Thursday 18 June 2009

How to pray the Rosary

From p.107 of the Official Handbook of the Legion of Mary, referring to the practice that I call "clipping" - starting the second part of each prayer during the last phrase of the first part - and which occasionally (OK, regularly) leads me into mischief while leading the Rosary. I sometimes stop without saying "Jesus" and let everyone else start the second part of the prayer without it:
The proper recitation of the Ave requires that the second part should not begin until the first part has been finished, and the Holy Name of Jesus reverently pronounced.

From an article in the June-July issue of Lourdes Magazine, describing a "school of prayer" in the shrine run each day to help individual pilgrims in praying the Rosary:
..start with a time of silence in the presence of the Lord, make the Sign of the Cross, choose a Word of God as a main thread, pray the Our Father, then evoke the decade and turn towards the Trinity (this is what we call the doxology: Glory be to the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit), and end with your own intimate prayer.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Tradition has it my opa would finish his prayer before my oma. And she had the first half :)

Problem: in Dutch, we don't end with Jesus (literal translation would be "and blessed is Jesus, the fruit of thy womb"). Does this mean we legally get to start early? :D