Catholics: does praying the Rosary to Mary bring you closer to god than praying to god himself?

The Rosary is a meditative devotion on the life of Christ. The prayers themselves are only a part of it. An analogy (though incomplete) would be that if, in your personal time of prayer, you had your Bible open to the second chapter of Luke; read the account of the Nativity and stopped for a few minutes to picture that in your mind, considering the implications of the Incarnation; then went on to read about the presentation of Jesus at the temple and did the same thing again. The Rosary is an intentional focus on those key events. Certainly, prayers of petition and/or intercession are also appropriate during this devotion, but it's much more than just rattling off prayers.

I'm not sure how one would quantify "closeness to God" or even if that's possible. We tend to define closeness in a relationship by how we feel, and a relationship with Christ is much more than just emotion. It's a response of the soul that goes way beyond that. I can say that praying the Rosary devotion has allowed me to know Him better, and in turn that has also enriched and expanded my prayer life in general.

Mary's role in all of this is to point us to Christ; "do whatever He tells you". So in that sense, yes, I do 'feel' closer to Him for having prayed the Rosary, because I have her intercession for just that purpose on my behalf. But that's also why I'm inclined to go directly to Him in prayer more often than I did before I began praying the Rosary on a daily basis. It's not an either/or, Rosary or spontaneous prayer directly to and through Christ; they are intimately connected.

<<Catholics: does praying the Rosary to Mary bring you closer to god than praying to god himself?>>

The Rosary is not a prayer to Mary.

The Rosary is a tool used to help one pray the Gospels.

Yes, there are a lot of Hail Marys associated with praying the Rosary, BUT:

1) Don't make the mistake of assuming it's all about Mary

and

2) Don't ignore the fact that the real substanceofthe Rosary isn't so much in the Our Fathers, the Hail Marys, and the Glory Bes but the Mysteries of the Rosary; events that detail key events in the Bible; most of which are in the Gospels; most of which pertain directly to Jesus.

<<Does it bring you less close, or is it about the same whether you're praying directly to mary or god?>>

Again, the Rosary is the prayer of the Gospel; the Good News. Any good Chistian knows that the Good News is not so much some'thing'. It's some'Body' - Jesus.

So, the short answer is - yes, praying the Rosary does bring one closer to Jesus.

Yes praying the Rosary brings you both closer to Mary and to God. Mary has many scrupulous devotees it seems, afraid to pray to her in fear of angering God or not giving God enough attention. When in simple reality everything you pray not only to Mary but also to the angels and saints goes directly to God. And the Rosary, next to the Mass, is the greatest of all devotions so there is no doubt that the Rosary will bring you directly to God, it is a prayer about His life.

Apparently, you don't really know what the Rosary is.

The Rosary is a series of mediations about the life and works of Christ. For example, today, we are mediating on Christ's Resurrection from the dead and Ascension into heaven and the Descent of the Holy Spirit. The Rosary involves a series of prayers, including the Our Father (which you will note is addressed to God), the Glory Be (also directed to God), and yes, some directed to Mary.

When we pray Mary in the Rosary, we use the Hail Mary, which quotes Scripture (Luke 1:28 and 1:42, to be exact) and then asks Mary to pray for us. We are not trying to get closer to Mary with this. We're only asking her to pray for us, and Mary always turns us to Christ (See John 2:5).

So, though a focused time of mediating on the life and works of Christ, we are indeed trying to get closer to the Lord, certainly not "less close."

The purpose of the Rosary is to help keep in memory certain principal events or mysteries in the history of our salvation, and to thank and praise God for them.

The Rosary is divided into five decades. Each decade represents a mystery or event in the life of Jesus.

There are four sets of "Mysteries of the Rosary" (Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious). These four "Mysteries of the Rosary" therefore contain, a total of twenty mysteries. The Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries are then said on specific days of the week (see each set of mysteries below). During private recitation of the Rosary, each decade requires devout meditation on a specific mystery. Public recitation of the Rosary (two or more people), requires a leader to announce each of the mysteries before the decade, and start each prayer.

The Apostle's Creed is said on the Crucifix; the Our Father is said on each of the Large Beads; the Hail Mary is said on each of the Small Beads; the Glory Be after the three Hail Mary's at the beginning of the Rosary, and Small Beads.

You pray the Rosary to God it was given to us by the Blessed Mother, and the only part of it that is specifically for Her is the bouquet of flowers she gets for every Rosary said and our petitions She so lovingly conveys to Her Son. The Holy Rosary has put Christ right in my heart. Since I have started saying it I am more conscience of my sins and far more resolved to over come my vices.

Also the Holy Rosary has given me such great blessings like the miracle of the baby growing inside of me, which would not be possible with out the help of God. (we were told children weren't possible) so I have to say there are many reasons to say the Rosary.

http://www.rosary-center.org/conprom.htm

Pray the Rosary and receive the Sacraments

All Christians are commanded to love one another and praying for each other is an expression of that love. the Bible and the Church teaches that the prayers of the righteous are of great benefit so according to Scripture the answer has to be yes. Certainly we can agree that the blessed mother of God and others who have been sanctified and in heaven besides being an example of our hope are benefiting us by their prayers.

BTW, praying the Rosary is praying to God directly. God bless!

In Christ

Fr. Joseph

The Rosary is a meditation on the events in the life of Jesus and His mother, Mary.

People who actually know what they are talking about before they talk do not appear so stupid.

When I first came back to the Church, don't ask me why, but I was afraid of Jesus. I wasn't taught to fear Jesus by the Catholic Church, but the things I did caused me to be afraid of him. I saw him as my judge, jury and executioner.

So I prayed the Rosary. Mary just seemed more "approachable" to me. I prayed the Rosary incessantly. I asked Mary to pray for me since I didn't think Jesus would listen to me (again, this was not something I was taught, but believed).

Eventually, what happened was that I knew Mary was telling me, "It's time for you to meet my Son." I was dead set against that idea. She laughed, and it seemed as though she was pushing me towards him.

Eventually, I gave in, and I'll always be grateful to our Blessed Mother for what she did. She took me in, and helped me heal - especially my distorted views of Jesus.

first off, the rosary is NOT prayed to Mary. it is a intercessory prayer. the rosary is a prayer of the Gospels. Look at the words.