Ask Sister Mary Martha: Mysteries of the Rosary

Ask Sister Mary Martha: Mysteries of the Rosary has a post about praying the Rosary.  Someone asked her about praying while driving and a discussion arose.  People were worried that praying would distract a driver.  Really?  People drive talking on their cell phones, texting, putting on make up, looking at maps, turning around to talk to passengers, and more.  Praying is no distraction at all, when compared to others.

The comments also questioned the value of breaking up the Rosary and praying a decade, here and there.  I found this interesting.  Praying is praying.  Isn't prayer talking to God?  Sometimes you just check in.  Sometimes you relate long stories.  Sometimes you even give Him a piece of your mind.  Praying is different strokes for different folks.

In fact, I remember hearing that St. Theresa Lisieux (Saint and Doctor of the Church) didn't like praying the Rosary and said that she wouldn't pray it, if it weren't part of the Rule of her Order.  I can relate to that.  The Rosary isn't for everybody.  The Rule for the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic require that a daily Rosary be prayed.  And I, like the Little Flower, find it a challenge.  But I do it.

What helps is to vary the prayer.  Sometimes I pray the entire Rosary at once.  Sometimes I pray it while walking.  Sometimes I listen to a Rosary CD.  Sometimes I pray it in Latin, praying to a CD of Pope John Paul II.  Sometimes I vary my position: one decade kneeling, one decade sitting, one decade walking, one decade kneeling, one decade sitting.  Sometimes I meditate on the Rosary by doing a Scriptural Rosary.  and there are times that I do pray a decade on my way to work, a decade on the way home to lunch, a decade on the way back to work, and then a decade on the way home, leaving one decade to pray in bed.  Yeah, sometimes my guardian angel finishes that Rosary for me.

And you know what.  Because I pray this Rosary as a duty.  I think it's worth more than those Rosaries prayed by people who like praying the Rosary.  I do!!!!     I do something to please God, not myself; that's an example of love.  It's like making my husband corn beef and cabbage.  (yuk)  I do it out of love.