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What do you suppose would happen if someone were to mention the title of your favorite song? Wouldn’t you, almost unconsciously, begin hearing the tune in your mind? Maybe you’d even start tapping your toes to the rhythm and humming along with the music.
All it took was the mention of one song, and suddenly your body has begun to act differently.
Think also about the last time you saw a football game—whether live or on television. Immediately after a stunning play, doesn’t the crowd go wild? Don’t you see people jumping up and down or shouting out with approval? Who knows? Maybe you even join in the celebration yourself. You’re so excited by what you’ve just seen, you can’t help but make some noise. On a more spiritual note, Scripture is filled with stories of people who have been led to kneel or bow down when they have a powerful experience of God’s presence in their midst.
All these examples can help us understand how praying the rosary can bring us to new depths of faith as we engage our bodies as well…
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i love saying my rosary.i like it alot more when i could pray along with a cd.i hope i find another.
hi nettiel, i luv praying th rosary with my CD, go to catholicity.com, the Mary Foundation has a wonderful rosary cd
I pray the rosary daily, but I find myself getting distracted while I pray. Does anyone have suggestions how I can stay focused while I pray. I really try but this is something I have constant trouble with. I would welcome any suggestions to help keep me focused while I pray.
Thank you.
Gail C. You are not alone in this situation. I also discover that my mind wanders off during recitation of the rosary prayer. The reason being that I already know the various prayers by heart.
One solution that has worked for me, is to channel my mind into the mysteries as I recite the prayers, I imagine that I am physically present as those mysteries unfold. I feel the joy, sorrow, glory and light contained in the mysteries.
Try it, ‘works for me all the time.
I used the below method to help me concentrate in my Rosary prayers. It’s taken from the book ‘The Secret of the Rosary’ by St Louis De Montfort
“Commemorating the life, death and glory of Jesus, Mary in the most Holy Rosary, and a way to curb our imagination and to lessen distractions.
In order to do this, we can add a word or two to each Hail Mary (depending upon the decade) and this will help remind us which mystery we are commemorating. This word or words should be added after the word “Jesus” (after “And Blessed in the fruit of Thy Womb”)
At the 1st Decade ... “Jesus Incarnate”;
At the 2nd Decade ...“Jesus Sanctifying”;
At the 3rd Decade ... “Jesus born in poverty”;
At the 4th Decade ... “Jesus sacrificed”;
At the 5th Decade ... “Jesus Saint among saints”;
At the 6th Decade ... “Jesus in His agony”;
At the 7th Decade ... “Jesus scourged”;
At the 8th Decade ... “Jesus crowned with thorns”;
At the 9th Decade ... “Jesus carrying His cross”;
At the 10th Decade ... “Jesus crucified”;
At the 11th Decade ... “Jesus risen from the dead”;
At the 12th Decade ... “Jesus ascending to heaven”;
At the 13th Decade ... “Jesus filling Thee with the Holy Spirit”;
At the 14th Decade ... “Jesus raising Thee up”;
At the 15th Decade ... “Jesus crowning Thee”; ”
God Bless!!
A friend of mine once described the Rosary to me in this beautiful way: just as at the holidays each year when we gather with grandma & grandpa or aunt & uncle, the same memorable families stories get told & retold & everyone laughs or cries again remembering those events together. no one minds the repetition of hearing them again, because each time they are recalled together, it deepens the bonds between them and gives a sense of connection & belonging - also, new insights are gained each time the stories are heard. So my friend said the Rosary is like Mary gathering her children about her to hear the family stories again and deepen our sense of connection to the Body of Christ throughout this world and Heaven - our family! :-)
PS - my friend also said the 10 beads of each decade are like the ten fingertips of Mary’s hands….and it’s as if Mary is holding our hands as she tells us the stories…. I think she really is!! :-)
thank you for this article
its help me a lot to pray rosary more often
I pray the rosary daily with a website, comepraytherosary.org. It is beautiful, and it helps keep your mind focused by offering images of the holy land and of the various mysteries.