1. Quiet Your Mind and Limit Distractions.

In St. Louis De Montfort's book, The Secret of the Rosary, he writes:

"Of course, you cannot possibly say your Rosary without having a few involuntary distractions and it is hard to say even one Hail Mary without your imagination troubling you a little. The one thing you can do is to say your Rosary without giving in to distractions deliberately and you can take all sorts of precautions to lessen involuntary distractions and to control your imagination."

2. Ask God, Mary and your Guardian Angel to help you.

Again St. Louis De Montfort writes in his book, the Secret of the Rosary:

"Put yourself in the presence of God and imagine that Almighty God and His Blessed Mother are watching you and that your guardian Angel is standing at your right hand, taking your Hail Marys, if they are well said, and using them like roses to make crowns for Jesus and Mary."

The next time you pray the Rosary imagine that you are holding Mary's hand and taking a trip to see Jesus.

3. Go Slowly if Possible.

St. Josemaria Escriva, contributes a simple, but often overlooked suggestion. He encourages us to pronounce each Our Father and Hail Mary clearly and without rushing. In doing so, we will better express our love for Mary and Jesus. When praying the Rosary, it’s easy to fall into the trap of mumbling and our rushing through the prayers.

4. Meditate on the Mysteries not Yourself.

In Father Peyton’s Rosary Prayer Book: The Family That Prays Together Stays Together , Fr. Patrick Peyton reminds us that the Rosary is more than a series of prayers to be recited. Rather, it is “a series of thoughts to be dwelt on, to be turned over in the mind, to be applied in daily life.” While we are saying the words of the prayers, we should be meditating upon the mysteries. This is probably one of the biggest challenges people face. Due to distractions it is difficult to quiet the mind, think less of self, and focus on the mysteries. This is the biggest challenge, yet key to unleashing the power of the Rosary.

Without [the Rosary’s] contemplative dimension, it would lose its meaning…Without contemplation, the Rosary is a body without a soul, and its recitation runs the risk of becoming a mechanical repetition of formulas, in violation of the admonition of Christ: “In praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think they will be heard for their many words.”

– Pope John Paul II

When we pray the Rosary, we should remember that Mary understands our problems. By meditating on the events in her life and the life of Jesus, we can obtain help for our daily struggles from someone who is now in a place where we would like to someday be.

5. Grow In Virtue

In the book, The Prayers and Personal Devotions of Mother Angelica, she discusses how to use the Rosary to grow in virtue:

“If you’re not making progress in one virtue, say your Rosary and meditate on that virtue as Our Lord practiced it. I cannot get over my faults and weaknesses if I don’t substitute those faults and weaknesses for something of God. This is precisely why the life of Jesus and the reading of Scripture and the rosary never seem to change us – why we remain the same: Because to change you need to admire someone other than yourself.”

6. Persevere and Don't Give Up.

"Even if you have to fight distractions all through your whole Rosary be sure to fight well, arms in hand: that is to say, do not stop saying your Rosary even if it is hard to say and you have absolutely no sensible devotion. It is a terrible battle, I know, but one that is profitable to the faithful soul. If you put down your arms, that is, if you give up your Rosary, you will be admitting defeat and then, having won, the devil will leave you alone."

- St. Louis De Montfort writes in his book, the Secret of the Rosary

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6 Keys To Unleashing the Power of the Rosary

One Hail Mary at a Time