Introduction to the Rosary
The Rosary is an arranged set of beads which helps us to organize a large number of prayers by touch, freeing the mind to contemplate our Lord and venerate the Blessed Virgin without the diversion of counting. The most common form of the rosary in modern use is the Dominican Rosary, with a crucifix and center medal, six Our Father beads, 3 introductory Hail Marys, and five sets of ten Hail Mary beads (the decades).
The prayers of the Rosary are offered to bring us close to the Lord by exploring the experiences of Holy Mary and Jesus in His youth and mission, all of which are taken from the Gospels. These experiences are called the mysteries. There are twenty mysteries, or tableaux, in all, divided into four groups of five each: the Joyful Mysteries, the Luminous Mysteries, the Sorrowful Mysteries, and the Glorious Mysteries. By convention, one set of Mysteries is assigned for each day of the week, so that our prayers may be seamlessly united with others throughout the world on any given day. Alternatively, all four sets of Mysteries may be prayed in a single day. Both the Mysteries and the calendar are explored further in the following page of this section.
The Rosary is a powerful devotion. The cadence of the prayers soothes emotion, quieting us to welcome the Holy Spirit. The length of the prayers allows us to spend time with the Lord, which is an act of love and respect. Through the announcement of each mystery, we learn to associate readings from the Gospels to the fruits of belief and humble obedience, and to conform our lives with the sweetness and suffering of our Immaculate Mother. By Her example, we may gather strength to walk a straight path, and persevere in faith for God the Father, God the Son, our neighbors and ourselves. There's a beautiful quote from Bishop Hugh Doyle, who said, "No one can live continually in sin and continue to say the Rosary: either they will give up sin or they will give up the Rosary."
Structure of the Rosary
The first step in learning to pray the Rosary is to become familiar with the basic structure of the rosary itself. In the graphic below, The crucifix (or a cross, which has no corpus of Jesus), introductory prayer beads, and the first Our Father bead of the mysteries are arranged on the drop portion, which falls below the center medal. Above the center medal is a closed circle of five sets of ten small beads (the five decades) and four more single beads separated from the decades by segments of chain. These are the Our Father beads used to announce the mysteries of decades two through five.
In strung rosaries, the chain segments are replaced either by a small length of plain cord or a set of very small beads. These separating segments are important, as prayers are said upon them as well as the Hail Mary and Our Father beads.
Mysteries & Calendar
The mysteries of the Rosary are the foundation stones of faith, taken directly from Scripture. For the purposes of rosary prayer, twenty mysteries are grouped by relevance to one another into sets of five: the Glorious Mysteries, the Joyful Mysteries, the Sorrowful Mysteries and the Luminous Mysteries. These sets are further arranged by calendar days of the week. The Mysteries prayed on Sundays change during Lent and Advent, but those prayed from Monday through Saturday stay the same, no matter the season of the Liturgical year.
"The Holy Rosary contains many mysteries of Jesus and Mary, and since faith is the only key which opens up these mysteries for us... the stronger our faith, the more merit our Rosary will have.
This faith must be lively and informed by charity; in other words, to recite properly the Rosary, it is necessary to be in God's grace, or at least in quest of it. This faith must be strong and constant, that is, one must not be looking for sensible devotion and spiritual consolation in the recitation of the Rosary; nor should one give it up because his mind is flooded with countless involuntary distractions or one experiences a strange distaste in the soul and an almost continual and oppressive fatigue in the body. Neither feeling, nor consolation, nor sighs, nor transports, nor the continual attention of the imagination are needed; faith and good intentions are quite enough. 'Faith alone suffices.' "
(St. Louis de Montfort, The Secret of the Rosary)
The Calendar for Ordinary Time:
The Calendar for the Season of Lent:
The Calendar for Advent and the Season of Christmas:
The Rosary Mysteries
The twenty mysteries of the rosary are provided below, shown sorted into their four main sets. If you are praying one rosary per day, look up the set prescribed for today's rosary on the calendar charts provided above, then scroll down to find the five mysteries for that set.
One mystery from the set will be announced on one Our Father bead, in order as you move along the circle portion of your rosary. Five mysteries, five decades. As you pray the ten Hail Mary beads for each specific mystery, concentrate and reflect upon the mystery, and its fruit.
The Glorious Mysteries & Their Spiritual Fruits
1st Glorious mystery: the resurrection of Jesus. The fruit of this mystery is faith.
2nd Glorious mystery: the ascension of Jesus. The fruit of this mystery is Christian hope.
3rd Glorious mystery: the descent of the Holy Spirit. The fruit of this mystery is the love of God.
4th Glorious mystery: the assumption of Mary. The fruit of this mystery is the grace of a happy death.
5th Glorious mystery: the coronation of Mary in Heaven. The fruit of this mystery is trust in Mary's intercession.
The Joyful Mysteries & Their Spiritual Fruits
1st Joyful mystery: the annunciation. The fruit of this mystery is humility.
2nd Joyful mystery: the visitation. The fruit of this mystery is love of neighbor.
3rd Joyful mystery: the birth of Jesus. The fruit of this mystery is poverty in spirit.
4th Joyful mystery: the presentation of Jesus. The fruit of this mystery is purity of mind and body.
5th Joyful mystery: finding the child Jesus in the temple. The fruit of this mystery is obedience.
The Sorrowful Mysteries & Their Spiritual Fruits
1st Sorrowful mystery: the agony in the garden. The fruit of this mystery is sorrow for sin and submission to God's will.
2nd Sorrowful mystery: the scourging at the pillar. The fruit of this mystery is mortification of the senses.
3rd Sorrowful mystery: the crowning with thorns. The fruit of this mystery is the reign of Christ in our hearts.
4th Sorrowful mystery: the carrying of the cross. The fruit of this mystery is the patient bearing of trials.
5th Sorrowful mystery: the crucifixion. The fruit of this mystery is the pardon of injuries.
The Luminous Mysteries & Their Spiritual Fruits
1st Luminous mystery: the baptism of Jesus. The fruit of this mystery is openness to the Holy spirit.
2nd Luminous mystery: the wedding at Cana. The fruit of this mystery is to Jesus through Mary.
3rd Luminous mystery: the proclamation of the kingdom (from the Sermon on the Mount). The fruit of this mystery is the desire for holiness.
4th Luminous mystery: the transfiguration. The fruit of this mystery is spiritual courage.
5th Luminous mystery: the institution of the Eucharist. The fruit of this mystery is adoration.
How to Pray the Rosary
Now that you have an idea of the basic structure of the rosary, how the sets of Mysteries are organized, and the daily calendar, you're ready to discover the prayers and their order in the rosary.
The graphic below shows the rosary in full, and the organization of prayers. Please note that in this photo, the rosary is prayed in the counter-clockwise direction, with the first decade starting off from the top right of the center medal. If you prefer, you may choose to pray the circle of decades in the clockwise direction. In that case, the first decade would start from the top left of the center medal.
Begin on the crucifix:
Make the sign of the cross:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Pray the Apostle's Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth, And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, And born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate; Was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
On the third day, He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven, And is seated at the right hand of the Father.
From there, He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, The holy Catholic church, the communion of Saints, The forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the dead, And life everlasting. Amen.
On the 1st bead above the crucifix (the introductory Our Father), pray:
one Our Father.
Our Father, Who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
On the next 3 small beads, pray:
one Hail Mary on each (for an increase in faith, hope and charity).
Hail Mary! Full of Grace,
The Lord is with Thee!
Bless’ed art Thou amongst women,
And bless’ed is the fruit
of Thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners
Now, and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
On the next large bead (just below the center medal):
Call to mind (and keep in mind) the 1st mystery.
Announce the mystery (silently, or out loud in vocal prayer as with a group).
Pray one Our Father.
On the 1st ten beads above the center medal, pray:
one Hail Mary on each bead.
On the chain segment after the 10th Hail Mary, pray:
one Glory Be,
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and forever shall be
world without end. Amen.
followed by The Fatima Prayer:
O Jesus, my Savior, forgive us our sins.
Save us from the fires of hell.
Lead all souls to heaven,
especially those most in need of Thy mercy. Amen
On the next large bead:
Call to mind (and keep in mind) the 2nd mystery.
Announce the mystery (silently or out loud in vocal prayer as with a group).
Pray one Our Father.
On the second set of ten small beads (second decade), pray:
one Hail Mary on each bead.
On the chain segment after the 10th Hail Mary of the 2nd decade, pray:
one Glory Be and the Fatima Prayer.
Continue the rest of the circle portion of the rosary,
announcing the mystery and praying one Our Father on the large beads, praying ten Hail Marys on the decade beads, and reciting the Glory Be and Fatima Prayer on the chain segment after each decade until you arrive back at the center medal.
Closing prayers on the center medal
You may choose to offer a prayer for the intentions of the Pope on the center medal.
The traditional closing prayer of the Rosary is the Hail, Holy Queen:
Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve;
To thee do we send up our sighs,
mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us,
and after this, our exile, show unto us
the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy
of the promises of Christ. Amen.
Your five decade rosary may also be used to pray other devotions, such as the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Please find the prayers for this and other devotions on the full rosary in Stack II of the Meinssen Handmade Rosaries library section.