I have a few questions about praying the Rosary, which come down to 'How does one do it?' I've prayed it quite a number of times now, but I'm not sure if I'm doing it correctly. I want to know the following:

Posture. Do you usually pray kneeling, sitting, or standing? Today I prayed on my bike, because the weather was beautiful and no one was around. (I didn't have the beads, but I learnt counting before kindergarten. ) Would that be permissible? How about during daily activities, such as cooking dinner?

Focus. Should you pray the Rosary with full attention to the words you are saying, meditating on the Mysteries in between, or is the repeated Ave Maria intended as a sort of 'background music' to keep you thinking about the Mysteries for a certain time?

Meditation. How do you usually meditate? Do you try to visualise the scenes, or do you think about their significance, or do you try to relate to them personally?

Posture:

Whatever posture is comfortable is okay. Praying on your bike is good! I have a Rosary CD for my car that I pray with.

Focus:

For me, the repeated Hail Mary's is part of the "background music". The heart of the Rosary is getting into the Mysteries.

Meditation:

I like to visualize them, and think of how it applies to me personally, and to greater appreciate the goodness of the Lord.

What is great about the Rosary is that it is so versatile. It can be prayed in public with others, alone, with a line of Scripture before each Hail Mary, etc.

The Rosary can take a person from simple vocal prayer to meditation, and even to contemplation. When praying alone it may be necessary to stop and be absorbed in the mystery one is meditating on. That is a good thing.

Any posture is permissable. I guess it depends on the location as well, if you were in a Church or bedroom kneeling would probably be the best. On a bus, car, bike, sitting obviously. Daily activities, chores, etc, standing/walking.


It all depends on how your day/life is going, at least that is how I experience it. Sometimes I need to focus more on the Ave Maria, other times I need to focus more on the Mystery. In my experience sometimes I find myself focusing on a single word/phrase/aspect rather than the Ave Maria or Mystery as a whole.


All of the above, again it depends on how your day is going. I find it helpful though to have a Rosary pamphlet with famous pictures of the Mysteries to look at. You should be able to pick up such booklets in the back of your local church (or Catholic bookstore). Other times you might want to visualize yourself at the scene, visualize yourself from Mary's perspective, etc.


There is no "wrong way" to pray the Rosary.

I listen to Mother Angelical and her nuns pray the Holy Rosary on EWTN Radio, 7:30 am EST. I do this while driving. I don't hold my rosary with me while I drive, but its something nice to listen to in the morning. Fulton Sheen is on previous the rosary.

At home when I pray, I've done it anywhere from sitting in my chair, on the couch, or laying in my bed. I always have a little book with me though, because I have not memorized the mysteries nor Hail Holy Queen.

I do all the above at different times. It just depends. I also pray while walking (even if it is just around my house) and that helps sometimes too, especially if I'm a little tired and need to be walking to stay awake. I think praying while riding your bike is a good idea.



I wasn't sure if you meant you didn't have a rosary or you didn't have it with you, but if you don't have one, I would be happy to send you one for free.



Yes, one can pray any prayer(s) while doing your daily activities and it is a good practice to get into. If possible, I don't think this should replace set time for prayer, but in addition to it, this can be very beneficial.



I think that some attempt to think about the mystery should take place while praying the Ave Maria, but concentrating on the words of the prayer is not wrong and both will no doubt take place.



I do all of the above. At different times one comes more to the foreground than the others, but I do all of these things.

I reflect on the Mystery until a certain part of it calls me.

For instance it was contemplating the Finding in the Temple that I realized here were two people closest to Jesus - and yet they managed to lose sight of Him.

I meditated on that and how it related to me personally in my own relationship with Christ.

There have been other insights of that nature.

I visualize the scene - and the movies I have seen about the life of Christ have helped in that visualization. They have made it more present rather than remote.

I also will sometimes return to my Rosary book, so that I do not become lazy in my meditation.

But I don't pray the Rosary the same way every single time. Sometimes it is the prayers themselves that are in the forefront, sometimes the Mysteries, sometimes the Mysteries in relation to my own life.

Sometimes, it is an issue in my own life that takes the forefront - something that I need to work on, something I need to take to God.

God speaks to us through the Rosary, and I think that in a myriad of ways He will do so.

Would it be permissible to pray one or two decades, do something else, then return and continue where you left off?

Yes, I do that often. It can be a good way to pray throughout the day.

I do that sometimes as well and I agree with Max.

Pardon me jumping in without an answer to the original question...I agree with everything the others have said. I have an additional question of my own, however: I love praying the Rosary every day, before leaving the house for work, and I like to use Scripture for meditation as often as possible to absorb the Mysteries. But what I struggle with sometimes, and I realize this may be an entirely subjective thing, is: should one offer up just one or two primary intentions, or all of one's prayer intentions for that day? I believe Our Lady's capacity to hear our prayers must be infinite, and she exists outside of time like all the other Saints in Heaven, but is it any more powerful to devote an entire 5 decades to one intention? In all my reading about this devotion no one has addressed this question, not even Louis de Montfort.

Good question. I usually pray for one person at a time. Or a family.

I either pray the hole Rosary for one intention, or I pray different decades for different intentions.

I mention whatever is on my mind, intention-wise, before I start praying. I leave it at that.

When I am praying, well, frankly, it depends...sometimes, I am thinking about the mysteries themselves...sometimes I think about the Ave...sometimes I just think about the intentions I have in mind...

It just depends...

Rachel

Frank,

I have known Pious people to do both, so I am not sure there is really a right or wrong way to mention intercessions. I have done both myself as well and I wouldn't worry about doing it either way.

Thanks to all, it's very helpful. Guess I'll leave it up to the Holy Spirit.

I once heard on Relevant Radio the Rosary said. I can't pick it up anymore because my cars don't do well with AM and nor does my radio. It was kind of pretty, the music in the background and between the 10 prayers or so there was a Mysterious part of Christ life that was pondered. What I liked about it was that the prayer stopped and gave almost a little prayer/sermon at these times and I really enjoyed listening to them. Is there anyway that you can buy something like a CD with this on it? Or is there anyway that you can listen to the Rosary said online? I think that it followed the Mass but I am not sure.

There are many Rosary CD's available with music and description of each Mystery before the decade begins.

Also, here is a site that has a Scriptural Rosary. Before each Hail Mary prayer a Scripture is read and briefly focused on, then the Hail Mary is said. That is my favorite.

http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/fe ... teries.asp

But are there any MP3 downloads for the Holy Rosary? As well, are there any websites that I can go to where I can pray the Holy Rosary? Not just the words but almost like a video, perhaps even with music in the background while praying?

I think there might be, but I'm drawing a blank right now. Asking this in the pub or in a new thread might be a good idea since your question might not be seen by too many in this thread.

You might follow the link below. The mp3s cost a dollar a piece, but Keep the Faith is a worthy cause. I can't help with any videos, sorry! God Bless!

http://www.keepthefaith.org/SearchResul ... o%20rosary