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The Holy Rosary

The Rosary

The Rosary

"Pray the Rosary every day in order to obtain peace for the world..."-Our Lady of the Rosary, Fatima (13.5.1917)
The Rosary is a very powerful prayer and in essence it is praying the Gospel.
Meditating on the life of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
We petition our prayers to Our Blessed Mother and she delivers our Rosary
(each Hail Mary is 1 rose and the Rosary is a beautiful and fragrant bouquet of roses)
to her Son so our prayers may be heard and answered.

How to pray the Rosary

The Rosary is prayed on Rosary beads that have 5 decade beads ( a decade usually consists of 1 Our Father,10 Hail Mary prayers and a Glory be ). A Full Rosary is made up of 5 deacades but you may pray as many as you like from 1-20. Each day has it's particular set of mysteries which are meditated upon(consult table below) in the life of our Saviour,Jesus Christ and His most Holy Mother ,Mary.



  1. The Rosary begins with the sign of the Cross


  2. On the Cross you pray the Apostles Creed

  3. You then proceed to the next bead where you pray an Our Father

  4. On the next 3 beads you pray 3 Hail Mary prayers and a Glory be, these are for the theological virtues of faith,hope and love.

  5. Next you announce the First mystery (you may say the whole mystery at the beginning,or pray it in between each prayer[in that deacde]) and pray an Our Father.

  6. Now you pray your 10 Hail Mary's while meditating on the mystery and offer the spiritual fruit for yourself or whoever you are praying this Holy Rosary for.

  7. Once you have finished the Hail Mary prayers, finish the deacde with the Glory be and the Fatima Prayer.


  8. Continue the method of praying the as said in steps 5-7 until you have completed all 5 mysteries (or your chosen number of mysteries).

    By this stage (if you prayed 5 decades) you would have completed your circle of beads and would be in the metal centre-piece.

  9. On the centre-piece you pray the Hail Holy Queen and the Closing Prayers.

  10. The Rosary is completed when you make the sign of the Cross.

Rosary Prayers

The Rosary consists of 3 main prayers they are:




  • The Our Father





  • The Hail Mary






  • The Glory beSome other main prayers that are prayed in the Rosary are:





  • The Apostles Creed





  • The Fatima prayer




  • Hail Holy Queen







    • Additional Rosary Prayers

    Some additional prayers that you can pray with your Rosary are:


  • Prayer to St. Michael




  • The Angels Prayer





  • Prayer for the dead





    • The Mysteries

    There are 4 meditative mysteries of the Rosary and they are:



  • The Joyful




  • The Sorrowful




  • The Glorious




  • The Luminous (Mysteries of Light)
    The GloriousThe LuminousThe Sorrowful The Joyful
    Recommended days: Wed & SunRecommended day: ThurRecommended days Tue & FriRecommended days: Mon & Sat
    The First Glorious mystery
    The Ressurection    		The First Luminous mystery
    Christ's Baptism in the Jordan    		The First Sorrowful mystery
    The Agony in the Garden    		The First Joyful Mystery
    The Annunciation
    The Second Glorious mystery
    The Ascension    		The Second Luminous mystery
    Christ's self-Revelation at the Marriage of Cana    		The Second Sorrowful mystery
    The Scourging at the Pillar    		The Second Joyful mystery
    The Visitation
    The Third Glorious mystery:
    The Descent of the Holy Spirit    		The Third Luminous mystery:
    Christ's Proclamation of the Kingdom     		The Third Sorrowful mystery:
    Crowning with Thorns    		The Third Joyful mystery:
    The Birth of Jesus
    The Fourth Glorious mystery:
    The Assumption    		The Fourth Luminous mystery:
    The Transfiguration    		The Fourth Sorrowful mystery:
    Carrying of the Cross    		The Fourth Joyful mystery:
    The Presentation
    The Fifth Glorious mystery:
    The Coronation    		The Fifth Luminous mystery:
    The Institution of the Eucharist    		The Fifth Sorrowful mystery:
    The Crucifixion    		The Fifth Joyful mystery:
    Finding the Child Jesus in the Temple


    The Fifteen Promises of Our Lady to those who pray the Rosary

    1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal graces.
    2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who recite the Rosary.
    3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armour against Hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin and defeat heresies.
    4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God, it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh the souls would sanctify themselves by these means!
    5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish.
    6. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying themselves to the consideration of its sacred mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise them by His justice, they shall not perish by an unprovided death; if they shall remain in grace of God and become worthy of eternal life.
    7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
    8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death, the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in paradise.
    9. I shall deliver from Purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
    10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.
    11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.
    12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
    13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.
    14. All those who recite the Rosary are my sons and brothers of my only son Jesus Christ.
    15. Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.




    •           These promises were given to Saint Dominic and Blessed Alan de la Roche.

    Rosary Indulgences

    As well as the prayers that we petition to Our Lord and His Blessed Mother there are spiritual gifts (indulgences) that remove temporal punishment due to sin(time spent in purgatory).Please note: They do not remove sin, this can only be done through the sacrament of reconciliation. They can be given as plenary indulgences or partial indulgences for completing a spiritual act. The Holy Rosary is an act that is worth an indulgence.
    There are two types of indulgences: Plenary Indulgence Partial Indulgnece
    Plenary indulgences may be gained for praying the Rosary if the usual conditions are observerved and the Rosary is prayed in Church, in a family group, or in a Religious community as well as the following:
    1. Five decades of the Rosary must be prayed continuosly
    2. The Prayers of the Rosary must be prayed upon vocally and one must meditate upon the Mysteries of the Rosary.
    3. If the recitation of the Rosary is public, the Mysteries must be announced.
    Partial Indulgences are gained for the recitation of the Rosary in whole or in part. A partial indulgence is also gained if any of the conditions for a plenary indulgence is not met.
    The usual conditions to gain a plenary indulgence are to perform the spiritual act(e.g. recitation of the Rosary) anf three other conditions
    1. A Sacramental confession
    2. Eucharistic communion
    3. Prayers for the Pope's intentions
      4. A Person must also be free from all attachment to sin (mortal and venial).
    If any of the conditions for plenary indulgences aren't fulfilled the indulgence is only a partial one. All indulgences can be applied to yourself and also for the dead.

    Downloadalble Prayer list

    25 name spaces of people to pray for.Remember those who need your prayers when you pray your Rosary. To download and print click here.
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