Catholic Info
Traditional Catholic Faith => The Sacred: Catholic Liturgy, Chant, Prayers => Topic started by: Vanessa on September 23, 2014, 12:40:59 AM
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I am not totally clear as to how exactly the Rosary is to be prayed. What I mean is, I know that you say the prayers vocally and meditate on the mysteries at the same time, but does this mean that you don't focus on the prayers but only on the mysteries?
I don't know how to explain myself well. I think what I'm trying to say is, are you supposed to recite the prayers mechanically and focus on the meditation? This seems to be how it has to be, because how will you focus both on the prayers and on the mysteries at the same time?
Also, is it alright if you were to substitute some mysteries for others? What I mean is what if, for example, instead of praying the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious, you pray 2 Sorrowfuls and one Glorious? I ask because some of the Joyful mysteries are the ones I have most trouble meditating on, like the Visitation and the Presentation, but I find the Sorrowful the easiest to meditate on and most of the Glorious too, except perhaps the Coronation.
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I am not totally clear as to how exactly the Rosary is to be prayed. What I mean is, I know that you say the prayers vocally and meditate on the mysteries at the same time, but does this mean that you don't focus on the prayers but only on the mysteries?
You do both. If you are haveing trouble with your private recitation why not do this. At the start of your prayer ask the Holy Spirit to guide you.
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If you do background reading on the events then it is easier to meditate on them.
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As far as focusing on the mysteries while praying the prayers, I always liked the way that Bishop Fellay put it:
...... it [praying the prayers] is like the melody, the background music which helps us meditate on the mysteries which unite us with our Lord Jesus Christ and with the Blessed Virgin Mary.
And yes, you can substitute the Mysteries by praying only the Sorrowful Mysteries every day during Lent (except Sundays) and the Glorious every day for Easter Week is normal, but I would not say to change them within the rosary itself because the events would be out of place - which would seem to make meditation more difficult.
In the back of the St. Joseph Missal there are little pictures for each mystery that will help you meditate on each of them, or as ggreg suggested perhaps you can find other pictures or information to help you.
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The Rosary seems a complicated process at first, but it begins to 'work' as you become used to it. Why?
When a little kid first learns to ride a bike, riding is hard, it takes up 100% of their concentration, and the kid can think of nothing else while riding, or he'll fall over.
Fast forward 20 years, the kid is an adult, and when he wants to 'think' or 'clear his head', he goes for a bike ride.
The activity which consumed all of his brain power at first is now second nature. It occupies only the parts of his brain necessary for physical activity, leaving his higher brain truly free to meditate.
The Rosary is superficially like that, but because the habitual activity is a holy one, it directs the higher mind to meditate on holy things. This is why it only 'works' if you do it often enough to become 'good at it'.
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The following is from an earlier post on this forum
I found this a couple of years ago and thought someone might be interested.
From the 1858 Raccolta page 555 and the 1961 Ideal Missal page 49
"The Five Joyful Mysteries are to be said on Mondays and Thursdays throughout the year: and daily from the first Sunday in Advent until the feast of the Purification. The Five Sorrowful Mysteries are to be said on Tuesdays and Fridays throughout the year: and daily from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday. The Five Glorious Mysteries are to be said on the ordinary Sundays and the Wednesdays and Saturdays throughout the year: and daily from Easter Sunday until Trinity Sunday"
I guess this is the way the saints prayed the rosary in centuries past.
I tried it and fell in love with the rosary all over again. It really keeps you focused. I've been saying it this way ever since.
For those who pray 5 decades daily you might want to try it.
So yes the Sundays change with the liturgical calendar. The only thing the NO kept right.
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Vanessa - "This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." - mt 15:8 I do not recommend praying the rosary without charity. By that I mean speaking words without regard for their meaning or purpose. "Happy is the man" ... that "guides his words with discretion". If you do speak, "and have not charity, you become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal". - 1 corinthians 13:1
So, I cannot recommend a habit of speaking loosely(even if the words are pious), it will spill over into other relations. That means that I don't like +Fellay's way of praying the rosary. He is a modernist. "Don't emulate evil doers, nor envy them that work iniquity".
I recommend and follow myself to a personal particular degree what miseremini posted. I particularly recommend that advice for sundays. These are our traditions. Also, I recommend that you keep together the order of the mysteries. I enjoy most the mysteries that I struggle comprehending with ease, because when I do grasp the concept/mystery, it is all the more enjoyable to pray. Be patient and pray to your guardian angel to bring to mind a profitable and correct intention/understanding suitable for an intercessory prayer("and love thy neighbor as thyself").
When praying the ave maria, I view it as such - a prayer(not a melody or meditation/instructional aid); it ends as such("ora pro nobis"). I meditate on the mystery before I begin my decade, but it is not uncommon that an inspiration or better understanding of the mystery introduces itself to me while I am reciting that particular decade. When that is the case, I welcome it; it makes it all the more enjoyable. I am generally cognizant of/focusing on the words.
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Vanessa - "This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." - mt 15:8 I do not recommend praying the rosary without charity. By that I mean speaking words without regard for their meaning or purpose. "Happy is the man" ... that "guides his words with discretion". If you do speak, "and have not charity, you become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal". - 1 corinthians 13:1
So, I cannot recommend a habit of speaking loosely(even if the words are pious), it will spill over into other relations. That means that I don't like +Fellay's way of praying the rosary. He is a modernist. "Don't emulate evil doers, nor envy them that work iniquity".
I recommend and follow myself to a personal particular degree what miseremini posted. I particularly recommend that advice for sundays. These are our traditions. Also, I recommend that you keep together the order of the mysteries. I enjoy most the mysteries that I struggle comprehending with ease, because when I do grasp the concept/mystery, it is all the more enjoyable to pray. Be patient and pray to your guardian angel to bring to mind a profitable and correct intention/understanding suitable for an intercessory prayer("and love thy neighbor as thyself").
When praying the ave maria, I view it as such - a prayer(not a melody or meditation/instructional aid); it ends as such("ora pro nobis"). I meditate on the mystery before I begin my decade, but it is not uncommon that an inspiration or better understanding of the mystery introduces itself to me while I am reciting that particular decade. When that is the case, I welcome it; it makes it all the more enjoyable. I am generally cognizant of/focusing on the words.
Thanks for your response.
I understand what you say. I didn't mean to say that I pray the prayers in a bad or careless manner and just focus on meditating, far from it, I actually say the prayers carefully and never fast. If I gave that impression I apologize because it wasn't my intention.
Now that you mention it I forgot that I have read in some books that you could meditate first and then just focus on the prayers. I have thought about doing this but then I thought, how long should I meditate on each mystery? I don't do it this way because I think it may take too long and because I pray a lot of decades while driving almost everyday and if I were to meditate before then I wouldn't be able to pray while driving because most trips I make take just long enough to pray one decade or two. If it were a long trip I would try this but I don't travel far that often.
I also thought that if I were to meditate before each decade then the total time I would meditate on each mystery would be less than meditating while praying.
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+ PG +, how much time do you meditate before you start each decade?
I will start doing it like you said, meditate first and then focus on the prayers. I think this will be better quality, because as I have been doing it I feel I do both badly by trying to do them at the same time.