29 Apr The Rosary of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary.

How to Pray the Rosary

Where does the word come from? It comes from a Latin word Rosaria, which means a crown of roses or a garden of roses. It grew up in the second millennium of Christianity, particularly in Western Christianity around the 14th century. It’s attributed to Saint Dominic.

The Rosary is a sequence of prayers. St John Paul II said, it’s a compendium of the Gospel and it’s intended to help us grow in our faith as we come to understand more and more about the lif, the death, the resurrection and the Ascension of Jesus Christ, and about the Church and who we are in the Lord.

That’s why the way to view the Rosary is as a time of meditation. We meditate on the great mysteries of the faith.

Just how do you pray this Rosary? First, the Rosary of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, is not the first rosary. In fact, the rosary goes back into the first centuries of the Church. The early disciples took seriously Paul’s admonition to pray without ceasing, and so they looked for ways to constantly keep the presence of God in their lives.

With the first rosary, the monks of the early church had a corded band. They would simply say the name of Jesus over and over and over again. “Lord Jesus, son of God have mercy on me.”

But this Rosary asks Our Lady to pray for us, and it has deep historic roots in Christianity, dating back to the early centuries of the Church. The Church has always believed in the communion of saints. What that means is that those who are marked with the sign of faith and go home to the Lord are still joined to us. They pray for us; they pray with us. As the author of the Letter of the Hebrew said, “They’re that great cloud of witnesses.”

And so, the early Christians always asked for Our Lady’s intercession, and now we’re going to talk about the form of prayer that does that so beautifully.

Step-By-Step Instructions for Praying The Rosary

1. Begin by holding the crucifix, saying “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (making the sign of the Cross while doing that), then say the Apostles Creed.
2. On the single bead just above the cross, pray the “Our Father.” This and all prayers of the rosary are meditative prayers.
3. The next cluster has 3 beads. The “Hail Mary” prayer is said on these three beads. You pray the 3 Hail Marys while meditating on the three divine virtues of faith, hope, and love/charity.
4. On the chain or cord after the three beads, say the “Glory be…”
5. On the next bead, which is a single bead, you announce the first divine mystery of contemplation. For example, if it were a Monday, you would say the first Joyful Mystery is “The Annunciation”, at this point you pray the “Our Father” prayer.
6. Now this will bring you to the first decade, or set of 10 beads of the Rosary. You will then pray 10 Hail Marys while contemplating the first mystery, example: The Annunciation.
7. After the 10th Hail Mary you will have completed the first of 5 decades which make up a Chaplet of the Rosary. You now come to another single bead, at this point, you pray the… Glory be to the Father… then (on the same bead) pray the O My Jesus… then (on the same bead) announce the next or second mystery. For example: if its Monday and your praying the Joyful Mysteries, the second Joyful Mystery is The Visitation. At this point you pray the Our Father….
8. You will now come to the second decade or group of 10 beads, you will now pray the 10 Hail Marys while contemplating the appropriate mystery.
9. You continue to pray the rosary the same way throughout. If your intention is to pray a Chaplet (a single set of mysteries) at the end of the fifth mystery you will come back to the joiner, this is where the decades all join with the lower part of the rosary which contains the cross. When you come to the joiner, you decide whether or not you wish to say another Chaplet or end. If you decide to say another Chaplet you simply announce the next mystery and continue. If you wish to end, you simply say the Glory Be To The Father, the O My Jesus, The Our Father and end the rosary with the Hail Holy Queen and the sign of the Cross……..

Various Rosary Prayers in approximate order as prayed in the Rosary

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, 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, sitteth 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.