I just recently started praying the rosary; and I am so glad to hear about praying only several of the mysteries at one time.  That is what I do; I usually pray while my husband puts our son to bed; he always asks what I am doing as he heads up the stairs; and I say praying for him!

oh that not a whole rosary at a time makes me feel so good too!  very much me, especially at this season in life of toddler (and soon to be baby!).

we pray a decade together as a family (with a st. michael prayer at the end, as well as a “God bless” litany.  would like to add the st. joseph prayer since our new son’s name is to be joseph), putting our 2 yr old to sleep and i was thinking about trying to add an additional decade.

i lay with my 2 yr old every other nite until he falls asleep and often will try to say more of the rosary to pass the time/help me relax.  this post makes me feel so much better at my little rosary “efforts” throughout the day

Ladies, you’ve inspired me. I used to be a five-decades-in-a-row-everyday kind of girl back in college, but marriage, a toddler and a new little one on the way have greatly curtailed my prayer life and all but cut out the Rosary. I’d thought of a method to get a full set of all the mysteries in every month, but perfectionism has prevented me from trying. The biggest problem was thinking it wouldn’t “count” unless I did it all at once.

Here’s my plan:
On Sunday, say the opening prayers (the Creed, Our Father, 3 Hail Marys and a Glory Be). Say one decade a day Monday-Friday. On Saturday, say the Hail Holy Queen, the prayer after the Rosary, and the Litany of Loretto. There are four sets of mysteries, so every month would complete a full Rosary.

That seems doable, right?

I try to pray 4 Rosaries/week (one for each set of mysteries), but unfortunately sometimes I fall short.

Something that works for us, a way to include the children, is a decade a day on the way to school.  First we talk about the mystery, and we have a discussion on seeing the mystery from one person’s point of view from that mystery…ie Wedding at Cana, what was Mary thinking….then the next time we do that mystery, we think about some other character from that bible story.  It helps to picture the mystery for the kids (ages 9 and under) and then they can imagine it all unfolding.  Some questions always seem to come up, that are very thought provoking even for me as the parent to answer, but it does show me that they are picturing the scene, and thinking on it. Their reflections, at times, really do inspire me to look at a mystery differently than before.  They have an innocence discussing some of these things.

Then we all shout out who or what we want to pray for….some say upcoming test, some say for a dolly left at home, etc, and then we move on to the actual Hail Marys and so forth.

I have found that sometimes I miss discussing some of these bibilical events with them, and encouraging them to see a particular virtue in it for them to learn from.  Well - this morning tradition of ours has helped in that avenue immensely.  Just a tip….but am keeping my eye on the responses here, great topic.

I have long had a fondness for the rosary.  When our 13 year old daughter was 2-4 years old, she was very sick.  I used to pray many decades of the rosary daily as a way to grab moments of peace among the chaos.  As a result, this child also developed a love of the prayer and often cuddled beside me to pray a decade or two.  One day, after she had a migraine that lasted 12-16 hours that had her throwing up every 20 min. for that entire time; and she had recovered with a final vomiting episode and promptly ran off to play; we had one of our most tender rosary moments ever.  I never recovered from her migraines that quickly.  I was still in the bedroom recouping and cleaning up when she came bouncing back into the room all full of energy and sunshine.  The rosaries were sitting on the bed and she bounded onto the bed, kneeled in the middle of the bed and placed the rosary between her little fingers and clasped her hands together in the perfect little prayer pose; which we never used to pray the rosary.  She began…. “Mary, Mary quite contrary….”  She stopped abruptly and her eyes got as big as saucers and her mouth was dropped open in horror.  I just chuckled, picked up another rosary and sat beside her, “Hail Mary full of grace….”  She finished a decade and was off again, as quickly as she came.  That is my story of too many Marys.

I’m an occasional rosary pray-er.  I’ve tried doing a daily rosary,  but at this point in my life, it works better for me to turn to the rosary at moments where I really feel an intense craving for it.  Those moments don’t come often, but when they do, I know it.  When I’m in crisis mode, the rosary is astonishingly helpful at getting me sane again. 

Sometimes when I do pray it, I like to make each bead an intention for someone different in my life or in the world.  That takes the prayer to a different level, I find.

I am telling you this seems so basic (what Cardinal Ratzinger says) but did not come naturally to this cradle Catholic. Personal prayer should be flexible, shaped by the work of the Holy Spirit and the person praying, a simple act of being together. Thank you for this. This is sometimes a hard concept for the prayers of novenas and rosaries and litanies. I am not denigrating counted prayer - I’m just trying to get behind it and see its real purpose in our lives. I’m only just discovering this freedom with the rosary in the middle of the night, with insomnia. I say a very slow few decades, with no opening prayers. Actually all I can think about when I’m that tired is the basic meaning of the words I am saying aloud. Just the words are so eloquent, before you even get to the meditations. They keep me company in the dark night.

When my oldest children were little, we had little rosary coloring books. We’d pray the Rosary out loud while they quietly colored…‘no talking aloud or no coloring’. This worked very well for us and the 2-8 yr. olds. Around age 9, they started saying a decade with us and ‘graduated’. We prayed the Rosary every other evening and had singing prayertime on alternate evenings.

I began to pray the Rosary for the 4th time in my life ! I recited today ( May 24th ) from 6:21 pm to 8 pm ! I am 50 ( new age in April 18th )

If I fail again , I beg to one soul or souls help me in ...... ROSARIES for the intentions of Our Mother and….... mine !

The rosary is something I’ve struggled with off an on for years. I definitely get restless if I try to say 5 decades in a row just sitting still. Now that I have kids I just don’t have much time to sit still anyway. So I usually pray as much as I can on my morning jog, and I can get 5 decades in by the time I am done. I do this 3 times a week. The rhythm of jogging and the repetitive prayers almost makes it a kind of meditation. For now, that is what works for me!

I love the insight that our Holy Father shared with us.  I love the rosary.  Do I get a whole one said every day?  No.  I know in my head I don’t have to sit and say the whole rosary in one sitting, but reading that our Holy Father does it in that fashion gives me confidence that I can keep going in the way that I do.

Thanks.There was a time I thought the Rosary was boring an I prayed without praying,if you get what I mean.Now I cherish the morning rive to mass as I pray the Rosary as I drive.I dont like it if someone seeks a lift then as this interapts my conversation or stops it and the day is not the same;its like i have missed a meal.I feel guilty of not giving a lift an I often wander what would our Lord rather I do? give the lift and stop my prayer or refuse the liftgiving act and continue with my rosary?

In my earlier years I was not praying Roasary alone Only with the family in the evening before dinner. Later when I am alone (my wife passed away in 2002) I found this an attractive prayer. Every morning before my coffee I pray a Rosary and the Divine Mercy Rosary In all it takes only 17 to 20 minutes Then while having the morning walk one more Rosary.  In the evening I retire to bed and say one Rosary and then sleep. I love to say this prayer After every decade one can offer special prayers for specific intentions
Those who are old and retired can try

I live in Brazil ..... wow ! Yesterday ( May 25th ) I prayed the Rosary in….. almost 2 hours ! ( from 6:16 pm to 8 pm )