Praying pray the rosaryPraying
the rosary is fairly simple, but feeling in the presence of
God as you pray
the rosary takes time and patience. The first step
of course is knowing the
prayers to pray. You start saying the
traditional rosary by first praying
the Apostles’ Creed on the
crucifix. Then you pray an Our Father on
the first big bead, three
Hail Mary’s on the next smaller beads and
a Glory Be on the following
big bead. That bead is also the starting point
for the meditations
of the rosary that you choose to pray. There are four
sets of five
meditations each that you contemplate on while praying the rosary:
Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious. Since most rosary beads
have
five decades, it is usual to pray one set of meditations at a
time. You start
praying each meditation with an Our Father on the
large bead followed by
ten Hail Mary’s on the ten smaller beads, and
concluding with a Glory
Be for which there is no bead. After you
finish praying the rosary it is
traditional to pray an ending prayer
like Hail Holy Queen, which can be said
while fingering the center
piece of the rosary. Praying the rosary correctly
has been shown to
lower your heart rate and blood pressure, so there are
bodily as well
as spiritual benefits to this devotion. However don’t
be discouraged
if you feel bored at first while praying the rosary. When
your mind
wanders, simply acknowledge the thought and then leave it, no matter
how many times you have to do this while you pray. Concentrate again
on the appropriate meditation, either imagining it as though you are
there,
relating it to your life or thanking God for it, as you are
praying the designated
prayers. With time, as you learn to still the
anxieties of your mind, you
will look forward to praying your rosary,
to the moments when the world is
only God and you. Be patient with
yourself; it will take time, but the results
are worth the wait. |
