Personal Distractions and the Rosary. . . The Saints Offer Some Help (Part 2)

What happens when your mind wanders during the recitation of the Rosary?  The devotion is compromised, usually.  Saints, Church leader, and Theologians often argue that “willful” distractions are problematic.  These distractions would trying to recite while watching television, thinking about the ballgame, or what to make for dinner and other such things that clutter our day.  Involuntary distractions cannot be stopped.  These would include mortgage payments, a sick family member, or some other major problem.  These are major concerns and have a way of finding their way into any devotion. 

St. Teresa of Avila suggests that, at the beginning of prayer, we close our eyes “in order to open wider the eyes of the soul,” thereby lessening the chance of distractions.

 St. Paul of the Cross says, “Concerning distractions and temptations that occur during holy prayer, you don’t need to be the least bit disturbed. Withdraw completely into the upper part of your spirit to relate to God in spirit and truth. Laugh at the noises the enemy will make outside. He cannot enter in.” 

In the last ten roses of The Secret of the Rosary, De Montfort teaches people how to pray the rosary.  Praying the rosary might seem basic: begin with the Apostles Creed, pray one Our Father, Three Hail Mary’s and a Glory Be, and then pray each mystery and corresponding decade.  While that is the practical how-to of saying the rosary, De Montfort takes it one step further and focuses on how to recite the rosary better in terms of interior disposition.  Many people find the rosary difficult, so De Montfort seeks to make it more accessible to any devotee. 

Purity of Intention (Forty-First Rose)

Over and over again throughout the work, De Montfort emphasizes how those devoted to the rosary overcome sin in their lives.  When one prays the rosary, De Montfort speaks of the efficacy of praying it in the state of grace or at the very least with the desire to give up mortal sin.  It is important to have contriteness for sin, otherwise, he calls its mere lip service which takes on the form of false devotion by hiding in Mary’s mantle while crucifying the Lord by not amending one’s life.  By reflecting on the life of Jesus, especially the sorrowful mysteries, we must be moved to repentance for sin.  To pray the rosary well and receive the graces it affords, one must have pure intentions of abandoning sin and turning to God with one’s whole heart.

With Attention (Forty-Second Rose)

When praying the rosary, it is important to concentrate on the prayers being prayed and the mystery being contemplated.  As De Montfort wittingly notes, “How can we expect God to listen to us if we ourselves do not pay attention to what we are saying?”  It would be almost impossible to pray without any distractions, but to pray the rosary well we must give our best attention to our prayer.

Fighting Distractions (Forty-Third Rose)

De Montfort readily acknowledges that by saying the same prayer over and over again, one could fall asleep or turn to other less tedious prayers.  The distractions and temptations one faces regarding the rosary, he calls temptations from the evil one who seeks to make us bored, distracted, or exhausted.  At times, the devil might even try to convince us that the rosary is useless.  These are the distractions that the devil employs to lead us away from the rosary because he knows that its devotees are no longer in his grasp.  It is important to fight such distractions given the meritorious nature of the rosary for the Day of Judgment.

A Good Method (Forty-Fourth Rose)

A good reminder to me during my recent re-read was De Montfort’s insistence of praying the rosary for a special grace (ie. with an intention in mind).  In the past, I have simply prayed the rosary, without calling to mind any specific intentions.  Perhaps what was true for me was one of De Montfort’s retorts: a “big fault a lot of people make when saying the Holy Rosary is to have no intention other than that of getting it over as quickly as possible.”  A good method of praying the rosary includes asking for a special grace.

De Montfort also calls speed pray-ers to task saying, “It is really pathetic to see how most people say the Holy Rosary–they say it astonishingly fast and mumble so that the words are not properly pronounced at all.”  To this, De Montfort suggests slowing down with the rosary.  In the text he inserts crosses between the phrases of the Our Father and Hail Mary where one should pause.  A good method of praying the rosary includes slowing down our pace.

With Reverence (Forty-Fifth Rose)

In this reflection, De Montfort, recommends praying the rosary while kneeling, but also says other forms are alright if necessary (in bed, at work, etc.)  If someone prays all 15 decades (now 20 decades) each day, De Montfort recommends breaking it up and spacing those prayers throughout the day and if need be, a person could pray one decade at a time.

Group Recitation (Forty-Sixth Rose)

St. Louis de Montfort says praying the rosary as a group is a very efficacious way of praying the rosary.  More specifically, he says that is the best way to glorify God and to scare the devil.  He goes on to explicate that when one person prays the rosary individually, they gain the merit of one rosary, whereas a person who recites the rosary in the group, gains merit for all the rosaries prayed by each person.

Proper Disposition (Forty-Seventh Rose)

When speaking about proper dispositions De Montfort means ongoing personal recitation of the rosary.  He outlines four dispositions, with the fifth being explicated in the forty-eight roses.  The first disposition is to always pray and not grow faint.  Essentially De Montfort gently reminds the devotee of the rosary’s effects in overcoming sin and the importance of our fidelity to the devotion for this reason.  Secondly, he says we must pray the rosary with faith and thirdly with humility.  The fourth is to pray with great confidence for the graces which we seek.

Perseverance (Forty-Eighth Rose)

When praying the rosary, especially for a specific intention, we must never tire in our prayer but to persevere.  De Montfort says, “God’s munificence is shown in His making us seek and ask for, over a long period of time, the grace which He wishes to give us and quite often the more precious the grace, the longer He takes to grant it.  There are three reasons why He does this: 1.  To thus increase this grace still more: 2. To make the recipient more deeply appreciate it; 3.  To make the soul who receives it very careful indeed not to lose it-for people do not appreciate things that they can get quickly and with very little trouble.”  Additionally, De Montfort encourages perseverance in order to overcome the many people who will want to guide us away from the rosary devotion.  Just like the saints who prayed the rosary, we must persevere, and if we do so until death, and according to De Montfort, if we do, that is a favor give by Almighty God.

Indulgences (Forty-Ninth Rose)

This rose deals with the indulgences devotees may obtain by praying the rosary.  The list De Montfort gives corresponds to his era of Catholicism.  For the indulgences attached to the rosary, as referred to in the Enchiridion of Indulgences.  This may be anachronistic, but it still speaks to the graces we receive when we say the Rosary with dignity.  Many theologians argue that one well-said “Hail Mary” is better and more pleasing to Our Mother than 100 said badly.

Various Methods (Fiftieth Rose)

In this final rose of the book, De Montfort proposes several ways to pray the rosary.  He encouraged praying the “Come Holy Ghost [Spirit] prayer” and then to make a prayer offering of the rosary and the rosary as usual.  Prior to each decade a few sentences precede the Our Father.  For example, for the Annunciation, one would pray “We offer Thee, O Lord Jesus, this first decade in honor of Thy Incarnation and we ask of Thee, through this mystery and through the intercession of Thy most Holy Mother, a profound humility.”  After the Our Father, Ten Hail Marys, and Glory Be, one prays: “Grace of the mystery of the Incarnation, come down into my soul and make it truly humble”.  This is a longer form of praying the rosary as recommended by St. Louis de Montfort.  But he also proposes a shorter way, which I will explain further.

A Rosary Litany

The shorter way of praying the rosary recommended by De Montfort in the Fiftieth Rose is the insertion of a meditative phrase in the Hail Mary.  This is what De Montfort writes: “A Shorter Way of Commemorating the Life, Death and Glory of Jesus and Mary in the Most Holy Rosary, and a Way to Curb our Imagination and to Lessen Distractions.  In order to do this, we must add a word or two to each Hail Mary (depending upon the decade) and this will help remind us which mystery we are commemorating.  This word or words should be added after the word ‘Jesus’”.  De Montfort lists a few words for each of the mysteries.  For the Annunciation he recommends “Jesus Incarnate;” for the word.

A Rosary Litany does nothing new; it simply renews a pious custom recommended by St. Louis De Montfort and promoted by Blessed Paul VI (Marialis Cultus) and St. John Paul II (Rosarium Virginis Mariae). 

Other saints and theologians recommend a “pre-rosary” prayer to get one in the proper mindset, a warm-up, if you will.  Others say to concentrate on the mysteries.  To be honest, not many people other than Theologians, saints, and spiritualists would find it easy to meditate on the mysteries.  If you can- great. But many people I have encountered do not embrace the idea of more prayer to help another prayer. 

There may be some more practical ideas to help focus our intention and attention.  Next time. . .