Today I prayed the rosary at Gold's Gym on the elliptical machine

but I usually like to do the virtual Rosary online

http://www.virtualrosary.org/

I also like singing the Divine Mercy Chaplet while I take a walk around town (3 miles)

Do you all need to read the rosary (from a cheat sheet like me) or do you have all the prayers of the rosary memorized? I still don't know Hail Holy Queen or the prayer after that "O God, Whose..." I also need to read "I believe in God, the father almighty..." because if I don't I get it mixed up with the other one... know what I mean? I want to memorize these prayers... but I haven't yet... anyone else want to admit to not knowing all their prayers

We had to sing the Salve Regina with the choir, so I pretty much know the text by now.

I took my 3 mile walk today and prayed the rosary (I take a pamphlet so I say it properly) and after I was done I still had a ways to walk so I decided to memorize Hail Holy Queen... which after another 2 miles I had it down

Repetition of the prayer will do it!

The only reason I know all the prayers is because I was taught to memorize them from before my first Eucharist.

I am surprized at how quick my boys have learned their prayers (they are 8 and 5) they learned them so quickly I decided to see if they could learn psalm 23... which they both know by heart... awesome!

That's great that you took the time to teach them that. They learn much faster while they are young!

Have you ever experienced a sinking feeling when the 50+ beads stretch out before you? To my mind, it can sometimes be daunting to repeat the Ave Maria fifty times, especially when I feel that I am not able to meditate properly on the Mysteries. Sometimes I get a bright flash. Mostly, I don't.

The purpose of the Rosary, over a period of time which differs with individuals, is to bring them to a higher form of prayer.

When saying the Rosary privately one can just stop saying the Hail Marys and allow the Holy Spirit to lead them in pondering and resting in the Mystery. In that instance, to do so would be the better way.

The purpose of all types of prayer is to help bring one into closer union with the Lord.

How does one 'ponder and rest'? Pondering seems more rational than resting. Or are you using the two words more or less synonymously?

Pondering is when we use our thoughts and reasoning, and it can increase our awe of the mystery.

Resting is when the Lord allows us to just bask in some insight He may give us, without using our own thoughts and reasoning.

If I may give an example from St. John of the Cross that goes something like this:( My description)

Imagine walking upstairs to an open door where God's Light is streaming through and He desires to illuminate and purify us with His Light. The "walking upstairs" refers to the thinking and reasoning process.

If, as we are doing this, He brings us to the top of the stairs and begins to enlighten us and give us rest....should we then go to the bottom of the stairs and start climbing them again, or accept His loving invitation to rest in His Love and Wisdom?

It took me a while to get the Apostles Creed down because as a child I learned the Nicene Creed and I kept wanting to add all the flourishes of the Nicene Creed to the Apostles Creed.

But I had to memorize Hail Holy Queen when I came back to being a church-going, rosary-praying Catholic again.

I just said it over and over like 10 times each night for a week, until I had it down. With a heads-up to Mary that this wasn't prayer but learning the prayer....didn't want to bother her with the redundant memorization process...

By the way, with so many beautiful prayers for a Catholic to choose from, it's near impossible for you to know all of them!

Is it okay to pray the Rosary while doing things around my apartment, without actually having the Rosary chain?

I have loud neighbors that live upstairs. I'm trying my best to deal with it. I've been trying to keep myself busy by doing work around the apartment. But that wasn't helping too much. So I decided to start saying the Rosary, in hopes of getting strength to deal with this and to grow better understanding and patience.
Is this okay? I don't want to be disrespectful while doing the Rosary. I'm paying attention to what I'm saying, just I'm also doing other things at the same time.... again, I don't actually have the Rosary beads while doing this.

Thanks for any guidance.

I think it's great that you say the Rosary while doing work around your apartment! And I had to smile when you mentioned that you have loud neighbors upstairs and that the Rosary can give you more understanding and patience. It made me think of this:

St. Therese, (The Little Flower), while praying in the Carmelite Monastery sat near an elderly nun that allowed her Rosary beads to constantly rattle against the wood of the pew in front of her. St. Therese, the saint of the "little way", said she suffered through that and offered up that racket to the Lord, for love of Him, even when it prevented her from concentrating on her prayers. That was a prayer in itself!

yesterday after church my friend gave me a shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, she travels from home to home in our parish, families pray the rosary to her and she performs miracles... well, last night we said the rosary together as a family (which we have never done) ... my husband is protestant (but goes to church with us) and I was happy that we were all saying it together... by the end I was the only one saying it aloud (I have 2 little ones who were overwhelmed by the end ) but they were all still at the table, awesome! I told my husband we were praying the rosary for him. he's been out of work for 8 months.
This morning I was helping clean our parish' school kitchen (&I got free food!) and my husband called, "I got the job!" WOOOOOHOOOOO!!! A little while ago I got home from prayer group at church and said, "I am going to pray rosary in the kitchen, is anyone going to jon me?" and the kids grumbled... my husband said, "We are ALL going to do the rosary as a family" Praise the Lord!!!

How wonderful! Perhaps he may find himself Catholic yet.

I am so glad that your prayers were answered (and so quickly!)

Awesome news, Saint Daisy.

Thanks for sharing that Saint Daisy! How awesome the Lord is in the many ways He uses to draw us into closer union with Him.

Thank you Blessed Mother!

have you heard a girl name Angelina sing the Divine Mercy Chaplet? She has a very nice voice. I believe its aired on EWTN a few times.

Just wanted to updated:

I've been struggling for years dealing with noisey neighbors (hopefully getting a house soon). Nothing has worked in helping me be patient. To a large part because I'm not patient with the techniques I've tried to implement.
And it has been a constant strain on my marriage, my general level of happiness, and numerous other aspects of my life.

Praying the Rosary has worked miracles. I wish I could explain it more, but the stimulus (the noise) has relatively no impact on me. Sometimes I still get annoyed, but it's not debilitating. I know this sounds over the top, but, it bothered me that much. Too the point where I would lose interest in doing things.
No longer.