The Holy Rosary site - WWW.THEHOLYROSARY.ORG

"Say the Rosary every day...
Pray, pray a lot and offer sacrifices for sinners...
I'm Our Lady of the Rosary.
Only I will be able to help you.
...In the end My Immaculate Heart will triumph."

Our Lady at Fatima

His Holyness John Paul II

Apostle of the Rosary

T he word Rosary means "Crown of Roses". Our Lady has revealed to several people that each time they say a Hail Mary they are giving her a beautiful rose and that each complete Rosary makes her a crown of roses. The rose is the queen of flowers, and so the Rosary is the rose of all devotions and it is therefore the most important one. The Holy Rosary is considered a perfect prayer because within it lies the awesome story of our salvation. With the Rosary in fact we meditate the mysteries of joy, of sorrow and the glory of Jesus and Mary. It's a simple prayer, humble so much like Mary. It's a prayer we can all say together with Her, the Mother of God. With the Hail Mary we invite Her to pray for us. Our Lady always grants our request. She joins Her prayer to ours. Therefore it becomes ever more useful, because what Mary asks She always receives, Jesus can never say no to whatever His Mother asks for. In every apparition, the heavenly Mother has invited us to say the Rosary as a powerful weapon against evil, to bring us to true peace. With your prayer made together with Your heavenly Mother, you can obtain the great gift of bringing about a change of hearts and conversion. Each day, through prayer you can drive away from yourselves and from your homeland many dangers and many evils.
It can seem a repetitive prayer but instead it is like two sweethearts who many times say one another the words: "I love you"...
A devout exercise to perform praying the Rosary to obtain any request is the "54-day Rosary Novena" in honor of Our Lady of Pompeii.
You can find the History of the Rosary reading the Secret of the Rosary of Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort.

The Holy Father John Paul II with the Apostolic Letter ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE of 10/16/2002 has added 5 new mysteries of the Rosary: The Mysteries of the Light.

The whole Rosary is composed of twenty decades. Each decade is recited in honor of a mystery in Our Lord's Life and that of his Blessed Mother.

It is customary to recite five decades at a time while meditating on one set of mysteries.

The decades may be separated, if the entire chaplet is completed on the same day.

Each Mystery may be meditate "bead by bead" for every Hail Mary of the decade.

The
Mysteries
of the Rosary

JOYFUL on Monday and Saturday.

SORROWFUL on Tuesday and Friday.

GLORIOUS on Wednesday and Sunday.

LIGHT on Thursday

roses
Roses of Our Lady of Fatima

How to pray the Rosary

1	While holding the crucifix make the Sign of the Cross. and then recite the Apostles Creed.
2	Recite the Our Father on the first large bead.
3	Recite a Hail Mary for an increase of faith, hope and charity on each of the three small beads.
4	Recite the Glory Be to the Father on the next large bead.
5	Recite the Fatima Prayer "O my Jesus" on the large bead.
6	Recall the first Rosary Mystery and recite the Our Father on the large bead.
7	On each of the adjacent ten small beads (also refered to as a decade) recite a Hail Mary while reflecting on the mystery.
8	On the next large bead, recite the Glory Be to the Father, the Fatima prayer.
9	Each succeeding decade is prayed in a similar manner by recalling the appropriate mystery, reciting the Our Father, ten Hail Marys, the Glory Be to the Father, and the Fatima prayer while reflecting on the mystery.
10	When the fifth mystery is completed, the Rosary is Customarily concluded with the Hail Holy Queen, and the Sign of the Cross.

point cursor on beads to see prayers