One thing I try to do with RosaryMeds is introduce people to new ways of praying and thinking about Rosary prayer. The software engineer in me is always approaching projects with different solutions hoping that one of them will be the right fit. I think the same goes for prayer — what’s right for one person may not be good for another. I just put out ways of praying and hopefully you find some of them worth trying.
Inserting an Intention in the Middle of the Hail Mary
One great variant of Rosary prayer is adding a short phrase in the middle of the Hail Mary after saying the name “Jesus.” It’s a good time to address Him directly with your intentions. What I try to do is meditate for a minute or two at the start of each decade and find a phrase related to that mystery that I want to insert. Depending on what’s on my mind, that phrase will be different each time I pray.
Let’s take the First Sorrowful Mystery as an example. Sometimes, in my meditation I may think about how I need God’s mercy and forgiveness. When I pray the Hail Mary, I insert, “And blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus, have mercy on me.” Other times, I may think about my need for prayer. I’ll insert, “thy womb Jesus, instill in me a longing for prayer.” There are so many prayers that you can insert in the First Sorrowful Mystery alone after some thoughtful meditation:
- “Thy womb Jesus… may I stay spirtually awake.”
- “Thy womb Jesus… help those going through difficulties.”
- “Thy womb Jesus… help my prayers be focused.”
- “Thy womb Jesus… my I stay close to you.”
- “Thy womb Jesus… comfort those who feel abandoned.”
The advantages of Breaking up the Hail Mary with Intentions
This way of praying the Rosary has some advantages. First, it connects each Hail Mary back to the themes of the mystery. It can be easy to go into a trance and pray a decade without a lot of thought. I know I’ve had times where I prayed an entire decade without really praying it. I go through the motions but my thoughts and attention is somewhere else. Inserting these intentions force me to circle back and think about the mystery I’m praying.
Similarly, it’s rather jarring to break up the Hail Mary. The inserted prayer won’t always be grammatically correct and it disrupts the flow of the prayer. And that’s actually a good thing. It forces you to slow down and concentrate. You can’t just rattle off the Hail Mary on autopilot. Remember, the point of the Rosary isn’t to race through it. It’s not a sprint. The point is to spend quality prayer offering our intentions, thanksgivings, and sorrows to God. Breaking up the Hail Mary can make the Rosary a more contemplative experience.
In this season of Lent, I encourage you to give it a try. It’s not easy. I find myself falling back into my Hail Mary trance occasionally. I’ll remember to insert my special prayer a few times in a decade but then forget. It’s easy to fall back into usual patterns. But that’s what Lent is all about — breaking out of our usual pattern and forcing ourselves to work a little harder with our relationship with the Lord. Give this way of praying the Rosary a try, even if it’s just occasionally.