The sub-pages for this page are a work in progress. Memory aids for the Joyful Mysteries will be complete by 12-08-25. They can be found at this link: Memorizing the Joyful Mysteries
Memory aids for the other sets of mysteries will follow on monthly basis as the associated Scripture verses are published in the Seasoned Servant Connection.
The Memory System
One only needs access to the list of Scripture verses associated with the Annotated Rosary to pray it fruitfully. However, there is much to be gained by committing those verses to memory so one doesn’t have to depend on having a hard copy of the verses at hand to pray the Annotated Rosary. Of course, memorizing all those verses seems like an overwhelming, if not impossible, task; hence, one is inclined to dismiss the idea out of hand. This would be a mistake.
An Alternative to Rote Memorization
Unfortunately, schools don’t teach memory systems, so we get the impression early in life that there must not be an alternative to rote memorization, that is, memorization by the drudgery of repeating something over and over again, seemingly endlessly, until it is fixed in memory. Fortunately, there is an alternative, and the alternative is much easier than the laborious effort that is required for rote memorization.
The alternative we will describe has a long history of use. Simonides, an ancient Greek poet (d. circa 500 BC) is known as the father of the art of trained memory, but there are writings that pre-date him by over a millennium that give witness to the use of memory systems. Among some of the historically notable people who used memorization techniques are Aristotle, the greatest of the ancient Greek philosophers (d. 322 BC), the great Roman orator Cicero (d. 43 BC), and St. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274), the greatest theologian the Catholic Church has ever known. These were highly intelligent men, yet they practiced the form of memory training that will be described below.
The Ease of Short-Term Memorization
The apparent difficulty of memorizing two hundred Scripture verses is really a matter of perspective. Memorizing one verse per day would accomplish the task in a little more than six months. People forget how much information they effortlessly commit to short-term memory every day, but they only have to consider their ability to recall, at the end of the day, their experiences and conversations with others to see this rather impressive memory feat that was accomplished without effort.
Moving Information from Short-Term Memory to Long-Term Memory
Of course, short-term memory is not the same as long-term memory, and long-term memory is what is needed for the Scripture verses, but long-term memory can easily be attained with regular repetition of that which is captured in short-term memory, and repetition is built into the system if one prays the Rosary daily. The memory technique described here is extraordinarily successful at speeding up the process of moving information already in one’s short-term memory to one’s long-term memory. The only roadblock to learning the verses is an unwillingness to put into practice this simple method of learning the verses.
We strongly recommend that, no matter how incapable the reader thinks he is of pulling off this real memory feat, he give it a chance by learning just the ten Scripture verses for the first Joyful mystery, and then praying five decades of the Rosary using only the first Joyful mystery. The benefits of a significant reduction in distractions and the rapid passing of time while praying the Rosary will soon become apparent and will provide one with a strong motivation for completing the memory task for all the mysteries of the Rosary.
Association: The Basis of Memory
The basic principle of memory is association. We tend to remember something because it is related to something else. This is readily apparent by noticing how people tend to have difficulty staying on topic in conversations. The problem is that something spoken by one person reminds another person of some other thing, which reminds yet another person of still some other thing, and so the conversation wanders from one topic to another. This is due to the unintended, effortless associations we naturally make with persons, places, things, and concepts.
Properties of Association: Memory Tools
A specific example of this process of making natural associations can be seen by asking people who were teenagers or older in 2001 to remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard about the attack on the Twin Towers on September eleventh of that year. You may be thinking: “Of course we remember the attack, but that’s because it was an extreme situation.” In saying that, two properties of association have been identified: exaggeration and experience. First, we effortlessly commit to memory things that are exaggerated or disproportionate in some way. The complete collapse of the twin towers was extraordinarily disproportionate (i.e., exaggerated) relative to the normal events of everyday life. Second, we are more likely to remember something we experience rather than something we read or hear about. The collapse of the twin towers was televised live, so many people experienced it visually in real time. Others, experienced it after the fact by way of a video recording of the event. Either way, it was something that people observed and was, therefore, able to leave a deep experience in their memories.
There are two more properties of association that we find in the 911 event. First, there was action, the action of the airplanes that struct the towers, the action of the buildings collapsing, and the actions of the first responders to the horrific event. Second, there was context. The event didn’t occur in some distant land. Rather, it occurred in the heart of one of the world’s greatest cities here in America, a place that we can easily relate to.
One might ask if it is possible to create artificial memories? That is, if we try to create an association between two objects or concepts that we manufacture via the imagination, would we be able to remember that artificial association as easily as though it were a natural memory association? We find the answer to that question in our dreams. Though we often don’t recall our dreams, when we do remember them they are most often memories of events that never occurred, that is, artificial memories. Along similar lines, we can daydream about things that never happened and we can remember the events of those daydreams. Clearly, we can create artificial memories. Furthermore, in our dreams the things we recall are often out of place in one way or another. For example, a person whom we know very well in real life may be seen and recognized in a dream as that real-life person, yet in the dream a substitution has been made for what that person actually looks like in real life. The ability of our imaginations to make such substitutions is yet another property of association.
Applying Association Properties to Make Artificial Memories
While it is possible to make a good memory association with any one of the five association properties mentioned above, the association will typically be stronger when using more than one. These association properties will enable us to link concepts together so as to be able to remember lists of things, even very long lists, forward and backward.
Image descriptions for linking keywords for Scripture verses associated with the Joyful mysteries can be found at this link: Memorizing the Joyful Mysteries. Over the next several months image descriptions will be added for the Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious mysteries. The descriptive images have been written to maximize their visual impact on the imagination so as to ensure that the reader will not fail to be surprised at how well this system works. For each Scripture verse, a word or concept from the verse is identified as the verse’s keyword. The keywords are then linked together using the association properties mentioned above.
Putting the Method into Practice
After learning the ten keywords for one of the five mysteries that make up a set of mysteries, one will need to get familiar with the verses themselves. This is best done while actually praying the Rosary. As you are reciting the first part of the Hail Mary, recall the keyword associated with that bead. Once the high point of the Hail Mary is reached, the name of Jesus, read the Scripture verse and then continue immediately with the second part of the Hail Mary. As you do this regularly, you will become more and more familiar with the verses and you will sooner or later find the keyword for each verse triggering the recall of the associated Scripture verse. We suggest that you begin with the first Joyful mystery and pray only that mystery for all five decades while you are learning how to do this. Once you begin to feel as though you are “getting it” with the first Joyful mystery, add the second Joyful mystery to your routine and approach it in the same way or in whatever way seems best for you. Don’t be afraid to experiment. While putting this method of praying the Rosary into practice, you may feel as though you are not actually praying during the time you are learning the verses, but don’t be concerned about that. You will soon begin to see the benefit of this approach and you will then know that your labor has not been in vain.
The ten keywords can be learned in a minute or two for one who is familiar with the system, but one who is new to the system will need to take the time to read through the descriptions and then use his imagination to create the keyword association with an appropriate image. Note that the images made actually lie somewhere between an imaginative picture and an imaginative concept. For example, if someone tells you about a dog you have never seen, you immediately have a dog-like concept in your mind. That concept may be picture-like, if you have a strong imagination, or it may simply be the concept of what a dog is. The imagination is at work in either case, and neither is to be preferred over the other.
Additional Information on the Memory System
If you would like additional information on memory systems, see Kevin Vost’s Memorize the Faith or The Memory Book by Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas.
Theology and Sanity 