, I would think so if everyone in the family who is Catholic prays it, or if everyone who is at home at the time prays it even if others are away and can't pray it with the rest of the family.
To answer the second question, this is how I answer it. I ask them if they ever ask a friend to pray to them. They'll say "sure". Then I say "But that's not as good as having someone in Heaven praying for you, right?". To which they reply "Well, no". Then I say "So how is praying to Mary and asking her to pray for us any different? She's in Heaven and is much closer to God than anyone on earth, so we are asking Her to intercede for us". When my mother and I used this as a response to my Protestant father, he said "Well, I guess when you put it that way it makes sense".
Hope that helps. Have a Blessed Sunday.
-
It is because of Satan.
-
I don't have an answer for why you feel that way, but if the Rosary seems overly repetitive, perhaps try the full-blown Divine Office? The Rosary was meant to be a simplified Office of sorts for the laity, hence why a "full Rosary" is 150 Aves for the 150 Psalms.
Or, the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary if the full Office is too intimidating.
-
Last Sunday, Father at Mount St. Michael in Spokane gave a beautiful sermon about a miracle story:
Fr. Schiffer and seven other priests survived Hiroshima by praying the Rosary daily...
Eight Jesuit priests survived the searing hurricane of blast and gamma rays during the atomic bomb explosion in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945. They were in a rectory only 8 blocks from the blinding center of the nuclear flash. Although everyone within a mile radius perished, all survived and they attribute their survival to the Rosary and living the Fatima message.
At 2:45 a.m. on August 6, 1945, a B-29 bomber took off from the island of Tinian to drop the first atomic bomb on Japan. At 8:15 a.m. the bomb exploded eight city blocks from the Jesuit Church of Our Lady's Assumption in Hiroshima. Half a million people were annihilated. However, the church and eight Jesuit fathers stationed there survived (four of the priests were Fathers Hugo Lassalle, Kleinsorge, Cieslik and Schiffer. According to the experts they "ought to be dead," being within a one-mile radius of the explosion. Nine days later on August 15, Feast of Our Lady's Assumption, U.S. forces were ordered to cease fire.
This is the incredible story of the late Fr. Hubert Schiffer, as retold by a priest who met him:
I met Fr. Schiffer in the late 70s at the Tri-City Airport in Saginaw, Michigan, as he was going to give a talk for the Blue Army Novena/Triduum. As I chauffeured him around he told me stories of his life, especially of the atomic explosion at Hiroshima. On the morning of August 6, 1945, he had just finished Mass, went into the rectory and sat down at the breakfast table, and had just sliced a grapefruit, and had just put his spoon into the grapefruit when there was a bright flash of light. His first thought was that it was an explosion in the harbor (this was a major port where the Japanese refueled their submarines.)
Then, in the words of Fr. Schiffer: "Suddenly, a terrific explosion filled the air with one bursting thunder stroke. An invisible force lifted me from the chair, hurled me through the air, shook me, battered me, whirled me 'round and 'round like a leaf in a gust of autumn wind." The next thing he remembered, he opened his eyes and he was laying on the ground. He looked around and there was NOTHING in any direction: the railroad station and buildings in all directions were leveled to the ground.
The only physical harm to himself was that he could feel a few pieces of glass in the back of his neck. As far as he could tell, there was nothing else physically wrong with himself. Many thousands were killed or maimed by the explosion. After the conquest of the Americans, their army doctors and scientists explained to him that his body would begin to deteriorate because of the radiation. Many of the Japanese people had blisters and sores from the radiation. To the doctors amazement, Fr. Schiffer's body contained no radiation or ill-effects from the bomb. Fr. Schiffer attributes this to devotion to the Blessed Mother, and his daily Fatima Rosary. He feels that he received a protective shield from the Blessed Mother which protected him from all radiation and ill-effects. (This coincides with the bombing of Nagasaki where St. Maximilian Kolbe had established a Franciscan Friary which was also unharmed because of special protection from the Blessed Mother, as the Brothers too prayed the daily Rosary and also had no effects from the bomb.)
-
What an amazing story, Myrna. This isn't the first time that I have heard that story. I was wondering why this thread was bumped (from a bit more than a month ago) and now I see why you put that story here.
Thank you for sharing this amazing story of a miracle, a gift from Our Blessed Mother to some of her devoted priests.
-
From the rejection of the Rosary, it's just a hop, skip and a jump to rejection of the Fatima message, IMO
-
This story is hard to close your mind too, since it is docuŠ¼ented as fact.
-
A suggestion: What helps me is to take a few moments and pray to receive Our Lord spiritually.
Use the form of prayer you are most used to. I use the Liguorian one. then I do a brief adoration and thanksgiving. It doesn't add much time and helps concentration a lot.
I believe that Our Lady of the Rosary at Fatima was asking for a whole rosary daily, not just 5. Decades because when she spoke of the 5 First Saturdays she said " Five Decades" which to me implies that the accustomed Rosary is 15.
If you look at our forums prayers library, Hobbledehoy has posted Father Garrigou-Lagranges Rosary meditations. They may help.
A few other suggestions: ask your guardian angel for help, ask St. Joseph for help and make a trade with the Poor Souls. A priest suggested the last one, and it really works, after all, you are praying for them anyway, since Our Lady asked you to, so just ask them to help you, and they will be happy to. They are not able to merit for themselves any longer, but are able to pray for others.
As you give yourself time to say your full rosary each day, you'll be amazed at the way it all works out. Our Lady is never outdone in generosity. In time, when you feel that old familiar distaste returning, you'll confidently return to your prayers, assured that Our Lord loves you so much that he is blessing you with this small burden (not really a cross, just a little bitty burden). I hope some of this helps.