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The Rosary

How-to

The Rosary is a short round of prayers said five times over, while you hold one scene from the life of Jesus and Mary in mind. The beads only count for you, so that your attention can stay on the scene. Fingers do as well.

  1. Begin

    Make the sign of the cross, and say the opening prayer printed below.

  2. Say five decades

    A decade is one mystery and the prayers that follow it. Read the first mystery, stop long enough to picture it, then say:

    Then move to the next mystery and do the same, until all five are done. Each of the ten Hail Marys is one bead. You may add one more short prayer at the end of each decade.

  3. Finish

    Say the Hail Holy Queen and the prayer after it, printed at the foot of this page. Many people add the The Litany of Loreto or another prayer to Our Lady afterwards.

Opening prayer

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

O God come to my aid;

O Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end. Amen.

The mysteries

  • The Joyful Mysteries (recited Monday and Saturday)
  • The Mysteries of Light (recited Thursday)
  • The Sorrowful Mysteries (recited Tuesday and Friday)
  • The Glorious Mysteries (recited Wednesday and Sunday)

The Joyful Mysteries Today

  1. The Annunciation

    "In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary". Lk 1:26-27

  2. The Visitation

    "In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!"'. Lk 1:39-42

  3. The Birth of Our Lord

    "In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrolment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn". Lk 2:1-7

  4. The Presentation in the Temple

    "And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, 'Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord') and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, 'a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons"'. Lk 2:21-24

  5. The finding of Jesus in the temple

    "Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom; and when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it ... After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers". Lk 2:41-47

Prayer concluding the Rosary

Hail, Holy Queen, etc. as above

The versicle — the line the one leading the prayer says or sings alone. The assembly answers it with the response that follows. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.

The response — the line the assembly says or sings together, answering the versicle before it. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

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 on 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.

See also