Thursday, August 21, 2014

A quick pondering on the daily rosary...

Afternoon everyone. :) I had a presentation first thing this morning as part of a new student orientation, and I am TIRED. I feel like a limp noodle sitting here at my desk. I did make tea, so that helps, but there's not enough tea in *the world* to banish this glassy eyed stare. :0 But we do what we can.

I had mentioned that I wanted to write about the rosary today, and thus I wanted to follow through despite my lack of energy. And I think this is even a good point to start off with on this topic, which is to say:

(1) Daily Prayer.

(2) Life & all it's responsibilities.

How do those two things mesh together for each one of us?

I'm certain that it's different for every person, and I thought it would be nice to come together and get ideas from each other. I love to pray the rosary in the car. I'm not completely certain why, but I do and I have for many years. I suppose part of it is that I am a person whose mind is constantly awhirl, and when I'm in the car alone I allow myself to relax a bit. A whirly worrywart? That seems pretty accurate. ;-) As an introvert, I always have a lot going on inside my own head, because I don't necessarily talk to *other* people all that often. :) I mean, certainly I do with people whose company I am comfortable with and genuinely enjoy. But otherwise? I keep it to myself.

But in the car I just need to concentrate on getting from one place to another. I don't really need to think about anything else, and so praying at that time just works for me. I keep a rosary (ok, THREE if you must know :0 I like to have my options open based upon mood and liturgical season #NERD) tucked into the holder in the driver's side door so that I can pull it out seamlessly and start praying whenever I have a long enough span to at least get a decade or two in. I don't necessarily aim to complete an entire rosary in one sitting. I'll pray however many decades I can get in and then pick back up whenever I get back into the car.

It doesn't work if I have other people in the car with me ("Mommy, I want the Happy Song!" "No Mommy, tell her no! I'm SO SICK of the Happy Song!!") but on my way to and from work it's a gem.

So how about you, dear reader? If you pray a rosary (or the Liturgy of the Hours, or some other devotion) how do you work that into your daily routine? Leave me a comment!

5 comments:

  1. I pray the rosary in the car on the way to work, but I'm not comfortable handling the beads and the car, so I use my fingers instead. I try to pray St. Patrick's breastplate in the mornings when I first get up (this ones a bit hit and miss) and I try to pray the rosary again before bed. I keep hoping one day I'll be able to get through it without stumbling over every sixth word!

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    1. Yes, tangling and safety is a definite concern. :) Small, one decade rosaries can work well, I find. And fingers are also perfectly good!

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  2. Glad to know I'm not the only one who prays in the car! I used to begin my mornings checking Facebook or whatever on my phone while I was still in bed and woke up one day (literally) and realized what I was doing and how I was starting each morning. Now, I take a few minutes while still in bed to say good morning to the Lord.

    After that, I try to sit and read my Bible in what my kids call my "Coffee with Jesus" time. It's a great way to let the kids see my reading the Bible to start the day rather than see me running around stressed (that often comes 5 minutes later! ;) ) and it's the one time when I can say, "You're not allowed to bother me!" and not feel guilty about it!

    I often pray the Rosary in my car on the way to work and on longer trips with my boys so that they can join in if they want or at least hear it and hear what each bead stands for. I use the Laudate app.

    We also listen to mostly Christian music (Toby Mac, Mandisa, Matt Maher, 3rd Day, a whole bunch of others) in the car and sing along. We all sing soooo badly, but we are still raising our voices to God.

    Also, in the car, I've taken to listening to Catholic CDs (some I won from Debbie Gaudino-Saints 365) so, while it's not exactly praying, it leads to a family exploration of our faith without the pressure of "A.FAMILY.DISCUSSION.OF.OUR.FAITH!" It seems boys do much better with this sort of thing and short bursts of "Hey remember when x said…" than lengthy discussions.

    Now that you mention it, I think most of our praying is done in the car - and it's not JUST because my oldest just got his driver's permit! ;)

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    1. This is great! Thank you so much for sharing. :) Car time is special in many ways, isn't it?

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  3. I have never been good with the rosary. I was encouraged today to find that St. Therese wasn't either!

    Me, I love singing hymns while doing housework. Makes the work go faster and it's so uplifting.

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