Is the family rosary still said?

monara

I wonder is the family rosary still said anywhere in Ireland. After Fr Peyton's rosary crusades in Ireland in the 1950's it seemed most families said this family prayer. Has it survived anywhere?

OneMan37

monara wrote: »

I wonder is the family rosary still said anywhere in Ireland. After Fr Peyton's rosary crusades in Ireland in the 1950's it seemed most families said this family prayer. Has it survived anywhere?

Seems, not from the reply’s you’ve received. I started saying it daily while living in London in 2016, and my life has changed exponentially since. The Rosary is the best and surest way to heaven. But sadly I say it alone, my mum says it now and then to, but none of my siblings say it and my father didn’t say either, to the best of my knowledge.

monara

OneMan37 wrote: »

Seems, not from the reply’s you’ve received. I started saying it daily while living in London in 2016, and my life has changed exponentially since. The Rosary is the best and surest way to heaven. But sadly I say it alone, my mum says it now and then to, but none of my siblings say it and my father didn’t say either, to the best of my knowledge.

Thanks for your input. The Rosary is said in some churches after daily or Sunday masses and I have heard that it is said by elderly couples or widows or widowers who live alone after their families have left the home. The traditional Irish Rosary involved the announcement of the mystery at the beginning of the decade of Hail Marys only and people used to find it difficult to maintain concentration on the mystery while repeating the Hail Mary. Yes, it is a powerful prayer and can change lives.

John Hutton

It certainly still is said, although I do not, nor do my family, do a family rosary daily. But I know people who do.

You might find this interesting OP:

Archbishop Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland has called for a Family Rosary Crusade against Covid-19 during the month of October.

“I invite families all over Ireland to pray the Rosary together at home each day for God’s protection during this time of Coronavirus.

“These past six months have reminded us of the importance of the “domestic Church” – the Church of the sitting room and kitchen – the Church that meets every time a family stands or kneels down, or sits down to pray together!

https://www.catholicbishops.ie/2020/09/24/archbishop-eamon-martin-calls-for-family-rosary-crusade-against-covid-19/

monara

John Hutton wrote: »

It certainly still is said, although I do not, nor do my family, do a family rosary daily. But I know people who do.

You might find this interesting OP:


https://www.catholicbishops.ie/2020/09/24/archbishop-eamon-martin-calls-for-family-rosary-crusade-against-covid-19/

Thanks for the reference to Archbishop Martin's request. I understand that in the past, the rosary was said to avert natural plagues and disasters as well as a weapon in battle as in Lepanto whose anniversary is on 7 October I think. In Ireland it was often referred to as the lay liturgy.

OneMan37

OneMan37 wrote: »

Seems, not from the reply’s you’ve received. I started saying it daily while living in London in 2016, and my life has changed exponentially since. The Rosary is the best and surest way to heaven. But sadly I say it alone, my mum says it now and then to, but none of my siblings say it and my father didn’t say either, to the best of my knowledge.

How do you reckon its the surest way to heaven?

John Hutton

SouthWesterly wrote: »

How do you reckon its the surest way to heaven?

Hard to go too wrong with lots of daily prayer!

Sorolla

monara wrote: »

I wonder is the family rosary still said anywhere in Ireland. After Fr Peyton's rosary crusades in Ireland in the 1950's it seemed most families said this family prayer. Has it survived anywhere?

I was listening to Fr. Gabriel Harty on the John Murray Show many years ago and was facinated listening to him.
http://www.rte.ie/podcasts/2012/pc/pod-v-24091220m36stjmsrosary-pid0-1236024_audio.mp3

I remember as a young lad how we used to kneel down after the evening meal and recite the rosary.

We used to turn down the sound of the television and if anyone knocked on the door during the rosary we would all sit down and look at the television and our visitors would think we were mad lip reading the television.

I think we might have been embarrassed to have let the neighbours know we recited the rosary.

Do you and your family recite the rosary ?

Do you recite all the mysteries ?

Do you know what the mysteries are ?

Father Gabriel mentioned that the rosary is a great form of meditation.

Do you meditate whilst saying the rosary regardless of wheter you have great faith or not ?

I remember Fr. Peyton, a priest who dedicated his life to promoting the rosary.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Peyton

He always said that the family that prayed together stayed together and a world that prays is a world at peace.

Do you think the break up of Irish family life is due to our reluctance to pray ?

Do you think the wars in the world are due to us having lost our way – of having lost our God ?

Our Lady of Fatima, also known as „Our Lady of the Rosary“ urged us to partake in daily prayer and this would lead to world peace and the defeat of Communism in Russia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Fátima

Is it time to start reciting the Rosary ?

What do you think ?

OneMan37

SouthWesterly wrote: »

How do you reckon its the surest way to heaven?

As it seems to be a great sign of predestination.

As Louis De Montfort states.
‘’If you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I do assure you that, in spite of the gravity of your sins you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory. Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practise black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and will save your soul, if– and mark well what I say– if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your sins. ‘’

Whoever recites my Rosary devoutly, reflecting on the mysteries, shall never be overwhelmed by misfortune. He will not experience the anger of God nor will he perish by an unprovided death. The sinner will be converted; the just will persevere in grace and merit eternal life. - Daily: 15 Reasons Straight From Our Lady


One of the greatest means of salvation is devotion to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. The saints are unanimous in saying that, "A devout client of Mary shall never perish." St. Thomas Aquinas said that "many souls are now in Heaven, through the prayers of Mary, who otherwise would not be there." Mary Herself assures us in one of Her promises of the Rosary, to St. Dominic, "Devotion of My Rosary is a great sign of predestination." Devotion to Mary — A Great Sign of Predestination

Also look up the seven blessing of the Rosary, by Saint Louis de Montfort. The Rosary or and the Eucharist are the best and surest ways to heaven and saints back up both statements.

monara

Sorolla wrote: »

I was listening to Fr. Gabriel Harty on the John Murray Show many years ago and was facinated listening to him.
http://www.rte.ie/podcasts/2012/pc/pod-v-24091220m36stjmsrosary-pid0-1236024_audio.mp3

I remember as a young lad how we used to kneel down after the evening meal and recite the rosary.

We used to turn down the sound of the television and if anyone knocked on the door during the rosary we would all sit down and look at the television and our visitors would think we were mad lip reading the television.

I think we might have been embarrassed to have let the neighbours know we recited the rosary.

Do you and your family recite the rosary ?

Do you recite all the mysteries ?

Do you know what the mysteries are ?

Father Gabriel mentioned that the rosary is a great form of meditation.

Do you meditate whilst saying the rosary regardless of wheter you have great faith or not ?

I remember Fr. Peyton, a priest who dedicated his life to promoting the rosary.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Peyton

He always said that the family that prayed together stayed together and a world that prays is a world at peace.

Do you think the break up of Irish family life is due to our reluctance to pray ?

Do you think the wars in the world are due to us having lost our way – of having lost our God ?

Our Lady of Fatima, also known as „Our Lady of the Rosary“ urged us to partake in daily prayer and this would lead to world peace and the defeat of Communism in Russia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Fátima

Is it time to start reciting the Rosary ?

What do you think ?

Thanks for a great set of questions which will easily keep us posting for months.

We too used to kneel after tea to say the rosary, resting our arms on our kitchen chairs. If anyone called while we were saying the rosary they had to take their place and join in. Our visitors loved it and one particular lady made a habit of arriving for the rosary twice a week or so. If a visitor was there at the start of the rosary they were always invited to lead a decade. We finished the rosary with the trimmings, remembering by name those who had died and I always felt they were present to us as we prayed.

I say the rosary (5 decades) every night in bed but by myself. I have kept to the old pattern of Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious starting on Monday but I say the Luminous on Sundays. I was too used to the old pattern to change it when the Luminous were recommended. I meditate a separate meditation on each Hail Mary of each decade. It is a very powerful meditation and is a great source of grace. I have my own set of trimmings when I remember those I have known and whom I always invite to join me as I pray.

I am from Mayo, close to where Fr Peyton was born and heard him speak once. He was a saint and his Rosary Crusades were for some people life changing events. They cemented family relationships.

I think many of the evils of the world are due to loss of faith leading to people ceasing the practice of prayer including family prayer. The rosary is the easiest form of family prayer particularly if each decade is preceded by a few words of meditation. The full set of mysteries captures the full rhythm of all our lives.

Yes I would like to see the rosary recited publicly in our churches. We used to have rosaries in our church every evening in May and October and they seemed to mark the passing of the year. Now alas no more.

Spanish Eyes

Two families I know still do it. After tea about 7.30 or so, kneel down and pray. Their kids are not partakers.

But whatever works for you. Drugs and alcohol solve most of it in a different way now I guess. I wouldn't judge anyone. What works for you works for you, as long as you do not preach to me to do it. But the rosary is like a Buddhist chant isn't it. Repeat, repeat, move into another plane and all that. Well when I was a kid I was always thinking when the feck can I get outta here to go play with my friends.

Bubbaclaus

SouthWesterly wrote: »

How do you reckon its the surest way to heaven?

Back in the day you could pay your way into heaven. They should bring that back, would be handy out.

colm_mcm

Bubbaclaus wrote: »

Back in the day you could pay your way into heaven. They should bring that back, would be handy out.

Why would you pay when you can just repeat prayers someone else wrote?
Its the least sincere and most mindless form of prayer in my opinion.

John Hutton

John Hutton wrote: »

Hard to go too wrong with lots of daily prayer!

So praying gets you to heaven. Where is that in the bible exactly?

John Hutton

SouthWesterly wrote: »

So praying gets you to heaven. Where is that in the bible exactly?

Not directly, but you cant deny that daily prayer is a great place to start from and a solid foundation for ones day and life. Lots of grace can result from prayer

homer911

John Hutton wrote: »

Not directly, but you cant deny that daily prayer is a great place to start from and a solid foundation for ones day and life. Lots of grace can result from prayer

I could learn and recite the rules of football, its doesn't make me a referee

Praying certainly doesn't hurt, but its surely far more important where the person's heart is - anyone can recite a prayer, it doesn't mean they are a christian

Its one thing to know about God, another thing to know God

John Hutton

homer911 wrote: »

I could learn and recite the rules of football, its doesn't make me a referee

Praying certainly doesn't hurt, but its surely far more important where the person's heart is - anyone can recite a prayer, it doesn't mean they are a christian

Its one thing to know about God, another thing to know God

You can get to know god, through prayer! And your heart can be moved

Peregrinus

homer911 wrote: »

I could learn and recite the rules of football, its doesn't make me a referee

Praying certainly doesn't hurt, but its surely far more important where the person's heart is - anyone can recite a prayer, it doesn't mean they are a christian

Yeah, but this is true whether the prayer is a memorised, ritual prayer like the Rosary or the Lord's Prayer, or one freely composed on the spot, and arising from the impulse of the moment. Either kind of prayer need not necessarily reflect what is in someone's heart.

A lot of people who make use of ritual prayers use them as a centreing technique. The memorised and repetitive nature of the rosary, for instance, enables you to use it as a device for excluding external distractions and distracting thoughts, and so make it easier for you to centre your attention on God. It's explicitly designed for this purpose. So I don't see any basis for assuming that people who pray the rosary are not praying with the heart. Helping you to pray with the heart is the whole point of the rosary; why doubt that this is what the people who pray it are trying to do?

And, conversely, is prayer you compose yourself is no guarantee of an authetically prayerful disposition. We have gospel examples of where it is not - e.g. "I thank you, Lord, that I am not as other men". Not to mention "the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them".

So, yeah. Decide for yourself if the rosary (or any other prayer practice) helps you to pray from the heart. If it does, use it; if not, don't. But don't make that judgment about or on behalf of other people. We have scriptural warrants against doing that, too, remember.

Jimmy Bottlehead

John Hutton wrote: »

You can get to know god, through prayer! And your heart can be moved

If your heart can be moved, you probably need a doctor.

monara

colm_mcm wrote: »

Why would you pay when you can just repeat prayers someone else wrote?
Its the least sincere and most mindless form of prayer in my opinion.

No such thing as mindless prayer I'm afraid. You must choose to pray, or at least be open to God; mindless prayer is a contradiction in terms.:)

monara

homer911 wrote: »

I could learn and recite the rules of football, its doesn't make me a referee

Praying certainly doesn't hurt, but its surely far more important where the person's heart is - anyone can recite a prayer, it doesn't mean they are a christian

Its one thing to know about God, another thing to know God

I agree. Yes anyone can pray who can leave themselves open to God. Many non-christians pray also to their own constructs of God. To know God is the ultimate goal of all human activity.

monara

Peregrinus wrote: »

Either kind of prayer need not necessarily reflect what is in someone's heart.

We have gospel examples of where it is not - e.g. "I thank you, Lord, that I am not as other men". Not to mention "the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them".
.

You make some very good points although how can we pray if our prayer does not reflect what is in our heart?

I have always considered the prayer of the Pharisee a very good prayer; he prayed what was in his heart and reminded God that he thought himself better than the publican. Proud yes but justifiably so in his own eyes. And heart.

The hypocrites were not praying, simply putting on a show for their neighbours.

The family rosary had a special place in Irish life and I was wondering if there was any evidence that it had an effect on the subsequent lives of families or indeed the country.:)

monara

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

If your heart can be moved, you probably need a doctor.

If your heart can't be moved you need a grave.

bocaman

If it helps you get through the darkness I've no problem with prayer.

Peregrinus

monara wrote: »

You make some very good points although how can we pray if our prayer does not reflect what is in our heart?

I have always considered the prayer of the Pharisee a very good prayer; he prayed what was in his heart and reminded God that he thought himself better than the publican. Proud yes but justifiably so in his own eyes. And heart.

The hypocrites were not praying, simply putting on a show for their neighbours.

The family rosary had a special place in Irish life and I was wondering if there was any evidence that it had an effect on the subsequent lives of families or indeed the country.:)

What kind of evidence would you be thinking of? :)

colm_mcm

monara wrote: »

No such thing as mindless prayer I'm afraid. You must choose to pray, or at least be open to God; mindless prayer is a contradiction in terms.:)

Reciting a prayer repeatedly without any thought is totally worthless in my opinion.

Like going to mass and falling asleep. Box ticking.
Having witnessed rosaries, where half a Hail Mary takes 4 seconds - it might as well be nursery rhymes.

OneMan37

colm_mcm wrote: »

Reciting a prayer repeatedly without any thought is totally worthless in my opinion.

Like going to mass and falling asleep. Box ticking.
Having witnessed rosaries, where half a Hail Mary takes 4 seconds - it might as well be nursery rhymes.

Our lady asks us to pray with the heart. St. Louis De Montfort. States that praying the rosary with the heart, ‘’purifies our souls, washing away sin’’ ‘’it gives us victory over all our enemies’’ including demonic I imagine. ‘’it gradually gives us perfect knowledge of Jesus’’ and ‘’it makes it easy for us to practice virtue’’ I’ve witnessed these rosaries said with great hast to, but the fruits of saying a meditative rosary with the heart are incredible indeed. I’ve heard it said by someone very credible, that saying the rosary slowly with the heart is more valuable that many rosaries, say 10, speedily without any meditative input or love.

colm_mcm

I would suggest that the majority of roasries said in are as described above, and their absence is no great loss.

Ive no issue with anybody praying, but I’d see the rosary as like doing 100 lines in school. I’m sure some people are getting a small kick out of saying loads of prayers but I doubt there’s any spiritual value unless you actually say it ‘with the heart’ as you put it.

OneMan37

colm_mcm wrote: »

I would suggest that the majority of roasries said in are as described above, and their absence is no great loss.

Ive no issue with anybody praying, but I’d see the rosary as like doing 100 lines in school. I’m sure some people are getting a small kick out of saying loads of prayers but I doubt there’s any spiritual value unless you actually say it ‘with the heart’ as you put it.

Well, I definitely attempt to say it slow, with love, from the heart and in a meditative state and I know friends who do likewise. It’s been encouraged by the saints, preached by Popes and repeatedly advocated by the Blessed Mother herself. Why would Our Lady repeatedly implore the faithful to say this prayer, if there is no ‘’spiritual value’’ from it ? Many saints have said it’s the most fruitful way of praying and Our Lady has said no prayer delights her as much as the Rosary. And Saints including Saint Pius x said it’s the greatest form of prayer. Padre Pio said it’s the weapon for our time. Surely these mystical Saints, Popes, and Our Lady herself can’t be all wrong ?

colm_mcm

I’m not disagreeing with you (some of your sources are arguable but that’s for a whole other thread). The point I’m making is that the rosary in the form that was most common in Ireland for the last 30 years I can remember is anything but a spiritual experience.

What are your thoughts on the priest saying the first half of the Hail Mary and the congregation saying the second half? With a few seconds of overlap?

monara

Peregrinus wrote: »

What kind of evidence would you be thinking of? :)

Was there less family breakdowns, more stable society, less crime, more law keeping, more religious vocations per head of population in relation to other countries. Other criteria too I'm sure.

Peregrinus

monara wrote: »

Was there less family breakdowns, more stable society, less crime, more law keeping, more religious vocations per head of population in relation to other countries. Other criteria too I'm sure.

By and large, the answers were yes, yes, yes, hard to say and yes, by comparison with the country that we most often tend to compare ourselves with. But no reason to suppose that this was the result of rosary-saying rather than th other social and cultural factors that characterised Ireland at the time.

[Mandatory warning: Advocates of rosary-saying do not claim that it reduces family breakdown, promotes social stability, reduces crime, promotes law--keeping or increases religious vocations. The rosary is not a social policy.]

The only thing that can get us to heaven is faith in God and a new heart.

Saying prayer can get us in is to say something I do can get me in which of course is Untrue. If it were true, then jesus would not have had to die.

raclle

My elderly parents watch online mass and say it religiously (pardon the pun) every day.

John Hutton

SouthWesterly wrote: »

The only thing that can get us to heaven is faith in God and a new heart.

Saying prayer can get us in is to say something I do can get me in which of course is Untrue. If it were true, then jesus would not have had to die.

Uh oh I can sense a justification discussion brewing! Haha

OneMan37

colm_mcm wrote: »

I’m not disagreeing with you (some of your sources are arguable but that’s for a whole other thread). The point I’m making is that the rosary in the form that was most common in Ireland for the last 30 years I can remember is anything but a spiritual experience.

What are your thoughts on the priest saying the first half of the Hail Mary and the congregation saying the second half? With a few seconds of overlap?

The St. Pius quote is ''The Rosary is the most beautiful and most rich in graces of all prayers''

Padre Pio's quote is ''The Rosary is the weapon for these times''

The quote about Our lady's favorite prayer is one about the Hail Mary, not the rosary itself sorry, I've seen this quote a few times but can't find it now, but can send it later if you still challenge me on it. Our Lady askes the children of Fatima each time she appears to pray the Rosary, Why always the Rosary if as you say, you doubt there is ''any spiritual value'' to it ? Is Our lady wrong and you right ? Are the children of Fatima wrong too ?



Other Saints quotes
''The greatest method of praying is praying the Rosary'' St. Frances de Sales.

''When the Holy Rosary is said well it gives Jesus and Mary , more glory and is more meritorious than any other prayer'' St Louis de Montfort.

“You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.”
Our Lady to Blessed Alan de la Roche

“If you persevere in reciting the Rosary, this will be a most probable sign of your eternal salvation.”
Blessed Alan de la Roche

I could quote many more saints about the Rosary as they all seem to love and encourage this particular way of praying. Are all these saints incorrect and Our Lady herself wrong ?

I don't go to Rosaries at wakes for this very reason, so I agree with you on this point, I wish they would say one decade slowly instead. But probable many of these priests have the same opinion of the Rosary as you and wish to get it over with asap.....However I've been to prayer meetings where it is said slowly by a holy priest, including our Youth 2000 prayer meeting in Letterkenny, and it is very uplifting and rewarding. I still say it everyday, meditatively and slowly and know it's value and I trust these countless great saints and Our Lady on this.

jaqian

colm_mcm wrote: »

Reciting a prayer repeatedly without any thought is totally worthless in my opinion.

Like going to mass and falling asleep. Box ticking.
Having witnessed rosaries, where half a Hail Mary takes 4 seconds - it might as well be nursery rhymes.

How do you know its worthless? The rosary is more han a string of Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glory Be's. Each Mystery is the life of Jesus and draws us to meditate upon his life. There are countless books written across centuries on praying it. The one I like gives a line of scripture for each Hail Mary

https://www.rosarycenter.org/homepage-2/rosary/how-to-pray-the-rosary/joyful-mysteries-scripturally-based/

colm_mcm

OneMan37 wrote: »

The St. Pius quote is ''The Rosary is the most beautiful and most rich in graces of all prayers''

Padre Pio's quote is ''The Rosary is the weapon for these times''

The quote about Our lady's favorite prayer is one about the Hail Mary, not the rosary itself sorry, I've seen this quote a few times but can't find it now, but can send it later if you still challenge me on it. Our Lady askes the children of Fatima each time she appears to pray the Rosary, Why always the Rosary if as you say, you doubt there is ''any spiritual value'' to it ? Is Our lady wrong and you right ? Are the children of Fatima wrong too ?



Other Saints quotes
''The greatest method of praying is praying the Rosary'' St. Frances de Sales.

''When the Holy Rosary is said well it gives Jesus and Mary , more glory and is more meritorious than any other prayer'' St Louis de Montfort.

“You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.”
Our Lady to Blessed Alan de la Roche

“If you persevere in reciting the Rosary, this will be a most probable sign of your eternal salvation.”
Blessed Alan de la Roche

I could quote many more saints about the Rosary as they all seem to love and encourage this particular way of praying. Are all these saints incorrect and Our Lady herself wrong ?

I don't go to Rosaries at wakes for this very reason, so I agree with you on this point, I wish they would say one decade slowly instead. But probable many of these priests have the same opinion of the Rosary as you and wish to get it over with asap.....However I've been to prayer meetings where it is said slowly by a holy priest, including our Youth 2000 prayer meeting in Letterkenny, and it is very uplifting and rewarding. I still say it everyday, meditatively and slowly and know it's value and I trust these countless great saints and Our Lady on this.

jaqian wrote: »

How do you know its worthless? The rosary is more han a string of Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glory Be's. Each Mystery is the life of Jesus and draws us to meditate upon his life. There are countless books written across centuries on praying it. The one I like gives a line of scripture for each Hail Mary

https://www.rosarycenter.org/homepage-2/rosary/how-to-pray-the-rosary/joyful-mysteries-scripturally-based/

I’m not sure I’ve gotten across that I don’t disagree with you, my point is and was that the rosary as most people know it here and now bears no resemblance to what you love, and my opinion is that if you don’t mean something you say, you may as well not bother.
I’ve heard so many priests that could have had a career as an auctioneer, going through the motions as quickly as possible. This is the standard being set.
If this is in the decline then it’s no loss (again - in my opinion)

jaqian

jaqian wrote: »

How do you know its worthless? The rosary is more han a string of Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glory Be's. Each Mystery is the life of Jesus and draws us to meditate upon his life. There are countless books written across centuries on praying it. The one I like gives a line of scripture for each Hail Mary

https://www.rosarycenter.org/homepage-2/rosary/how-to-pray-the-rosary/joyful-mysteries-scripturally-based/

I spent a good section of my life saying the rosary. I could recite it without thinking about it. It didn't bring me into a relationship with God.
As for reciting the verse of the Bible with it. Don't you know the Devil knows the Bible, he can quote from it and believes every word it says. All that won't be any good to him. It won't get him into Heaven.

John Hutton

Its the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary today

Marking the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on Wednesday, Pope Francis urged Catholics to pray the Marian prayer, especially amid the “looming threats to the world”, such as the pandemic. He made the call during his first General Audience in October, the month traditionally dedicated to the rosary.

reeting the Arabic-speaking faithful, he invited them to pray the rosary and carry it in their hands or pockets. The rosary, he explained, is the most beautiful prayer that we can offer to the Virgin Mary. “It is a contemplation of the stages of the life of Jesus the Saviour with his Mother Mary and it is a weapon that protects us from evil and temptation.”

The Pope also spoke about the rosary as a “contemplative prayer”, saying that, in meditating on the mysteries of salvation, “the loving face of God Himself, whom we are called to contemplate in eternity, is increasingly revealed to us."

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-10/pope-francis-rosary-general-audience-pandemic-faith-contemplatio.html

OneMan37

colm_mcm wrote: »

I’m not sure I’ve gotten across that I don’t disagree with you, my point is and was that the rosary as most people know it here and now bears no resemblance to what you love, and my opinion is that if you don’t mean something you say, you may as well not bother.
I’ve heard so many priests that could have had a career as an auctioneer, going through the motions as quickly as possible. This is the standard being set.
If this is in the decline then it’s no loss (again - in my opinion)

I think you are concentrating on the Rosary badly said, when to be fair in my experience in small prayer groups, with friends and even alone is not what you have described. But I agree that at wakes and after funerals or at the graveside the Rosary is not prayed as it should be, but to knock anything for the way a small minority misuse it, is not helpful. I know from good source that it's discouraged in seminary, so my guess is that some of these priests that hurry through it, like a train, have little or no faith in the Holy Rosary either. That is the problem, the problem isn't the Rosary, but those who say it with little faith or conviction at these public gatherings.

It's still the most fruitful of prayers and the prayer Our Lady and the communion of saints implores us to say. No prayer is encouraged more by Our Blessed Mother than the Holy Rosary and there is a good reason for that.

John Hutton

OneMan37 wrote: »

I think you are concentrating on the Rosary badly said, when to be fair in my experience in small prayer groups, with friends and even alone is not what you have described. But I agree that at wakes and after funerals or at the graveside the Rosary is not prayed as it should be, but to knock anything for the way a small minority misuse it, is not helpful. I know from good source that it's discouraged in seminary, so my guess is that some of these priests that hurry through it, like a train, have little or no faith in the Holy Rosary either. That is the problem, the problem isn't the Rosary, but those who say it with little faith or conviction at these public gatherings.

It's still the most fruitful of prayers and the prayer Our Lady and the communion of saints implores us to say. No prayer is encouraged more by Our Blessed Mother than the Holy Rosary and there is a good reason for that.

I think we need to be careful here of projecting our own personalities on to others. Some people can certainly "speed" through a rosary and still be sincere about it, and not merely going through the motions. For example, if someone reads a book really quickly and another reads it slowly it does not automatically follow that the latter was a more sincere or serious reader. (If anything it probably suggests that the fast reader really enjoyed the book!)

I admit that seemingly rushing through it suggests a less reverent approach but only God knows.

There is an argument that for some the "fast" rosary actually facilitates the meditative aspects.

As I said, only God knows and we should be careful of judging others, and I think we can agree that even a badly said rosary with a "poor" leader is better than no rosary at all.

monara

colm_mcm wrote: »

I’m not disagreeing with you (some of your sources are arguable but that’s for a whole other thread). The point I’m making is that the rosary in the form that was most common in Ireland for the last 30 years I can remember is anything but a spiritual experience.

What are your thoughts on the priest saying the first half of the Hail Mary and the congregation saying the second half? With a few seconds of overlap?

I would have to say that I always found the rosary a deeply spiritual experience despite the distractions, like a cat playing with your hanging beads and the repetition of prayers. Sometimes the spiritual resides in the ordinary things that happen during any group prayer.

And there was always an overlap where the leader of the Hail Mary spoke slowly and the response would start 5 or 6 seconds before he/she had finished. Perfectly ok and spiritual. Priests used to lead the prayers in church rosaries and sometimes there would be an overlap. Again, IMO perfectly ok and I have no doubt a source of great spiritual blessings for all.

Jimmy Bottlehead

monara wrote: »

If your heart can't be moved you need a grave.

John Hutton

Topical and timely video from an Irish priest ! He also, with 2 other Irish priests, has the "Home From Rome" podcast which is quite good and funny.

monara

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Oops. Missed it (I think) first time. :pac:

monara

John Hutton wrote: »

Topical and timely video from an Irish priest ! He also, with 2 other Irish priests, has the "Home From Rome" podcast which is quite good and funny.

Lovely video featuring the late Fr Peyton who encouraged the family rosary.