The Rosary is a powerful weapon to put the demons to flight and to keep oneself from sin…If you desire peace in your hearts, in your homes, and in your country, assemble each evening to recite the Rosary.
Pope Pius XI
There are many ways to the pray the rosary.
- You can simply focus on the words of the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be or you can let the words of each prayer fade into the background while you focus on the mysteries.
- You can imagine the scenes in your mind or you can talk to Our Lady, Jesus or the saints and think about what they might have been doing, feeling or thinking during each event.
- Or you can use the rosary as time to spend with Our Lady and speak to her like the Mother she is to us. Tell her about your day, the things that made you happy and the things that made you sad. Tell her about the things you’re worried about, she will take them to Jesus and together they will take care of you.
Remember that you can offer your rosary for any special intention you want.
How to pray the rosary
(You can say the rosary while holding rosary beads or you can just use your fingers to help count the Hail Marys.)
- Begin with the Sign on the Cross. Then, while holding the crucifix, pray the Apostle’s Creed.
- Now pray one Our Father, three Hail Mary’s and one Glory Be. Traditionally the Church offers these prayers for the Holy Father and his intentions and for an increase in the virtues of faith, hope and charity in the world.
- Pray one Our Father, ten Hail Marys and one Glory Be. This makes a decade and there are five decades in each rosary.
- After each decade you can pray the Fatima prayer: “Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins and save us from the fires of Hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.”
- After you have prayed the five decades conclude with the Hail Holy Queen and the closing prayer:
Hail, Holy Queen, mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To you we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to you we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn, then, most gracious advocate, your eyes of mercy toward us; and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
R/ Pray for us O holy Mother of God. V/ That we may become 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 while 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.
[The Blessed Mother’s] actual life, both at Nazareth and later, must have been a very ordinary one… She should be shown to us as someone who can be imitated, someone who lived a life of hidden virtue, and who lived by faith as we must.
St. Thèrése of Lisieux