Catholics, may I ask you a question?

Question

what is the Rosary about and how do you pray it? I heard that it's about meditating about something, but what are you meditating upon when you pray it?

thank you so much for your answers.

by the way, I really am just curious. again, thank you.

Answer 1

I am impressed, a genuine question!

I am not Catholic, so if one comes along with better information I will defer to them. However, to my understanding a Rosary is a basic mnemonic device used for prayer. Certain set prayers are recited for each bead, the beads being used as a way to keep track of what prayers have been said and to confirm if one is forgetting any.

However, meditation is also associated with the beads. A single rosary has numerous sets of bead groups and each group represents a "mystery" that they user meditates on. To my understanding, this is very similar to other meditations where one attempts to focus on a concept to the exclusion of everything else. An example of these "mysteries" is the Transfiguration. Baring a more knowledgeable individual providing a better answer, you can find out more at Wikipedia (link below). There is also a link for "how to pray the rosary" and another link for a description of the practice from the Catholic Dictionary.

Answer 2

The practice of this type of meditative prayer is not a strictly Catholic one. Many other religions use prayer beads or other ways to keep track of their prayers and chant or meditate in a group together or alone. The Rosary actually was brought back from the Crusades by the medieval knights. I believe Saint Dominic made it popular among Catholics. It is a dedication to Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ and the suffering and joyful devotion that she must have had experienced.

The actual praying of the rosary is calming and, as Buddhists might say, lets you pay attention to your heart. You start at the cross with the apostles creed, and say Our Fathers at the big beads and Hail Marys at the smaller beads, in groups of ten, also called "decades."
The person saying the rosary reflects on the Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and Luminous mysteries of the lives of Mary and Jesus, and life in general. It is a peaceful reflection and helps people celebrate good times and get calm and collected in bad times. You can dedicate your rosary prayers to help another person, too, both alone and in groups. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

We say the rosary in devotion to Mary. NOT WORSHIP.

The Origin of the Rosary

The legend that St. Dominic received the Rosary from Mary is difficult to prove. Most historians now believe that the Rosary developed slowly over time, possibly from the 1100s to 1569.

The Rosary developed out of the laity's desire to have a form of prayer similar to that practiced by monks, who prayed the Book of Psalms. The mostly illiterate laity, began the practice of saying 150 Hail Marys in place of the psalms. Some used a string of 150 beads to keep count. With time, mysteries from the life of Christ were added to allow for contemplation and to keep Christ as the central focus of the prayer.

The Rosary took its present form between the 14th and 15th centuries, when a monk divided the 150 Hail Marys into the 15 decades, with each decade preceded by the Our Father. In 1569, Pope Pius V officially approved and recommended this prayer for all in the Church. From that time to the present, the Rosary remained unchanged.

In October 2002, Pope John Paul II added a new set of Mysteries to the Rosary—the Mysteries of Light. The Rosary now consists of four sets of mysteries, or 20 decades, or 200 Hail Marys. The Pope made this change so that the mysteries would span the entire lives of Christ and Mary, and therefore the Rosary would become a complete summary of the entire Gospel.


Here are some good websites for you.

Answer 4

Thanks for asking!

The Rosary is a series of meditations on the life of Christ- through His mothers eyes!

These are the 'mechanics"- I'll explain the meditation below.

On the Crucifix, pray the Apostle's Creed
On each LARGE or SEPARATED bead, pray the OUR FATHER

On the set of 3 beads and the sets of 10 beads, pray the HAIL MARY - which comes from the BIBLE!

OK- on those three beads, while saying the Hail Mary, we pray for the Theological Virtues of FAITH< HOPE and LOVE.

Then, the mysteries begin, they are called mysteries because they are places where we see God at work, but we cannot completely understand it this side of Heaven.

Example- the Annunciation ( Gabriel appears to Mary)- Why would God choose a young girl? Why come as a baby? Why not just come down in all His glory and tell people to straighten up and fly right?

So, we contemplate those things while praying the Hail Mary's...and also think about the example Mary set by her willingness to comply with God's will- and ask for the Grace we need in our lives to live according to His will.

All the mysteries go on like that. There are FOUR different sets of FIVE mysteries.
Joyful Mysteries- Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity of the Lord, Presentation, Finding in the Temple

Sorrowful- Gethsemane, Scourging, Crowning with Thorns,Jesus carried His Cross, Jesus dies on the Cross

Glorious- The resurrection, the Ascension, Pentecost, the Assumption of Mary, the Crowning of Mary

Luminous- ( these are in the wrong order)Baptism of Jesus, Wedding at Cana, Declaration of the Kingdom, Transfiguration, Institution of the Eucharist

So, we mediatiate on these mysteries each in turn, contemplating their meaing in our own lives and asking for the grace to live them out.

Feel free to contact me if you have any other questions!

Answer 5

Yes, the Rosary is a meditation on the life of Christ. Each of the 15 decades (most people only say 5 at a time) is assigned a particular event (called a "mystery") in the life of Christ, which you meditate on while saying the prayers. Here is a list of the mysteries:

http://www.catholicsupply.com/existing/prmyster.html

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Answer 6

No. I look at Mary as an example of an excellent mother and try to emulate her piety and devotion to her son and family. It's similar to how I view other Saints, except that as a a woman about to be married, I think I have a lot to learn from her example. But I know she isn't God. I don't say prayers to her and I know that she can not forgive my sins or save my soul. Only the Trinity is able to do that. I haven't read Pangel's question, so I'm not certain if this answers your question entirely.

Answer 7

The 150 Davidic Psalms (the Psalter of David) have always been prayed by Old Testament Israel, post-Temple Jews, and by Christians for personal prayer, communal prayer, lamentations, praise, thanksgiving, and, in the case of Christians, to demonstrate the fulfillment of prophecy.

They came to form a large part of the Divine Office sung at the various canonical hours by religious. Lay people who didn't have copies of Scripture or the Breviary and lay people and religious who were illiterate would substitute 150 Pater Nosters (Our Fathers) or Aves (Hail Marys) in place of the 150 Psalms they could not read.

The prayers were originally counted by transferring pebbles from one bag to another, but soon enough Christians began to tie a rope with knots on which to count. This evolved further into using beads or pieces of wood in place of the knots, and this soon came to be called the "Psalter of the Laity." Around the end of the first millennium, Rosaries contained the present five decades (sets of ten beads), with the Ave beads shaped like white lilies for the purity of the Virgin, and the Pater beads shaped like red roses for the wounds and Passion of Christ.

St. Dominic de Guzman popularized the Marian Psalter in the form we have it today (150 Aves with a Pater after each 10) when Our Lady encouraged him to pray it that way in response to the Albigensian heresy. So associated with the Rosary is St. Dominic that the Rosary is often called the "Dominican Rosary."


The Rosary, thus, has always been a weapon against heresy and trouble; in fact, the 7 October 1571 victory of Christendom over Islamic warriors at the Battle of Lepanto -- the first naval victory against the infidels -- was attributed directly to the Rosaries prayed by the faithful.

While non-Catholics see the Rosary as a mindless chant, what they don't understand is that the Rosary is a meditation on the lives of Mary and Jesus. Each decade (each set of 10 Ave beads in the circular part of the Rosary beads) represents a single Mystery in their lives, and as the prayers are prayed, we contemplate that particular Mystery. There are 3 sets of 5 Mysteries -- the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries.





Joyful Mysteries:
1st Mystery: Love of humility
2nd Mystery: Charity toward neighbor
3rd Mystery: Love of God
4th Mystery: Spirit of Sacrifice
5th Mystery: Zeal for the Glory of God

Sorrowful Mysteries:
1st Mystery: True Contrition
2nd Mystery: The Spirit of Mortification
3rd Mystery: Moral Courage
4th Mystery: The Virtue of Patience
5th Mystery: The Grace of Final Perseverance

Glorious Mysteries:
1st Mystery: Strong Faith
2nd Mystery: The Virtue of Hope
3rd Mystery: Zeal for the Glory of God
4th Mystery: The Grace of a Holy Death
5th Mystery: Greater Love for the Blessed Virgin Mary

In October 2002, His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, in his Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, recommended "adding" 5 more Mysteries to the Rosary to be prayed on Thursdays -- the "Luminous Mysteries" which focus on Jesus' public life. These Mysteries are:

The Baptism in the Jordan
The Marriage Feast at Cana
The Proclamation of the Kingdom
The Transfiguration
The Institution of the Eucharist


Like the Mass, what you take emotionally from the Rosary is what you bring to it, but in any case, emotional highs aren't the point of prayer. Prayer is for the glory of God.

Answer 8

A little history:
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2002/0212fea4sb1.asp

How to:
http://www.newadvent.org/images/rosary.pdf

More info:
http://www.catholic.com/library/rosary.asp

The Rosary is a series of Our Fathers and Hail Marys while meditating on "mysteries" or events in the Bible. I thought it was only a Catholic thing, my quick search here tells me other denominations do it also. Many Protestant denominations do not pray the Hail Mary because they do not pray to the Virgin Mary.

Answer 9

we have nearly the same picture! sorry, i know that doesnt answer your question. my nan is catholic and from what i can gather she just sort of holds her rosary beads and says a prayer called 'the rosary' over and over and sends it out to whoever she's praying for

Answer 10

The Rosary, as others have stated, is a meditation on the life of Christ. As Catholics, we have great respect for the role that Mary played in Jesus' life as His mother. To honor (but not worship) her, we consider the important events of Jesus' life through Mary's eyes, beginning with the Angel's visit to her and ending with the end of her time on Earth. There are 4 sets of 5 important events in Jesus' life upon which we reflect, and each set is centered around a particular theme - joyful events associated with Jesus' early life, sorrowful events associated with His death, glorious events associated with His resurrection and ascension, and "luminous" events that recall the miracles of His ministry. All of that comes right from Scripture, as collated by Answers user Mary's Oblate:

Joyful Mysteries:
Annunciation Lk 1:26-38
Visitation Lk 1:39-45
Birth Mt 1:25, Lk 2:6-7
Presentation Lk 2:22-38
Finding in the Temple Lk 2:41-52

Sorrowful Mysteries
Agony in the Garden Mt 26:36-46
Scourging at the Pillar Mt 20:19, 27:26, Mk 15:15, Lk 23:22
Crowning with Thorns Mt 27:29-30, Mk 15:16-20, Jn 19:2-5
Carrying the Cross Mt 27:31-34, Mk 15:22-23, Lk 23:26-33
Crucifixion Mt 27:45-56, Mk 15:33-41, Lk 23:44-49, Jn 19:30-37

Glorious Mysteries
Resurrection Mt 28:1-10, Mk 16:1-11, Lk 24:1-12, Jn 20:1-18
Ascension Mk 16:19, Lk 24:50-51
Descent of the Holy Spirit Acts 2:1-12
Mary's Assumption Psalm 132:8, Rev 12:1-18
Mary's Coronation as Heaven's Queen 1 Cor 9:25, 2 Tim 4:8, 1 Pet 5:4, Rev 2:10, Rev 12:1

Luminous Mysteries:
Baptism Matt. 3:13-14
Miracle at Cana John 2:1-11
Proclaming the Kingdom of God Mt 4:23
Transfiguration Mt 17:2
Eucharist Mt 26:26-28

For the words and the order of the prayers that are said, I'll refer you to an outside link to keep this from being too awfully long. The online Catholic Encyclopedia has a concise guide to praying the Rosary at:

http://www.newadvent.org/images/rosary.pdf

Catholic tradition teaches us that the Rosary as a devotion was a gift from Mary given to St. Dominic, who earnestly sought her aid in helping to combat heresy, which was widespread during his life. Whether or not you choose to believe in direct communication between the Blessed Mother and the Faithful on Earth, the Rosary clearly hearkens back to an ancient monastic tradition of reciting the entire text of the psalms in groups of 50 psalms. When we pray the Rosary, we pray the Ave Maria 50 times. The recitation of psalms was confined to literate monks. Illiterate laymen who wanted to participate were, instead, encouraged to say the Lord's Prayer 50 times. Early strings of prayer beads were actually called "paternosters" for this reason. In Latin, the Lord's Prayer begins, "Pater noster, qui es in caelis..." This is where the repetition comes from.

As a side note, we are aware that Christ counsels us against vain repetition. This is why the Rosary is an intensely prayerful experience, not just an empty chant. Just like the psalmist says "His mercy endures forever" 26 times for emphasis in Psalm 136, so do we reiterate our prayers in the Rosary.

Thus, when we meditate on the life of Christ, we do so in the context of a Scriptural greeting to His mother, who also experienced these events, followed by a request for her to pray for us. We also incorporate the prayer that Jesus gave us in Matthew's Gospel and a glorification of the blessed Trinity. There are a few other assorted prayers, which are either addressed directly to Jesus for the salvation of souls, or intercessory prayer requests addressed to Mary. In all, it is a beautiful devotion centered around Christ with special affection for His mother. We regard her as our mother in faith and so have special prayers like the Rosary to honor her even as we worship her Son.