How to Pray the Rosary – The Basics

New to praying the Rosary? Here are the basics you need to know to start. If you have rosary beads to pray with, fine. If not, fine too. God has given us ten fingers to count on!

Introduction

Generally, the Rosary consists of five groups of ten Hail Mary prayers (represented by ten beads evenly spaced from each other), interspersed with one Our Father prayer (represented by one set-apart bead). These groups, or decades, are called Mysteries and relate to stages in the life of Our Lord Jesus and His Blessed Mother. Traditionally, there are three groups of five Mysteries: The Joyful Mysteries, the Sorrowful Mysteries, and the Glorious Mysteries, relating respectively to Our Lord Jesus’ birth and youth, His passion and crucifixion, and His resurrexion and ascension. Saint John Paul II added another set of five Mysteries known as the Luminous Mysteries. They relate to incidents in the life of Our Lord Jesus as recorded in the New Testament.

How to Start Praying the Rosary

Naturally, the Rosary has an introduction that we pray before the Mysteries begin. Rosary beads usually have a cross or crucifix and five beads on the bottom (three evenly spaced, framed by two set-apart beads), which we use to pray the introduction as follows:

1. Make the Sign of the Cross, saying “In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”
2. Pray the Sanctus (Holy Holy Holy)
3. Pray the Apostles Creed holding the cross/crucifix.
4. Pray the Our Father holding a set-apart bead
5. Pray three times Hail Mary holding one of the evenly spaced beads after the other
6. On reaching the second set-apar bead, pray a Glory Be and an O My Jesus prayer (also known as the Fatima Prayer)
7. Announce the first Mystery (see below)
8. Pray the Our Father

For all these prayers in English, click here. For all these prayers in Latin, click here.

Then we use the round of beads to keep track of how many Hail Mary prayers we have prayed: Hold the first bead while praying the first Hail Mary, move on to the next while praying the second Hail Mary and so forth. If you have no rosary beads, use your fingers to keep track. After ten Hail Mary prayers we reach the set-apart bead, upon which we again pray a Glory Be and an O My Jesus prayer, then announce the next Mystery, pray an Our Father, and start into the next decade of Hail Mary Prayers. Thus we continue until we have made it around the Rosary.

Praying the Mysteries

These are the Mysteries we ponder while praying the Rosary:

The Joyful Mysteries

1. The Annunciation
2. The Visitation
3. The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus
4. The Presentation in the Temple
5. Finding Our Lord Jesus in the Temple when He was Twelve

The Sorrowful Mysteries

1. The Agony in the Garden
2. The Scourging at the Pillar
3. The Crowning with Thorns
4. The Carrying of the Cross
5. The Crucifixion and Death of Our Lord Jesus

The Glorious Mysteries

1. The Resurrexion
2. The Ascension
3. The Coming of the Holy Spirit
4. The Assumption of Our Lady
5. The Crowning of Our Lady in Heaven

Good to Know

Many people pray one set of Mysteries per day. If so, the general association of Mysteries and weekdays is that

• Mondays and Thursdays the Joyful Mysteries are prayed,
• Tuesdays and Fridays the Sorrowful Mysteries, and
• Wednesdays and Saturdays the Glorious Mysteries.
• Sunday is reserved for the Glorious Mysteries.
• During Advent, only the Joyful Mysteries are prayed, and
• during Lent, only the Sorrowful Mysteries.

There are also many people who pray all three (or four) sets of Mysteries every day, especially after Our Lady encouraged the three children she appeared to in Fatima to pray the Rosary daily.

While praying each Mystery, we contemplate the situation alluded to in the Mystery, and the virtue this meditation can produce in us. Some people add a short description of the situation into the Hail Mary (following the Name of Jesus) in order to remind themselves which Mystery they are praying at the moment.