Reclaiming Sacred Time: Addressing the Dissonance between Rosary Devotion and

Mass Participation in the Modern Catholic Church

In today's Catholic Church, there's a noticeable difference between how people

participate in the Mass and focus on saying the rosary. Both are important in the Church, but
there's a growing trend where some people, especially older women, pray the rosary while the
Mass is ongoing. Even though this comes from a place of deep respect, it creates a kind of
conflict between everyone joining in the Mass together and individuals praying quietly. This
situation makes people think about how to manage time and attention during religious
gatherings. It's sparking discussions in the Church about finding a way for both the Mass and
rosary to happen without one interrupting the other, keeping both rituals special during Mass.

Merging the rosary prayer with Mass causes a problem in how people do these
important religious activities. Saying the rosary, usually done alone and quietly, doesn't match
the way Mass brings everyone together. This mismatch affects the feeling of togetherness and
sharing that the Mass wants to create, where everyone is supposed to join in worship as a
group.

Praying the rosary during Mass might accidentally take focus away from everyone
worshiping together, making a divide between those fully involved in the Mass and those doing
private prayer. This issue makes it hard to keep everyone's attention and focus, which could
affect how much respect and unity the gathering has.

The big thing here is about keeping both activities special — Mass as a time for
everyone to celebrate together and the rosary as a personal prayer. Fixing this problem is
important to make sure both practices can happen without bothering each other, keeping the
special and important feeling of both during Mass.

Objectives of this Study

Main Objectives:

Checking How Much People Know: Figure out how much they know about the trend of doing
the rosary during Mass.
Understanding What People Think: Find out what individuals in the Church feel about doing
the rosary during Mass. Do they see a problem with praying quietly while everyone else joins in
the Mass?

Seeing How Much Attention People Give: Check how much attention people give to the Mass
when they're quietly doing their rosary. Do they feel like they're part of the Mass and doing their
prayer at the same time?

Knowing the Value of Both Practices: Understand how important both the Mass and the
rosary are to people. Do they think both can be special without getting in the way of each other
during Mass?

Asking for Ideas to Solve the Dilemma: Get ideas and thoughts from individuals on how to
solve the problem of having both the Mass and the rosary together. The aim is to find solutions
that keep both practices special and respectful during Mass.

QUESTIONS

Questionnaire: Understanding the Practice of Rosary Devotion During Mass

Demographic Information:

1. Name
2. Age:
3. Gender:
4. How long have you been attending Mass regularly?

Awareness and Knowledge of Rosary Devotion During Mass:

5. Are you aware of individuals, especially older women, practicing the rosary during Mass?

- Yes
- No
- Not Sure

6. How familiar are you with the trend of praying the rosary while Mass is ongoing?

- Very Familiar
- Somewhat Familiar
- Not Familiar

Perceptions and Opinions:

7. What are your thoughts about individuals quietly praying the rosary while others are actively
participating in the Mass?

- Acceptable practice
- Disruptive practice
- Unsure/Neutral

8. Do you see any conflicts or issues arising from the simultaneous practice of the rosary and
Mass?

- Yes
- No
- Maybe

Attention and Engagement:

9. When you quietly pray the rosary during Mass, do you feel fully engaged and connected to
the communal aspects of the Mass?

- Yes, completely engaged

- Somewhat engaged
- No, not engaged

10. How much attention do you give to the Mass while practicing your personal rosary devotion?

- Complete attention to Mass

- Some attention to Mass
- No attention to Mass, fully focused on the rosary

Importance of Mass and Rosary:

11. How important is Mass as a communal celebration of faith for you?

- Very Important
- Somewhat Important
- Not Important

12. Similarly, how significant is the rosary as a personal devotional prayer for you?

- Very Significant
- Somewhat Significant
- Not Significant
Suggestions and Solutions:

13. What do you think could be done to balance the coexistence of Mass and rosary devotion
without interrupting each other? [Open-ended response]

14. Any other thoughts, ideas, or suggestions on maintaining the significance and
respectfulness of both practices during Mass gatherings?

RESPONSES

RESPONDENT 1:

Jastine Margarette Zabat, a 23-year-old woman, has been attending Mass since childhood. She
is aware of older women practicing the rosary during Mass, considering it somewhat familiar.
However, she finds the practice of quietly praying the rosary during Mass unacceptable and
sees conflicts arising from this simultaneous practice. When quietly praying the rosary during
Mass, she feels disconnected from the communal aspects and doesn't engage with the Mass.
Despite the importance of Mass as a communal celebration and the significance of the rosary
as a personal devotional prayer, she feels disengaged during rosary prayer at Mass. Her
suggestions to balance Mass and rosary devotion involve specific prayer times, guidance from
church leaders, educational sessions, group prayers, integrating the rosary into Mass, using
technology, and community discussions. Additionally, she emphasizes the importance of clear
guidance from the priests and church leaders during Mass for personal prayers, indicating the
need for clearer instructions.

RESPONDENT 2:

Aaron Joshua Bueno, a 22-year-old who's been attending Mass his whole life, knows about
people, especially older women, doing the rosary during Mass. He suggests having a separate
time before or after Mass for quiet prayer, especially for those wanting to say the rosary. He also
thinks it's really important for the priest to clearly tell everyone during Mass when it's okay to
pray individually, like saying the rosary. He believes that if the priest gives clear instructions,
everyone will know when it's respectful to pray quietly without disturbing the group prayers in
Mass. This would make sure that personal prayers fit well with the whole celebration and keep
both ways of praying special.

His and Ms. Margarette Zabat’s answers are somehow related to each other.

RESPONDENT 3:

Dimple Tambor, 23, has been attending Mass since she was a child too. Although she highly
values Mass as a communal celebration of faith and considers the rosary as a significant
personal devotional prayer, she isn't aware of individuals practicing the rosary during Mass nor
familiar with this trend. However, finds the practice of quietly praying the rosary during Mass
unacceptable, foreseeing conflicts arising from it. When quietly praying the rosary during Mass,
she doesn't feel fully engaged with the communal aspects and doesn't pay much attention to the
service. To balance Mass and rosary devotion, she suggests separate times for each activity
and stresses the importance of creating awareness and informing people about these practices
during Mass gatherings.

RESPONDENT 4:

Cathlyn Cabrera, is a 24-year-old woman attending Mass since the age of 10 and is aware of
individuals, particularly older women, practicing the rosary during Mass and is familiar with the
trend of praying the rosary while Mass is ongoing. However, she finds quietly praying the rosary
while others actively participate in Mass unacceptable and foresees conflicts arising from this
practice. She doesn't feel fully engaged or connected to the communal aspects of the Mass
when quietly praying the rosary and admits not giving much attention to the Mass during her
personal rosary devotion. Despite this, she values Mass as a communal celebration of faith and
considers the rosary highly significant as a personal devotional prayer. Her suggestion to
balance Mass and rosary devotion involves creating separate suitable times and places for each
activity, emphasizing that both are important but should not be performed simultaneously.
Additionally, she advocates for informing people about the correct practices during Mass
gatherings.

RESPONDENT 5:

Chrisel Dianne Guba, 23, has been going to Mass since she was young and knows about older
women praying the rosary during Mass. She doesn't like when people quietly pray the rosary
while others are doing Mass activities and thinks it could cause problems. When she prays the
rosary during Mass, she doesn't feel connected to the group and doesn't focus much on Mass.
But she thinks Mass is really important for everyone to celebrate together, and she thinks the
rosary is a very important personal prayer. She says it's tough to correct the wrong tradition
because it's been done for a long time. Chrisel believes it's important to change how we act
personally first because small change matters and then teach others the right way to do things
during Mass.

CONCLUSION

From the gathered responses, it's apparent that various individuals, notably Jastine Margarette
Zabat, Aaron Joshua Bueno, Dimple Tambor, Cathlyn Cabrera, and Chrisel Dianne Guba, share
similar sentiments regarding the practice of quietly praying the rosary during Mass. They
generally consider it unacceptable, foreseeing conflicts or disengagement from the communal
aspects of Mass. Despite their awareness of this practice and its familiarity, they propose
different approaches to address this dissonance. Suggestions include allocating separate times
for Mass and rosary, emphasizing the need for clear guidance from church leaders, creating
awareness, and educating congregants about proper practices during Mass. Additionally, there's
a shared acknowledgment of the challenges in altering long-standing traditions. However, the
consensus leans towards advocating for changes in personal behavior first, believing that such
individual actions can eventually influence collective practices during Mass gatherings.

REFLECTION

Their unified answers about conflicts stemming from this practice, despite their different levels of
familiarity with it, is intriguing. What stands out is the variety of interconnected solutions they've
suggested, ranging from setting separate prayer times to highlighting guidance from church
leaders and increasing awareness among the congregation. This diversity shows how complex
the issue is, emphasizing the difficulty in finding a solution that works for everyone.
Acknowledging the challenge in changing long-held traditions deeply resonates with me, making
me think about the importance of starting change at an individual level. It's uplifting to see how
they believe individual actions can lead to broader change during Mass gatherings. This shared
belief calls for a sense of responsibility in maintaining respectful practices while acknowledging
the gradual evolution of traditions within the Church.

I hope that by talking about the conflict between praying the rosary and joining Mass in the
modern Catholic Church, we can find a good solution. This old tradition doesn't seem to fit well
with Mass, and we should make a change. The talks and ideas being shared show a big step
toward making Mass a more special time for everyone. I believe that if we keep talking and
working together, we can solve this problem.