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The Holy Rosary

To access this page in printable text format click HERE Top How to Pray the Rosary The Mysteries of the Rosary Rosary Prayers About the Holy Rosary Mother Mary has repeatedly urged us to pray earnestly to God for forgiveness for this world's transgressions and to amend our lives and reconcile with one another.  The Holy Rosary is one way of focussing our attention on God and if we cannot each day complete all five decades of the Rosary, we should offer up at least one decade daily for a special intention, for example, for our country to be reconciled to God.  In this way we are joining the chains of rosary prayers said throughout the world.

HOW TO PRAY THE ROSARY     Go to Top of Page

It is customary to begin the Rosary by praying to the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts.

If we believe that God came down from Heaven and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man, (and by professing to be Christians we are accept this truth), we must acknowledge the unique honour God bestowed upon Mary.
After calling on the Holy Spirit, we confess our faith by saying the Apostles' Creed, an early Christian statement of belief.

When we say the Our Father, we are repeating the prayer Jesus taught us to say (Mt 6:9-13).

When we say the Hail Mary, we repeat the words the angel Gabriel said to Mary:
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you (Luke 1:28).
The next line of the prayer echoes the words of Elizabeth upon meeting Mary as well as Mary's answering Song of Praise:
Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus (Luke 1:41-42, Luke 1:48).
We end the prayer by acknowledging Mary as the Mother of our Lord as Elizabeth did:
Holy Mary, Mother of God (Luke 1:43).
We then ask for her intercession as we would another Christian, but we also acknowledge the special bond Mary has with Jesus, as portrayed in the first Miracle:
Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen (John 2:3-5).

The Glory Be is a short hymn of praise to God.

It has become traditional to add the Fatima prayer at the end of each decade which the Blessed Virgin Mary requested during her apparition at Fatima in 1917, and which asks Jesus to pray for us.

The Salve Regina is said at the end of the five decades.
This prayer was composed at the end of the eleventh century and is the most familiar Marian prayer after the Hail Mary.
While on the cross, Jesus gave Mary to us as a Mother (Jn 19:26-27) and by saying this prayer we ask our Heavenly Mother to pray for our needs.

The Let Us Pray comes from the Breviary which is the official prayer book of the Catholic Church.
It holds reminders of certain truths of the Catholic faith:
Jesus is God's only begotten Son; Jesus conquered death which are the rewards of eternal salvation.
We also call to mind the mysteries we have meditated upon, and we ask that we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise.

We end the Rosary by asking for God's Divine Assistance and offer a Prayer for those who have Died.

If we wish, we can add the Prayer to St Michael for protection from evil forces.
This was written by Pope Leo XIII in 1884 after he had a vision of Satan telling Jesus he could destroy His Church and only needed one century to do so.  The pope felt this prayer was so important it needed to be said at the end of every Mass.

THE MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY     Go to Top of Page

The mysteries of the rosary centre on events in Christ's and Mary's lives.
As suggested by the Pope John Paul II the Joyful mysteries are said on Monday and Saturday,
the Luminous on Thursday, the Sorrowful on Tuesday and Friday, and the Glorious on Wednesday and Sunday.
Exceptions are Sundays of Christmas season (The Joyful) and Sundays of Lent (Sorrowful).
Each decade of the Rosary is dedicated to a mystery and we can offer each one up for a special intention.

The Joyful Mysteries
The Annunciation
The Visitation
The Birth of Jesus
Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple
Finding Jesus in the Temple

Luminous Mysteries
The Baptism of Jesus
Wedding at Cana
Proclaiming the Kingdom
Transfiguration
Institution of the Eucharist

The Sorrowful Mysteries
The Agony in the Garden
The Scourging at the Pillar
The Crowning with Thorns
Carrying the Cross
The Crucifixion

Glorious Mysteries
The Resurrection
The Ascension
Descent of the Holy Spirit
The Assumption
The Coronation

ROSARY PRAYERS     Go to Top of Page

The first two prayers are said while holding the crucifix.

The Holy Spirit Prayer
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and kindle in them the fire of Thy love.
Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created.
And Thou shall renew the face of the earth.

The 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 power of 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 rose again.
He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.
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 life everlasting.
Amen.

The Lord's Prayer is said on the first (large) bead.
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.
And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Three Hail Mary's are said on the next three beads, each for an increase in faith, hope and charity.
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.

The Glory Be is then said.
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 First Mystery is announced and while holding the fifth (large) bead, The Lord's Prayer is said.
The Hail Mary is said on the next ten smaller beads.
The Glory Be is said after the last Hail Mary in each decade, followed by the Oh My Jesus prayer.

Fatima Prayer - Oh My Jesus
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell,
and lead all souls to heaven especially those in most need of Thy mercy.

At the end of the Rosary The Hail Holy Queen is said, followed by the Prayer after the Rosary.

Salve Regina - 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 vale of tears.
Turn then most gracious advocate Thy eyes of mercy towards us
and after this our exile show to us the blessed fruit of Thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
Pray for us that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Prayer after the Rosary
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, while 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.

May the divine assistance remain always with us.

And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Prayer to St Michael
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and the snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him we humbly pray and do thou O Prince of the Heavenly Host,
by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander
through the world for the ruin of souls.

ABOUT THE HOLY ROSARY     Go to Top of Page

The Rosary is a string of beads grouped in five sets of ten beads with a larger bead separating each decade. A small crucifix, hangs at the end of the beads.  It is arranged to look like a necklace, but is not usually worn as one.  Catholics often hang the Rosary from car rearview mirrors.

According to tradition, the Rosary was given to Saint Dominic in an apparition by the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1214 in the church of Prouille.  Pope Pius V officially approved the devotion in 1569.

Monks used to pray the psalter (150 psalms of the Bible) and the laity began the practise of saying 150 Our Fathers in place of the psalms and later a form of Hail Mary was said.  Some used beads to keep count (using beads in prayers us a custom common in other traditional religions, including Buddhists and Muslims).  A monk in the 14th/15th century divided the Ave Marias into 15 decades with the Our Father preceding them.

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