How To Pray the Rosary
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The use of beads or knotted ropes to count large numbers of prayers comes from the earliest days of Christianity, but the rosary as we know it today emerged in the second thousand years of Church history. The full rosary consists of 150 Hail Marys, divided into three sets of 50, which are further divided into five sets of 10 (a decade).
Traditionally, the rosary is divided into three sets of mysteries: Joyful (recited on Monday and Thursday, and Sunday from Advent until Lent); Sorrowful (Tuesday and Friday, and Sunday during Lent); and Glorious (Wednesday and Saturday, and Sunday from Easter until Advent).
Learn how to pray the rosary and find all the necessary prayers.
Invocation to the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary
This short invocation to Mary, the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, is an appropriate prayer for the Month of the Holy Rosary, as well as for reciting at the end of the rosary.To Our Lady of the Rosary
In this prayer to Our Lady of the Rosary, we ask the Virgin Mary to help us to cultivate a habit of interior prayer through the daily recitation of the rosary. This is the object of all of our prayers: to arrive at the point where we can "pray without ceasing," as Saint Paul tells us to do.To the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary
This theologically rich prayer to Mary, the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, calls to mind our Blessed Mother's protection of the Church—as, for example, at the Battle of Lepanto (October 7, 1571), when the Christian fleet defeated the Ottoman Muslims through the intercession of the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary.For the Crusade of the Family Rosary
This prayer for the Crusade of the Family Rosary was written by Francis Cardinal Spellman, the cardinal archbishop of the archdiocese of New York in the mid-20th century. The Family Rosary Crusade was originally an organization, founded by Fr. Patrick Peyton, dedicated to convincing families to recite the rosary together daily.
Today, we can pray this prayer to spread the practice of the daily recitation of the rosary. In that vein, it is especially appropriate to add this prayer to our daily prayers for the Month of the Holy Rosary.
