The Rosary Prayers

Joyful Mysteries

Luminous Mysteries

Sorrowful Mysteries

Glorious Mysterieshttp://www.catholicwarfare.com/Rosary/The%20Rosary%20Prayers.ppt

Praying The Rosary

What is the Rosary

• The word “Rosary” comes from the latin word meaning “a garland of roses”. Roses are one of the flowers used to symbolise the Virgin Mary.

• The Rosary is a devotion in honour of the Virgin Mary.

• It consists of a set number of specific prayers. After making the sign of the cross, are the introductory prayers –

One apostles creed

One Our Father

Three Hail Marys

One Glory Be

• The Rosary is then made up of 5 decades that is 5 lots of 10 beads on which we pray a Hail Mary for each bead.

• Before we start a decade of Hail Marys we say the Our Father and we conclude each decade with a Glory Be prayer.

• We say 12 prayers in each decade.

• After praying the 5 decades we end with a Hail Holy Queen prayer.

The Mysteries of the Rosary• Praying the rosary is not just reciting the

prayers but meditating on the mysteries regarding the life of Jesus and his Mother Mary.

• This is the essence of the rosary – it isn’t just a recital of prayers but a meditation on the Grace of God

• There are four major mysteries that we reflect on during the rosary prayer

• The first mystery is the JOYFUL mystery

• The second mystery is the LUMINOUS mystery

• The third mystery is the SORROWFUL mystery

• The fourth mystery is the GLORIOUS mystery

• Each of these mysteries has 5 mysteries that we reflect on in each of the decades that we pray.

• Each of these mysteries are reflected on particular days of the week

Joyful MysteriesReflected on Monday and Saturday

The Joyful Mysteries are marked by the joy radiating from the event of the Incarnation.To meditate upon the joyful mysteries is to enter into the ultimate causes and the deepest meaning of Christian joy. It is to focus on the realism of the mystery of the Incarnation and on the obscure foreshadowing of the mystery of the saving Passion. Mary leads us to discover the secret of Christian joy, reminding us that Christianity is, first and foremost, evangelization, "good news", which has as its heart and its whole content the person of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, the one Savior of the world.                                                              - Pope John Paul II 

1st Joyful Mystery

The Annunciation:The messenger of God announces

to Mary that she is to be theMother of God.

2nd Joyful Mystery

The Visitation:Mary visits and helps her

cousin Elizabeth.

3rd Joyful Mystery

The Nativity:Mary gives birth to Jesus in a

stable in Bethlehem.

4th Joyful Mystery

The Presentation:Jesus is presented in the Temple.

5th Joyful Mystery

The Finding in the Temple:Jesus is found in the Temple.

Luminous MysteriesReflected on Thursdays

Moving on from the infancy and the hidden life in Nazareth to the public life of Jesus, our contemplation brings us to those mysteries which may be called in a special way “mysteries of light”. Certainly the whole mystery of Christ is a mystery of light. He is the “light of the world” (Jn 8:12). Yet this truth emerges in a special way during the years of his public life, when he proclaims the Gospel of the Kingdom....  Each of these mysteries is a revelation of the Kingdom now present in the very person of Jesus.     ..... Pope John Paul II

1st Luminous Mystery

The Baptism:Jesus is baptized in the River Jordan.

2nd Luminous Mystery

The Wedding at Cana:The Self-Manifestation of Our Lord

at the Wedding at Cana.

3rd Luminous Mystery

The Proclamation of the Kingdom:Christ’s announcement of

the Kingdom of God.

4th Luminous Mystery

The Transfiguration:The transfiguration of Our Lord

revealing more about Jesus.

5th Luminous Mystery

The Institution of the Eucharist:Jesus gave himself to His own under

the appearance of bread and wineat the Last Supper.

Sorrowful MysteriesReflected on Tuesday and Friday

In the Sorrowful Mysteries we stand beneath the Cross of Jesus, coming face to face with the truth of his insistence that the Christ must suffer and die. No matter that we long to cry out, if only we had been there; we still encounter the reality of our human positionand the truth that is Our Lord's. We sense the sword piercing the heart of his Mother, and pray that it may open our whole being to the agony and the power that the infinite love of Jesus in his Passion chose and endured for us

1st Sorrowful Mystery

The Agony in the Garden:Jesus undergoes His agony in the

garden of Gethsemane.

2nd Sorrowful Mystery

The Scourging at the Pillar:Jesus is scourged at the pillar.

3rd Sorrowful Mystery

The Crowning with Thorns:Jesus is crowned with thorns.

4th Sorrowful Mystery

The Carrying of the Cross:Jesus carries the cross to Calvary.

5th Sorrowful Mystery

The Crucifixion:Jesus dies on the cross for our sins.

Glorious MysteriesReflected on Wednesday and Sunday

The Glorious Mysteries reveal the mediation of the great Virgin, still more abundant in fruitfulness. She rejoices in heart over the glory of her Son triumphant over death, and follows Him with a mother's love in His Ascension to His eternal kingdom; but, though worthy of Heaven, she abides a while on earth, so that the infant Church may be directed and comforted by her "who penetrated, beyond all belief, into the deep secrets of Divine wisdom" (St. Bernard).      ..... Pope Leo XIII

1st Glorious Mystery

The Resurrection:Jesus rises from the dead.

2nd Glorious Mystery

The Ascension into Heaven:Jesus ascends into Heaven.

3rd Glorious Mystery

The Descent of the Holy Spirit:The Holy Spirit comes to the apostles

and the Blessed Mother.

4th Glorious Mystery

The Assumption:The Mother of Jesus is taken

into Heaven.

5th Glorious Mystery

The Coronation:Mary is crowned Queen of

Heaven and Earth.

The 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. Amen.

Hail Mary

Hail Mary,Full of Grace,The Lord is with thee.Blessed art thou among women,and blessed is the fruitof thy womb, Jesus.Holy Mary,Mother of God,pray for us sinners now,and at the hour of death. Amen.

Glory Be            Glory be 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.

Hail, Holy Queen

            Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy!            Our life, our sweetness, and our hope!

            To thee do we cry, poor banished             children of Eve, to thee do we send            up our sighs, mourning and weeping

               in this valley, of tears.            Turn, then, most gracious advocate,            thine eyes of mercy toward us; and            after this our exile show unto us the

            blessed fruit of thy womb Jesus;            O clement, O loving, O sweet virgin Mary.

            Pray for us, O holy Mother of God            That we may be made worthy of the

            promises of Christ.

• This power point has been adapted from the following website:

• http://www.catholicwarfare.com/Rosary/The%20Rosary%20Prayers.ppt