How to Pray the Rosary: Quick Guide

July 26, 2017

How to Pray the Rosary: Quick Guide

The Rosary is a prayerful meditation for peace, and in the words of Pope John Paul II, the goal of praying the Rosary is "the improvement of the living conditions of all."

In a world where our brothers and sisters struggle daily with poverty, hunger, inequality, hatefulness, disease, and oppression, the Rosary can act as a daily reminder to come together to help one another overcome those conditions - with the help of God.

Instructions for praying the Rosary are followed by a listing of the daily Mysteries and biblical references to each of those Mysteries. Remember that "a" following a passage's citation is a call to focus on the first part of a passage, and "b" is a call to focus on the end of a passage.

The Prayers of the Rosary

Begin by making the Sign of the Cross.

Pray the "Apostle's Creed."

Pray the "Our Father."

Pray one "Hail Mary" per each of the three beads.

Pray the "Glory Be" in the space between the three close beads and the next solitary bead.

Announce the First Mystery. The types of Mysteries are the Joyful (Sundays during Advent, Mondays and Saturdays), Sorrowful (Sundays during Lent, Tuesdays and Fridays), Glorious (Wednesdays and Sundays), and Luminous (Thursdays). More information appears at the end of this post, and the hyperlinks direct you to follow-along videos.

Pray the "Our Father" on the next solitary bead.

While meditating on the First Mystery, pray one "Hail Mary" per the next 10 beads. This is called a "decade."

In the space following the decade, pray the "Glory Be" . . .

and the "Fatima Prayer."

“Oh my Jesus forgive us our sins save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven especially those most in need of thy mercy.”