Your Other “Five A Day”

May 21

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Five a day keep the devil away…

 

It strikes me as odd that most people do not have any problem with driving whilst they talk to their friends, often in animated four or five-people conversations; or listen to audiobooks, or to classical music with great rapture; but would consider other people generally and principally unsuited for praying the rosary whilst driving. 

Granted, different people have different skills. For some, driving is a “natural” activity, that allows them to be fully focused on driving whilst also fully following, or participating to, a conversation, or actually praying. Others might find the exercise more difficult. Unicuique suum. 

Still, it would be wrong to even exclude the possibility for oneself, or discount it in others. A Rosary is a loving conversation with Our Lady and Our Lord, and there is no reason why those who feel inclined should not have this conversation whilst driving, as they do with their passengers all the time. 

In fact, I have written often that the occasion to pray at least one decade of the Rosary are, on reflection, aplenty. Every time you are waiting for the bus, or for the train, or for your turn at the post office can be very suited for the occasion, and I do not need to tell you that to stay focused for three and a half or four minutes at a time is easier than to do it for the entire, uninterrupted eighteen-to-twenty minutes stretch. 

I would also like to point out that saints like Padre Pio prayed their rosary everytime they could, and Padre Pio was regularly seen praying it whilst doing other things. Obviously, a Padre Pio would have an ability of concentration and a habit of prayer beyond the one of us mere mortals, but you get the drift. 

I encourage everyone of my readers who do not pray the Rosary daily to try to be more inventive, and find in their day occasions suited for at least a decade of the rosary. In time, it will become a cherished habit, and it will lead very naturally to a 5 decade rosary – or 15 if you are really a hardcore Neopelagian – every day. 

Your “five a day” can be accommodated in more ways than you think. 

M 

Posted on May 21, 2014, in Catholicism, Conservative Catholicism, Traditional Catholicism and tagged . Bookmark the permalink. 5 Comments.

  1. Marc | May 22, 2014 at 10:37 am

    I have to often walk between buildings at work. That is a great time to “sneak” in a few decades as well!

    Thank you for the post.

    Marc
    http://marcsviewonstuff.wordpress.com

  2. victura1007 . | May 22, 2014 at 12:12 pm

    Ageofmary.com is an excellent website for those wanting to pray the rosary (there is audio in Latin) and learn more about it. It was down for a while but is back up now thankfully.

    • Mundabor | May 22, 2014 at 9:52 pm

      I have a link to a beautiful rosary site myself (top right hand corner), though I generally use more traditional methods, involving beans, or other modern ones, involving smartphones or tablets.
      M

  3. donnaliane72 | May 22, 2014 at 12:41 pm

    That’s great Mundabor! I love your suggestions of when to fit a decade or more in. I’ll use them. Any others I’m keen to hear them. I find driving the perfect time- but I don’t use my beads then; God gave us 10 fingers for a reason! In the car in the morning with all my children joining in too-strapped in for the journey to school. We use a cue point so they know when to put the music, hairbrushes etc away. When we reach the large main road. That’s gives us just about 7 mins to settle in. We say “morning prayers” together which is a collection of favourites and the Chaplet of Mercy. Sometimes we swap the Chaplet for the Rosary but otherwise I continue with my older daughter, after the others are dropped off and then finish alone on my way to work. If there any time left over I sing a favourite hymn. ( yes I have a very long daily trip) that lifts my spirits- so I start work well, at least. I will now find even more opportunities because I’m sure you’ll all have ideas to share! I find I often need quiet- at home hanging out washing on the clothesline works well too.

    • Mundabor | May 22, 2014 at 9:57 pm

      I never manage praying with the washing or cleaning; but I am a “natural” at driving, so no problems there.

      Queues are, if short-ish (grocery store, say) some of my favourites to sneak some “eternal rest” and “angele Dei” (the prayer to the guardian angel).

      M

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