Distractions--A Fact of Life

When saying our prayers, our minds very often wander. Don't be distressed if--despite frequent promises that you will focus on your prayer and fence out thoughts on what your neighbor said to you yesterday or which color to paint the hallway--you find your mind once again straying. Just get back on track and keep going. 

Saint Louis de Montfort understands, and writes in The Secret of the Rosary:

. . . Because of the constant repetition of the same Our Father and Hail Mary in the same unvarying form, it is difficult, while saying the Rosary, not to become wearied and inclined to sleep or to turn to other prayers that are more refreshing and less tedious. This goes to show that one needs much greater devotion to persevere in saying the Holy Rosary than in saying any other prayer . . . .

Be of good heart even if your imagination has been bothering you through your Rosary, filing your mind with all kinds of distracting thoughts--as long as you really tried hard to get rid of them as soon as they came. Always remember that the best Rosary is the one with the most merit, and there is more merit in praying when it is hard than when it is easy. 

. . . Even if you have to fight distraction all through your whole Rosary be sure to fight well, arms in hand: that is to say, do not stop saying your Rosary even if it is hard to say and you have absolutely no sensible devotion. It is a terrible battle, I know, but one that is profitable to the faithful soul. If you put down your arms, that is, if you give up the Rosary, you will be admitting defeat and then, having won, the devil will leave you alone.

So keep going, reflecting on the mysteries at each decade, and know that Our Lady appreciates our effort and our time spent with her and her Son.

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The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis Marie de Montfort, "Forty-Third Rose: Fighting Distractions."

Welcome

Thank you for visiting Anno Domini (Year of Our Lord) Rosaries.

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We make our rosaries by hand in a wide variety of bead types and colors here in St. Augustine, Florida.

Pray as you are able
If you are new to praying the rosary, be assured that whatever time you can give it pays honor to Our Lady and her Son. While the often-heard advice to "Pray the rosary daily" is certainly ideal, it is not mandatory. If you can only pray a full rosary once a week, do that. If a frantic schedule allows you only a few minutes a day, pray a reverent decade (set of 10 beads) whenever you can.

A few words about the mysteries
 The rosary practice given to St. Dominic in the 1200s by Our Lady included meditations on three sets of mysteries. Why do we call them mysteries? Saint Louis de Montfort, the great champion of the rosary in 18th-century France, wrote that "A mystery is a sacred thing that is difficult to understand." The mysteries of the rosary describe key events in the lives of Mary and Jesus. Each set of mysteries contains five events, one for each decade on the rosary. Typically, one set of mysteries is prayed on its designated days of the week. The original mysteries are the Joyful, the Sorrowful, and the Glorious.

Pope St. John Paul II added a new set, the Luminous, which includes important aspects of Jesus' ministry such as his baptism and the institution of the Eucharist. The Luminous Mysteries are optional, however, and are outside of the original symmetry of 150 Hail Mary's that correspond to the ancient practice of reading through all 150 Psalms. (One rosary includes 50 Hail Mary's, which is 10 for each of of the 5 mysteries in a set. It takes 3 recitations of the rosary to cover all of the original 3 sets of mysteries, so 50 x 3 = 150.)

How to pray the rosary
A good guide to praying the rosary, using the traditional mysteries, can be found here. That site also gives background information on the history of the rosary.

Whether to have your rosary blessed
You can certainly pray using a rosary that has not been blessed by a priest or deacon. The spirit you bring to your prayers is what is most important. However, it is always a good thing to have your priest bless your rosary either with holy water or with a short prayer and the sign of the cross. This imparts a special effect to the rosary and your prayers and makes the rosary a true sacramental, akin to the benefits of holy water versus normal water. 

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