How do you explain the Rosary...

[Dudette]

How do you explain the Rosary to someone who isn't any religion at the moment but is a Christian?

My friend doesn't get why us Catholics pray the Rosary, I didn't exactly know how to explain it to him.

Any help?

[Brother Adam]

Like they are a "christian" but refuse to hold to any 'label'?

I would focus first on the christocentricity of the rosary - it points to Jesus. The culmination of the Hail Mary is in "and the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Next I would explain why Catholics have a devotion to Mary using scripture, and then how the devotion of the rosary came to be.

[Dudette]

[quote name='Brother Adam' date='Feb 14 2005, 03:03 PM'] Like they are a "christian" but refuse to hold to any 'label'?

I would focus first on the christocentricity of the rosary - it points to Jesus. The culmination of the Hail Mary is in "and the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Next I would explain why Catholics have a devotion to Mary using scripture, and then how the devotion of the rosary came to be. [/quote]
No, not because of a label.

Okay, thanks!

[MichaelFilo]

[quote name='Dudette' date='Feb 14 2005, 03:46 PM'] How do you explain the Rosary to someone who isn't any religion at the moment but is a Christian?

My friend doesn't get why us Catholics pray the Rosary, I didn't exactly know how to explain it to him.

Any help? [/quote]
The Rosary could easily be explained as a prayer aid as well, such as having a bible around when praying. Although the example may not carry well with your audience.

God bless,
Mikey

[jezic]

Pull out the Bible and find the rosary information with the scripture references. Look them up. Show the person how the heart of the prayer is really a walk through a certain aspect of Christ's life.

How could anyone ever say no to praying the gosple?

Also the Hail Mary is nearly completely Biblical. It is the combination of the statement of an Angel and (insert name here, i just went completely blank). The only added thing is asking someone who is obviously important and holy to pray for us. That doesn't hurt anything.

[Guest Aluigi]

Here's what you do in six easy steps:

1) Get out a rosary
2) Get out a phone
3) pray the rosary
4) while praying the rosary, ask Mary to intercede and get you a phonebook
5) Call Father John Corapi
6) Tell him to explain it to your friend.

[rufiokicks]

I explained it to my Lutheran friend like this the other day: When you're going through a hard time you ask your friends to pray for you right? Well why not ask the Divine Mother? It's the same reason we pray to the saints, we're not worshipping Mary and the saints, we're just asking them to pray for us as well.

[argent_paladin]

You can tell her that the use of beads as a prayer aid is quite ancient and universal. early Christian hermits in the desert used pebbles to count their psalms and prayers. Other religions also use beads to count their devotions. The original 150 beads stood for the 150 psalms, which many hermits recited every day. This evolved into saying the "our Father" or "hail Mary" every day. This then evolved into the Rosary we know today.
I assume that your friend recognizes prayer as a good thing. The rosary then combines the prayer that Jesus himself told us to pray, the Creed, which is what the Apostles believed, and the Hail Mary, which scripture tells us is what the Angel Gabriel told Mary and a request for intercessory prayer. It allows us to meditate upon the mysteries of the life of Christ more deeply.

[RemnantRules]

Blessed Be God!!!


I've had this talk many times with non-Catholics


here's some pointers

The actual prayer is from scripture:

Luke 1:28 " And coming to her, he (angel Gabriel) said, "Hail, favore one! The Lord is with you."

-that's the first part
-the second part is is just a little ways up when she visits her cousin Elizabeth

Luke 1:41-42 "When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb."

Obviously we put the Jesus at the end of the prayer b/c we know now that it was Jesus in her womb, Elizabeth didn't know it at the time who his name was BUT she did know it was the Lord as she says in verse 43.


I have to go for a little while but I will finish up I promise.


God Bless
Jason Gregory

[RemnantRules]

Blessed Be God!!!


Alright to try and finish up on this...
Where do we get the second part?

We get it through the monks and the first people praying this prayer. If you think of it this way it's just like asking your friend to pray for you. Now you know we ask Saints to pray for us b/c they are closer with God, they don't have the daily distractions as Humans do and they can praise and worship him FOREVER! Now think of Mary, here's the Mother of God, and she is obviously VERY close to Christ and the Father, I mean come on Jesus honored and loved his mother so much that he gave her to us.

So the second part we are asking Mary, who is Holy, to pray for us right now and at the hour of our death.


Some other helpful things,

as someone said they made it 150 beads b/c of the Psalms.
-Why do we say the prayer over and over?
Well there are two answers...A) B/C Jesus prayed the same prayers and we see this in the Agony in the Garden, and he taught us how to pray. Don't let any religon say they don't have some sort of set of prayers they have b/c everyone does, even if it's just the Our Father they will pray this regularly.
B) It helps us get it through our thick skulls the prayer.

Why do is it surrounded through Mary?
-WRONG! Remember Praying the Rosary is like a highlight reel of Christ! That's why I love the new Light Mysteries b/c it completes the circle of the life of Jesus. We pray the Rosary to recall that mystery and remember how great Jesus was for us while asking our Mother in Heaven to continue to Pray for us.


St. Dominic recieved the rosary by our holy Mother and she told him, "One Day through the Rosary and Scapular I will save the World"

ALSO: The Fifteen Promises of Mary to Christians Who Recite the Rosary

1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the rosary, shall receive signal graces.
2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the rosary.
3. The rosary shall be a powerful armour against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.
4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the rosary, shall not perish.
6. Whoever shall recite the rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in his justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.
7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
8. Those who are faithful to recite the rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the rosary.
10. The faithful children of the rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in heaven.
11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the rosary.
12. All those who propagate the holy rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.
14. All who recite the rosary are my sons, and brothers of my only son Jesus Christ.
15. Devotion of my rosary is a great sign of predestination.
(Given to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan) Imprimatur: Patrick J. Hayes, D.D., Archbishop of New York.


Why the [i]daily[/i] rosary?

-Our Lady has 117 titles. She selected this title as Fatima: "I am the Lady of the Rosary".
-St. Francis de Sales said the greatest method of praying is- Pray the Rosary.
-St. Thomas Aquinas preached 40 straight days in Rome Italy on just the Hail Mary.
-St. John Vianney, patron of priests, was weldom seen without a rosary in his hand.
-"The rosary is the scourge of the devil"- Pope Adrian VI
-"The rosary is a treasure of graces"- Pope Paul V
- Padre Pio said- "The rosary is THE WEAPON"
- Pope Leo XIII wrote 9 encyclicals on the rosary.
- Pope John XXII spoke 38 times about our Lady and the Rosary. He prayed 15 decades daily.
- St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort wrote: "The rosary is the most powerful weapon to touch the Heart of Jesus, Our Redeemer, who so loves His Mother."


These last two things (The fifteen promises and Why the daily rosary) was from the Pieta book.


Well I hope this helps you.


God Bless
Jason Gregory

[jezic]

I like that post. Can they copy it or sticky it somewhere ????

[RemnantRules]

hey Jez! I don't quite know what you mean. If you are asking where can they find this? I found it in this booklet that I have. It's blue called the Pieta and has the picture of it on the front. Hope this answers your question.

[Cam42]

[quote]How do you explain the Rosary to someone who isn't any religion at the moment but is a Christian?[/quote]

Well, normally, I don't bring Mary into right away, for a couple of reasons. 1. A non-Catholic doesn't comprehend Mary in the same way. 2. While we see the Rosary as a Marian devotion, it can be explained differently that is valid and still gives due respect to Mary.

This is how I do it.

The idea of the Rosary came about in a time in which the average person was not literate. The laity wanted a way to share in the official prayers of the Church, but since he couldn't read, there had to be another way to mark the 150 psalms that were prayed in the Divine Office. So, the Rosary was created.

If one prays the whole rosary there are 150 prayers prayed. 3 mysteries and 5 decades in each. 150 prayers. It became a very easy way for the laity to commune in a prayerful way with the clergy of the day.

The mysteries of the rosary reflect on the life of Christ. From his Annunciation to the Coronation of his mother in Heaven.

At this point, I tend to lose non-Catholics because of the last two mysteries. However, I point back to the role of Mary in scripture as the reasoning for the last two. It is hard, but it can be done. I explain using Rv. 12 that it is the most obvious reason. (I will leave that method to you.)

They will ask then inevitably why the Hail Mary. I show the scriptural basis for the prayer and that it is not necessarily Marian, but aimed toward Jesus. But I also remind them that asking for Mary's intercession is not incumbent on reflecting the life of Christ. It is just an easy way to focus on the life of Christ. Who better to ask for intercession, than the one who herself asks in John's Gospel?

But I also remind them that there are other prayers involved....The sign of the Cross (trinitarian formula), the Apostle's Creed, the Our Father, and the Doxology, which are not proper to Mary. The only prayers that are, are the Hail Mary and the Salve Regina.

I also tell them that using the beads is a way of marking position, a sort of study guide.

This method sheds a light on the rosary, that is acceptable to them, in most cases. It is also a very valid way of looking at the rosary and a way that makes sense to Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

Cam42

[Dudette]

Wow! Thanks so much everyone!

Ok, well on another message board(it's Catholic) someone started the Rosary thread and he just didn't get why we said it.

He also didn't get the point of repeating the same prayer over and over again.

[Cam42]

[quote]He also didn't get the point of repeating the same prayer over and over again.[/quote]

The point of the prayer is not only to reflect on the words of the prayer, but also to clear one's mind. To pray the Hail Mary is to engage in an aspiration that allows for clarity of mind to reflect on the life of Christ.

What do I mean? Let me ask you a question.....When you pray the rosary, do you focus on the words of the Hail Mary or do you focus on the mystery and simply say the words of the Hail Mary?

Cam42