October Our Lady of the Rosary

October: Our Lady of the Rosary

The month of October is dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary. During her last apparition at Fatima on October 13, 1917, Mary specifically referred to herself as “The Lady of the Rosary.”  If you are not in the habit of praying the Rosary but have considered learning or starting again to pray it, this is the perfect month to do so.

Our Lady of the Rosary
Our Lady of the Rosary

On October 7th, the RCC celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. According to tradition, Our Lady famously appeared to St. Dominic de Guzman and gave the prayers of the Holy Rosary (as we know them today) to assist him as a spiritual weapon in combating heresy and leading souls back to the one true Catholic faith. Since then, the Rosary has been an infallible source of grace and strength to those who pray it. At Fatima, for example, Our Lady instructed the three children she appeared to to learn how to read and write so that they could pray the Rosary and spread the devotion to it.

Saints who prayed the Rosary

If and when you pray the Rosary, you are in very good company, both today and throughout the ages. Here is a short, by no means comprehensive list of saints who prayed the Rosary.

  • St. Benedict XVI
  • St. Bernadette Soubirous
  • St. Anthony Mary Claret
  • St. Dominic
  • St. Josemaria Escriva
  • St. John Paul II (who aded the Five Luminous Mysteries)
  • St. Thérèse of Lisieux
  • St. Louis de Montfort (who happens to be a relative of ours)
  • St. Pio of Pietrelcina
  • St. Pius V
  • St. Pius X
  • St. Francis de Sales
Don’t know how to pray the Rosary?

There are many books on how to pray the rosay, and what to contemplate while praying the many Ave Marias. If you are just starting out, here are a few links that might help you:

How to Pray the Rosary in English

The Prayers of the Rosary in Latin

Gregorian Chant Sung Rosary

Jesus Blessing Us; Benedictine Convent of Hildegard von Bingen in Bingen, Germany; own work

Joyous Sets of Seven

There are sorrowful sets of seven to concentrate on when we align our penance with the suffering of Christ, and there are also joyous sets of seven. Joyous sets of seven invite us to reflect, not so much of our own shortcomings, but on the freedom our Lord Jesus purchased for us. Freedom from sin is a freedom for a life that is governed by the Voice and Will of God, rather than the whisperings and promises of the devil. Such a life is open to welcome the gifts of the Holy Spirit as described in the first verses of Isa 11, where we find the “spirit of the Lord” resting on the “rod out of the stem of Jesse”, as well as on the “Branch” that “shall grow out of his roots”.

Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit

It is essential to be aware of and repent from our sins, failures and shortcomings in order to find our way to God. But when we have done so, we also need to fill the house that has been swept clean with that which pleases Our Lord. One of the many places where Scripture discloses what faith produces in us is Isa 11:2 and the following verses. In a contemplative penitential setting, we seek for, ask for, knock on the door for the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts are (in English and Latin):

  • Wisdom (sapientia),
  • understanding (intellectus),
  • counsel (consilium),
  • fortitude (fortitudo),
  • knowledge (cognitio/scientia),
  • piety (pietas), and
  • fear of the Lord (timor Domini).
Diego Velázquez – Coronation of the Virgin – Prado 1635, detail
The Franciscan Crown: The Seven Joys of Mary

Freedom from sin also allows us to contemplate on the Seven Joys of Mary, Our Blessed Mother, to whom Jesus gave the apostel John, and to us all, to be her children: “Woman, this is your son.” In the Fransciscan tradition, the Seven Joys of Mary are also called The Franciscan Crown. They are prayed very much like a rosary with seven decades instead of five, plus two extra Ave Maria prayers for a total of 72 Ave Marias, one for each year Our Lady lived on this earth.

The Seven Joys of Mary are:

  • The Annunciation,
  • the Visitation,
  • the Nativity of Jesus,
  • the Adoration of the Magi,
  • the Finding in the Temple,
  • the Resurrection of Jesus, and finally,
  • either or both the Assumption of Mary and the Coronation of the Virgin.

“When we appeal to the throne of grace we do so through Mary, honoring God by honoring His Mother, imitating Him by exalting her, touching the most responsive chord in the Sacred Heart of Christ with the sweet name of Mary.”
~ St. Robert Bellarmine

Contemplative Prayer leaf detail

Contemplative Prayer

Contemplation: We can't think our way to God.

Contemplative prayer requires a certain humbling of the intellect. Our thoughts usually take up too much space in our head and often crowd out or drown the quiet voice of the Spirit. Therefore, contemplative prayer aims at creating an inner silence that allows us to listen.

But we all know how difficult it is to ‘think of nothing’. This is where repetition steps in. Repetitive prayer, rather than being vain (see Matthew 6:7), opens a door within that leads to a place where the intellect does not rule. Like the Rosary prayers or the well-known Jesus prayer (see below), it is the soul that turns to God in these repetitions: No new thought needs developed, no new words found. The intensity of our words is increased in contemplative repetitions, not their quantity. Indeed, repetitive prayer is particularly soul-opening when we pray in a language foreign to us because the intellect has no part in it.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Domine Jesu Christe, Filii Dei, miserere mei.

Thus, we do not need to empty our mind. Instead, we fill it with praise, petition, or adoration, in short, with prayer. We cannot think our way to God.

Contemplative Prayer: "In books we seek God; in prayer we find him." Padre Pio
“In books we seek God; in prayer we find Him.” Padre Pio

But while we cannot think our way to God, neither can we feel our way to Him. He will not be limited to the extent of our understanding, and neither will He be limited to the capability of our emotions. Feeling ‘good’ during prayer has very little to do with the intensity or ‘success’ of our prayer, much like having found the ‘right words’ to phrase our worries or petitions has little impact on the quality of our prayer. It might help us think differently about a problem and therefore feel differently about it, too, but it takes no prayer to do that: The Stoics expostulated as much, and successfully so.

Contemplative prayer is not a self-help program, in fact, no prayer, vocal or otherwise, can sufficiently be described as such. Prayer turns our gaze away from ourselves. It looks to God, it addresses God, it listens to God.

St Teresa of Ávila, painted by Peter Paul Rubens

“Contemplative prayer in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us.”
St. Teresa of Avila

The Prayers of the Rosary in Latin


Here are collected all the prayers that you need to pray the Rosary in Latin, in the order in which you will need them. Click here if you are looking for the Rosary prayers in English.

Our Lady of the Rosary
Our Lady of the Rosary
Sanctus

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria Tua.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Benedictus qui venit in Nomine Domini.
Hosanna in excelsis.

Credo

Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, Creatorem caeli et terrae,
et in Iesum Christum, Filium Eius unicum, Dominum nostrum,
qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria Virgine,
passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus,
descendit ad inferos, tertia die resurrexit a mortuis,
ascendit ad caelos, sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis,
inde venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos.
Credo in Spiritum Sanctum,
sanctam Ecclesiam catholicam, sanctorum communionem,
remissionem peccatorum,
carnis resurrectionem,
vitam aeternam. Amen.

Pater Noster

Pater noster qui es in caeli
Sanctificetur Nomen Tuum
Adveniat regnum Tuum
Fiat voluntas Tua sicut in caelo et in terra.
Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie
et demitte nobis debita nostra
sicut es nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris.
Et ne nos inducas in tentationem
sed libera nos a malo.
Quia Tuum est regnum et potentia et gloria
in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Ave Maria

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum
Benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesu.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,
Ora pro nobis peccatoribus
nunc et in hora mortis nostrae.
Amen.

Gloria

Gloria Patri et Filii et Spiritus Sancti
Sicut erat in principio, et unc, et semper,
et in saecula saeculorum.
Amen.

O Mi Jesu (Fatima Prayer)

O mi Jesu, demitte nobis debita nostra.
Libera nos ab igne inferni.
Conduc in caelum omnes animas,
praesertam illas que maxime indigent misericordia Tua.
Amen.

How to Pray the Rosary Cross and Beads

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.

Madonna del rosario Nicola Porta
Our Lady of the Rosary

The Prayers of the Rosary in English


Here are collected all the prayers that you need to pray the Rosary in English, in the order in which you will need them.

Our Lady of the Rosary
Our Lady of the Rosary
Sanctus

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived from the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary,
who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried,
descended into hell, rose again from the dead on the third day,
ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty,
who will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

Our Father

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

Hail Mary

Hail Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

Glory Be

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen.

O My Jesus (Fatima Prayer)

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fire of hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who are most in need of your mercy.