Email Signup Image
Print Page
 
Tips on Praying the Rosary More Devoutly
 
 
 
It is good to focus on the rosary.  Here are some ideas Photo of Mary and a rosary "There are many ways to pray the rosary. They are all good."to help you pray the rosary more devoutly and get more out of it.

Choose both the time and the place that has least distractions for you.  If you can’t be in church, perhaps a small shrine in your home with a crucifix or a statue of our Lady.
  1. You can stand, kneel, or sit—or if you are sick you will lie down.  Perhaps you may want to alternate your position for each decade.
  2. A group—even two or three—can join together to pray the rosary.  The family rosary is especially recommended.  One person can lead and the others answer; the leader can be alternated for each decade.
  3. Offer every rosary—or every decade—for your special intentions: for my mother, for my child, for a good job, for peace, in thanksgiving, as reparation, for my deceased friend, etc.  If you are praying in a small group you may wish to share prayerfully some of these intentions as you begin the rosary or each decade.
  4. Say the rosary at a convenient rate of speed—neither too quickly nor too slowly. Often you can pray the rosary aloud, even when you are alone.
  5. Before beginning, ask Mary to help you pray devoutly. If you are distracted during the rosary, just continue—don’t stop or backtrack or repeat. After the rosary, offer it to Mary with your distractions—as a child offering a bouquet to her mother. Even if it is not perfect, it is offered with love.
  6. If you have time and are so inclined, you can pause between decades for a private prayer, hymn, or appropriate reading from the bible or a spiritual book.
  7. The rosary is a meditation. Picture the scene in your imagination and try to enter in as one of the people there. See, hear, and feel what is said and done. Thank, admire, congratulate, suffer with, cry with Jesus and Mary. Ask them questions. Think of the virtues and good example they show. Compare the event with your own life.
  8. If you are really busy, or if it is helpful, divide the rosary—one decade before breakfast, another at coffee break, and so on
  9. Use a blessed rosary. It is a sacramental of the church, and the prayer carries an indulgence. Keep it clean and in a decent but convenient place. It is not ordinarily a necklace or a toy or a tool.
  10. Appreciate the rosary. Its prayers and mysteries are almost all directly from the Bible—so it is God’s word. It summarizes the important teachings of Christ and his Church.
  11. Teach the rosary, especially to your children, but also to others—even non-Catholics—who are interested.
  12. Don’t try to pray the rosary during an activity that requires full attention, like driving in traffic or cooking or using machinery.
  13. Charity comes first. Do not force or embarrass guests or others into saying the rosary with you when they are unwilling.
  14. Do not pray the rosary during Mass, not even during the sermon. It is much better to listen to the readings and prayers, watch the ceremonies, join in the singing, and become a part of the Mass. In former years when the rosary was encouraged during Mass, the ceremony was in Latin and active participation was not always possible.