The Rosary is rightfully known as one of the easiest, most accessible, most easily recognizable and venerable trademarks of Western Catholic spirituality — and a comprehensive summation of the Gospel and all the chief mysteries of the economy of salvation.

Yet, I have encountered several fellow Catholics who share some difficulties I have personally experienced with the idea of reciting a set of verbal prayers while supposedly “meditating” on another (even if related) set of events. Below, I outline one of the methods I have used with success to “bridge the gap.” It is nothing new, but is simply drawn from long-standing tradition (and also enjoys papal recognition and approval).

Balancing Verbal and Mental Prayer

In particular, the typical American practice of reciting the rosary by “announcing the mystery” before each decade, and then rattling off a Pater, ten Aves, a doxology and a Fatima prayer without any further verbal reference to the mystery in question, has always been somewhat personally difficult to me.

I often felt like I had to carefully balance the verbal and the mental parts without unwittingly giving short shrift to either — being so carried away in “meditation” that the Aves become almost a mindless background drone akin to a mantra, which is never the point of Christian prayer; or else focusing consciously on the words of the prayers to the near-exclusion of being able to think much of the “mystery” aside from a pro forma announcement beforehand.

To be clear: none of this should be read as some formal indictment of the contemporary American method. If people can do the above without any difficulties and with abundant spiritual fruit in their lives — that is great! I am speaking solely to my and some others’ subjective experiences on this, and sharing the below method in the hope that it might assist and enrich others’ relationship with and use of the rosary, as it has mine, especially during this month of the rosary.

The “Mystery-Clauses“

In paragraph 46 of his apostolic exhortation “Marialis Cultus” published in 1974, Pope St. Paul VI notes,

“As is well known, at one time there was a custom, still preserved in certain places, of adding to the name of Jesus in each Hail Mary reference to the mystery being contemplated. And this was done precisely in order to help contemplation and to make the mind and the voice act in unison.” (emphasis mine)

Note how the pope is explicitly acknowledging that the problem of disjointed verbal vs. mental prayer can be a real one!

It just so happens that in the Hungarian environment in which I grew up, the practice indicated by the pope is still the prevailing method of reciting the rosary. Although my upbringing was non-Catholic (and in fact non-religious), my first exposure to the rosary’s recitation in public incorporated these interpolated mystery-clauses in the middle of each Ave. This may also be partly why my later participation in the typical contemporary American style was marked with a jarring sense of impoverishment and difficulty concentrating/”multitasking.”

There are a variety of clauses one can use in-between “…Jesus” and “Holy Mary…,” but the schema I usually use, drawn largely from the Hungarian customs in popular use that I experienced, is the following:

On the three introductory beads before the decades

Before both the Joyful and Luminous mysteries:

1. …Jesus, to increase our faith. Holy Mary…
2. …Jesus, to strengthen our hope. Holy Mary…
3. …Jesus, to perfect our charity. Holy Mary…

Before the Sorrowful mysteries:

1. …Jesus, to enlighten our minds. Holy Mary…
2. …Jesus, to purify our memories. Holy Mary…
3. …Jesus, to perfect our wills. Holy Mary…

Before the Glorious mysteries:

1. …Jesus, to guide our thoughts. Holy Mary…
2. …Jesus, to command our words. Holy Mary…
3. …Jesus, to govern our actions. Holy Mary…

On the actual mysteries

Joyful:

1. …Jesus, whom thou, holy virgin, didst conceive of the Holy Spirit. Holy Mary…
2. …Jesus, whom thou, holy virgin, didst carry in thy womb while visiting Elizabeth. Holy Mary…
3. …Jesus, whom thou, holy virgin, didst bring into this world at Bethlehem. Holy Mary…
4. …Jesus, whom thou, holy virgin, didst present in the Temple. Holy Mary…
5. …Jesus, whom thou, holy virgin, didst find in the Temple. Holy Mary…

Luminous:

1. …Jesus, who was baptized in the Jordan for our sake. Holy Mary…
2. …Jesus, who manifested his divine power in Cana. Holy Mary…
3. …Jesus, who proclaimed the Kingdom of God with his disciples. Holy Mary…
4. …Jesus, who manifested his divine glory on Mount Tabor. Holy Mary…
5. …Jesus, who gave us his own flesh and blood as sustenance. Holy Mary…

Sorrowful:

1. …Jesus, who sweat blood in the Garden. Holy Mary…
2. …Jesus, who was scourged for our sins. Holy Mary…
3. …Jesus, who was crowned with thorns for our sake. Holy Mary…
4. …Jesus, who carried the heavy cross for our sake. Holy Mary…
5. …Jesus, who died on the cross for our sake. Holy Mary…

Glorious:

1. …Jesus, who rose again from the dead. Holy Mary…
2. …Jesus, who ascended into heaven. Holy Mary…
3. …Jesus, who sent us the Holy Spirit. Holy Mary…
4. …Jesus, who assumed thee, holy virgin, into heaven. Holy Mary…
5. …Jesus, who crowned thee, holy virgin, in heaven. Holy Mary…

I have found that this venerable method, warmly recommended by Pope Paul and still practiced at least in parts of Central and Eastern Europe, really goes a long way toward restoring and respecting that optimal balance between verbal and mental prayer. Perhaps it may be of help to fellow Catholics who have had similar struggles without having been exposed to this particular solution.

In a follow-up post, I will discuss another, older and simpler form of the rosary, from the early stages of its development (roughly 11th through 14th centuries) that I have found to be personally helpful as well.