This Rosary description comes with Pictures and Meditations. For more on the subtleties of the Rosary see Pope John Paul II ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE (ON THE MOST HOLY ROSARY): [http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20021016_rosarium-virginis-mariae_en.html] or Pope Leo XIII SUPREMI APOSTOLATUS OFFICIO (ON DEVOTION OF THE ROSARY): [http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/leo_xiii/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_01091883_supremi-apostolatus-officio_en.html]

1. THE HOLY ROSARY
Feast Day: October 7
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Of all devotions to the Blessed Virgin the Rosary is the most widely diffused among the faithful. In its present form,
according to tradition, it was popularized by St. Dominic, the founder of the Order of Friars Preachers, in order to
stem the flood of the Albigensian (or Catharist) heresy, then spreading far and wide throughout Europe. He
propagated this form of prayer in obedience to a revelation received from the Blessed Virgin, to whom he had
recourse for this purpose, about the year 1206, and to him was due the spread of a devotion, which for many
centuries has produced the most marvelous results in the Christian world.
The decisive defeat of the Mohammedan Turks at the famous battle of Lepanto (1571) and at Belgrade (1716)
gave occasion to the institution of the feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary on October 7 and to its extension to the
Universal Church.
The Rosary consists of twenty decades; each decade, of one Our Father and ten Hail Marys, and one Glory be
to the Father while meditating on the mysteries of Christ’s life. No other prayers of whatever form are part of the
Rosary. Those that are said before or after it, or after each decade, are merely pious additions. By ‘mysteries’ is
understood an event in the life of our Lord or His Holy Mother. These mysteries are divided into three series of five
each, called the Joyful, the Sorrowful, the Glorious and the Luminous Mysteries.
It has become customary to say only the third part of the Rosary (indulgenced 5 years each time), that is, five
decades, each day – especially during the month of October which is dedicated to the Holy Rosary of Our Lady. In
that case, though you may say either the Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, or Luminous Mysteries at your choice, yet it is
the prevalent custom to say the Joyful Mysteries on Mondays (as well as the Sundays of Advent); the Sorrowful
Mysteries on Tuesdays and Fridays (and the Sundays during Lent); the Glorious Mysteries on Wednesdays and
Saturdays (and the Sundays after Easter and Pentecost); and the Luminous Mysteries on Thurdays.
With time a practice, you will recite the Rosary from memory whenever you feel the need – especially if you
dedicate yourself to it during the whole month of October (indulgenced 7 years/day).
SUGGESTED METHOD FOR RECITING THE ROSARY
Here are the key steps for reciting a complete Rosary – with many pious additions to help expand your prayer base
and allow you to capture the richness and deep feeling of what the Rosary prayer is all about: a concise meditation
on the life, death, and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ with the Blessed Virgin to guide us and to pray to.
We sign ourselves with the sign of the cross while reciting the Sign of the Cross and we embrace our rosary. Then
we invoke God’s help using Psalm 69 (c.f. Treasure of Prayers for all that follows in bold). Then we recite the
Constantinople-Necean creed (or the Apostles’ creed) while holding the cross in our hand.
Then recite on the first big bead a Pater Noster, then three Ave Maria on the next three small beads (to increase
faith, hope and charity, respectively) and we finish with the Gloria, the Fatima Prayer, then for lost souls: “Jesus,
my only love, I pray for those whom You love but do not know how to love You. May they be purified and healed
such that they may also be exempted from all evil, Amen.”; then “May the souls of the faithful departed through
the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.”; and the invocation: “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have
recourse to Thee.” We recite on the big bead the Prayer to St. Michael and finally on the medal, the Memorare.
Before each dozen, we recite: “Lord Jesus, I offer You this (e.g. first) decade in honor of (e.g. the Annunciation
to Mary by the angel Gabriel), and I ask of You, through this Mystery and through the intercession of Your holy
Mother, the grace of (e.g. humility).”
At the end of each decade of Hail Marys: recite the Gloria; the Fatima Prayer; “Grace of (e.g. the
Annunciation) descend within our souls.”
At the end, back at the medal, we recite the Salve Regina and add to it: “… that we may be made worthy of the
promises of Christ.” We can also add thereafter: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. The heavens and the earth
are full of Thy glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He Who cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in
the highest.” followed by saying the invocation: “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” then repeating three times: “Most Sacred
Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.” We conclude with: “Blessed John Paul, pray for us” and finally a Pater
Noster, an Ave Maria, and a Gloria to the intension of the Pope [or to the intension of Pope Emeritus Benedict].
PRAYER AFTER THE ROSARY
We recite in the end the Salve Regina and the conclusion: “Pray for us, Holy Mother of God, that we may imitate
what they contain and obtain what they promise, through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth
and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.” A prayer to St. Joseph
can also be said during the ‘Rosary’ month of October. (See Plate of Saint Joseph).
COLLECT
O GOD, Whose only-begotten Son by His life, death, and resurrection, purchased for us the rewards of eternal life:
grant, we beseech Thee, that, meditating upon these mysteries of the most holy Rosary of the blessed Virgin Mary,
we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise. Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son,
Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
EPISTLE
THE LORD possessed me in the beginning of His ways, before He made anything, from the beginning. I was set up
from eternity and of old, before the earth was made. The depths were not as yet, and I was already conceived. Now
therefore, ye children, hear me: Blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it
not. Blessed is the man that heareth me, and that watcheth daily at my gates, and waiteth at the posts of my doors.
He that shall find me, shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord. (Prov. 8:22-24,32-35)
SECRET
MAY WE be helped, we beseech Thee, O Lord, by the prayers of Thy most holy Mother, whose Rosary we have
recited; that we may draw strength from those mysteries we have meditated on, and likewise obtain the fruit of the
Sacraments we are about to receive: Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth
with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

2. JOYFUL MYSTERIES
To recite on Mondays and Saturdays
LUMINOUS MYSTERIES
To recite on Thursdays (Added by H.H. Pope John-Paul II in 2002)
5. The Crucifixion and
Death of Jesus.
Salvation and relief for
the souls in Purgatory
GLORIOUS MYSTERIES
To recite on Wednesdays and Sundays
2. The Visitation of Mary
to Her Cousin Elizabeth.
Love of neighbor
5. The Finding Boy Jesus
in the Temple.
Gift of true wisdom
1. The Annunciation to
Mary by the Angel Gabriel.
Humility
4. The Presentation of the
Child Jesus in the Temple.
Purity of body and soul
3. The Birth of the Child
Jesus in Bethlehem.
Detachment from materi-
alism and love of poverty
5. Christ’s Institution of
the Eucharist.
Adoration, grace to
attain active partici-
pation at Mass
4. The Transfiguration.
Desire for Holiness
3. Christ’s Proclamation
of the Kingdom of God.
True conversion, trust
in the word of God
2. Christ’s Self-
manifestation at Cana.
Intercession of the Virgin
Mary
1. Christ’s Baptism in
the Jordan.
Help to keep my
Baptismal Promises
SORROWFUL MYSTERIES
To recite on Tuesdays and Fridays
4. The Carrying of the
Cross.
Patience in bearing my
crosses/burdens
3. The Crowning of Jesus
with Thorns.
Contempt of the world
2. The Scourging of Jesus
at the Pillar.
Mortification of my senses
1. The Agony of Jesus
in the Garden.
Sorrow for my sins
1. The Resurrection of
Jesus from the Dead.
Faith
2. The Ascension of
Jesus into Heaven.
An ardent desire for
Heaven, my true home
3. The Decent of the
Holy Spirit.
The coming of the Holy
Spirit in my soul
4. The Assumption of
the Blessed Virgin.
A tender devotion to so
good a Mother
5. The Crowning of the
Blessed Virgin.
Perseverance in grace and
a crown of glory hereafter