The Rosary is a powerful prayer that was given to us by Our Lady, Mary, the Mother of Christ. Mary appeared to St. Dominic and gave him the prayer of the rosary and instructed him to spread it. We can pray the rosary for specific prayer intentions, but the main purpose of the rosary is to meditate on the mysteries of the lives of Mary and Jesus to ultimately get closer to our Lord. Because our Lady specifically gave us this prayer, there are several promises and graces when we pray the rosary.
Prayers of the Rosary
There are a few prayers that you need to know when you are praying the Rosary. They are: The Sign of the Cross, Apostle’s Creed, Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Fatima Prayer, and the Hail Holy Queen. Don’t be discouraged by these prayers.
The Sign of the Cross
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Note: While you are saying The Sign of the Cross, touch your right hand to your forehead as you say Father. Then move your hand down to your heart as you say Son, and then touch right hand to your left shoulder has you say Holy. Then continue your right hand across your chest to your right shoulder as you say Spirit. You will know if you did it right if the motion looks and feels like a cross.
Apostles’ 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, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day he arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. From thence he shall 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 body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Our Father
Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be down, 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. And lead us not in to temptation, but deliver us form evil. Amen.
Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed 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.
Glory Be
Glory Be to the Father, and to the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be world without end. Amen.
Fatima Prayer (Optional)
Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls into Heaven especially those in most need of thy mercy.
Note: This prayer is optional because it comes from a private revelation of Mary approved by the Church.
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 us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
Rosary Prayer
Let us pray. O God, whose only begotten Son, by His life, death, and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life, grant, we beseech Thee, that meditating upon these mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Beads
You will noticed that when looking at the rosary, there are many beads. There are a total of 59 beads and there are two sizes. When you are on a larger bead you pray the Our Father. When you are on a smaller bead, you pray the Hail Mary.
You will noticed the beads are in groups. By the crucifix there are a total of 5 beads with three smaller beads grouped together. The rest of the rosary, as you will notice, has the smaller sized beads grouped together by 10. We call this a decade. With each decade you pray a mystery, or a story of Mary and Jesus’s life.
The Mysteries
As I previously mentioned, when we are praying each of the decades, we focus on a mystery, or a story of Mary and Jesus’s life. The purpose of praying with the mystery is so we can imitate the virtues exhibited by The Lord and Our Lady. We call them mysteries because we will never fully understand them. The mysteries in their beauty are far beyond our human intellect. This should not deter you from mediating on the mysteries, but rather encourage you. For there is so much to know, you can never grow tired of the mysteries of the rosary. Have you ever watched a mystery movie twice? Probably not because you already know how the story will end and, thus, there is no excitement. But Jesus wants us to keep coming back to Him through the mysteries so that we can have a great intimacy with you. There is also something to discover in each mystery as we pray it. Even being a cradle Catholic, I have heard these stories and prayed the rosary many times. Yet, I still I get insight from these mysteries that is applicable to my daily life.
There are four sets of mysteries: Glorious, Joyful, Sorrowful, and Luminous. Each day of the week is devoted to a set of mysterious:
Sunday: Glorious
Monday: Joyful
Tuesday: Sorrowful
Wednesday: Glorious
Thursday: Luminous
Friday: Sorrowful
Saturday: Joyful
Here is an overview of the mysteries per decade. If you are unfamiliar with these stories, or you want to further mediate on the mysteries as you say the Rosary, I have provided the Bible references. Please note these abbreviations: Mt – Matthew, Mk – Mark, Lk – Luke, Jn – John, Cor – Corinthians, Pet – Peter and Rev – Revelation.
Glorious Mysteries
Resurrection of Jesus (Mt 28:1-10; Mk 16:1-14; Lk 24:1-43; Jn 20:1-18, 21:1-14; 1 Cor 15:3-8; 1 Pet 3:18-20)
Ascension of Jesus into Heaven (Mk 16:19; Lk 24:50-52; Acts 1:1-11)
Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 1:12-4, 2:1-42)
Assumption of Mary Into Heaven (Rev 11:19-12:1)
Coronation of Our Lady in Heaven (Rev 12:1-5)
Joyful Mysteries
Annunciation (Lk 1:26-38)
Visitation (Lk 1:36, 39-56)
Nativity (Mt 1:18-25; Lk 2:1-20)
Presentation (Lk 2:21-39)
Finding of Jesus in the Temple (Lk 2:41-52)
Sorrowful Mysteries
Agony in the Garden (Mt 26:36-46; Mk 14:32-42; Lk 22:39-46; Jn 18:1)
Scourging at the Pillar (Mt 27:26; Mk 14:15; Jn 18:38-19:1)
Crowning of Thorns (Mt 27: 27-31; Mk 15:2-5,16-20)
Carrying of the Cross (Mt 15:20-22; Mk 15:20-22; Lk 23:20-32; Jn 19:17)
Crucifixion (Mt 27:33-54; Mk 15:24-39; Lk 23:32-49; Jn 19:18-30)
Luminous Mysteries
Baptism of Jesus (Mt 3:13-17; Mk 1:9-11; Lk 3:21-22)
Wedding Feast at Cana (Jn 2:1-11)
Proclamation of the Kingdom (Mt 4:17, 5:3-12; Lk 6:20-26)
Transfiguration of the Lord (Mt 17:1-8)
Institution of the Eucharist (Mt 26:26-30; Mk 14:22-25; Lk 22:15-20 Jn 6:27-35; 47-58)
Praying the Rosary
When beginning to pray the Rosary, start at the bottom of the “dangling part”. On the “dangling part” you will see the Crucifix, one larger bead, three smaller beads grouped together and lastly one larger bead. Start at the Crucifix and say the Sign of the Cross and Apostles Creed. Next, on the larger bead say Our Father. On each of the smaller beads you say one Hail Mary. These Hail Mary beads are not grouped in a decade. Here on each small bead, while praying a Hail Mary, you pray for faith, hope, and love. Each smaller bead is correlated to each virtue. For example, on the first smaller bead is faith, second is hope, and third is love. Faith, hope, and love are the three theological virtues. After the three Hail Marys then you say the Glory Be. The last bead on the “dangling part” of the Rosary will start the first mystery. You go counter-clockwise on the Rosary. On each larger bead, before you start saying the Our Father, announce the mystery for that decade. See the diagram below.
- At the Crucifix
- Sign of the Cross
- Apostles’ Creed
- At the big bead
- Our Father
- At each small bead
- Hail Mary- faith
- Hail Mary – hope
- Hail Mary – love
- After the 3 smaller group of beads
- Glory Be
- At the big bead
- Announce the mystery ex: “The first Joyous Mystery is the Annunciation.”
- Our Father
- At each small bead
- Hail Mary
- After each decade of small beads
- Glory Be
- Fatima Prayer
- After the Rosary is completed (Typically five decades)
- Hail, Holy Queen
- Rosary Prayer
- Close with the Sign of the Cross
Don’t Get Discouraged
Learning a new prayer, or starting a new routine can be overwhelming at times. If you sense the Rosary is too much for you at one time, start small, say one decade a day. For example, on Monday, start with the Sign of the Cross, Apostles’ Creed, one Our Father and three Hail Marys. Then on Tuesday start with the First Mystery and say a decade of the Rosary. On Wednesday, the second mystery with the second decade of the Rosary and so on.
The purpose of the Holy Rosary is to get closer to Jesus and to become holy with the help of the Blessed Mother. Becoming holy takes practice! The Rosary takes practice! I hope in time as you continue to stick with this beautiful prayer, that you will begin to see the fruit that it produces. If you mess up that is okay. Even if you have to look back to these prayers as a guide, it is okay. Even as a cradle Catholic, of almost 40 years, I still have to have the Apostles’ Creed visible when praying.
