How to Pray the Rosary
Download Printable Rosary Instructions
Steps in Praying the Rosary

1.   Begin by making the Sign of the Cross while holding the crucifix. Pray the Apostles’ Creed.

 

2.   Pray an Our Father.

 

3.   Pray a Hail Mary on each of the three beads, asking for an increase in the Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope and Love (Charity).

 

4.   Pray the Glory Be.

 

5.   Announce or call to mind the first Mystery* to meditate upon and pray an Our Father.

 

6.   Pray one Hail Mary on each of the ten beads.

 

7.   Finish the decade by praying the Glory Be and the Fatima Prayer (Note: Steps 5-7 together are called a decade).

 

8.   Repeat steps 5-7 for the next four decades, meditating on the remaining Mysteries.

 

9.   Holding the center piece, pray the Hail, Holy Queen and the concluding Rosary prayer. Finish by making the Sign of the Cross.

* There are four sets of Mysteries – the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious – that make up the Rosary. It is customary to pray the Joyful Mysteries on Monday and Saturday, the Luminous Mysteries on Thursday, the Sorrowful Mysteries on Tuesday and Friday, and the Glorious Mysteries on Sunday and Wednesday. However, a particular set of Mysteries may be prayed any day of the week, particularly if an important feast day or important event falls on a certain day.

Rosary Prayers

The Sign of the Cross

Say, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

 

Note: As you say, “Father,” touch your forehead with your right hand. As you say, “Son,” touch the center of your chest. As you say, “Holy,” touch your left shoulder. As you say, “Spirit,” touch your right shoulder.

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 by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come 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 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. Amen.

Hail Mary

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among 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 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.

Fatima Prayer

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who have most need of your mercy.

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 towards us, and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!

V. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Concluding Prayer

O God, whose only begotten Son, by His life, death, and resurrection, has 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 Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Rosary Mysteries
Nativity Scene, Adoration of the Magi

1.   Annunciation

2.   Visitation

3.   Nativity (Birth of Jesus)

4.   Presentation

5.   Finding Jesus in the Temple

Biblical scene

1.   Baptism of Jesus

2.   Wedding Feast at Cana

3.   Proclamation of the Kingdom

4.   Transfiguration

5.   Institution of the Eucharist

1.   Agony in the Garden

2.   Scourging at the Pillar

3.   Crowning with Thorns

4.   Carrying of the Cross

5.   Crucifixion and Death

Resurrection 1

1.   Resurrection

2.   Ascension

3.   Descent of the Holy Spirit

4.   Assumption of Mary

5.   Coronation of Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth

Download Printable Rosary Instructions

  • The mind is infinitely variable in its language, but the heart is not. The heart of a man, in the face of the woman he loves, is too poor to translate the infinity of his affection into a different word. So the heart takes one expression, ‘I love you,’ and in saying it over and over again, it never repeats. That is what we do when we say the rosary - we are saying to God, the Trinity, to the Incarnate Savior, to the Blessed Mother: ‘I love you, I love you, I love you.

    - Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

  • As the magnifying glass catches and unites the scattered rays of the sun, so the rosary brings together the otherwise dissipated thoughts of life in the sickroom into the white and burning heat of Divine Love.

    - Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

  • The rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known; it is the book of the simple, which initiates them into mysteries and knowledge more satisfying than the education of other men; it is the book of the aged, where eyes close upon the shadow of this world and open on the substance of the next.

    - Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

  • For a Christian, vocal prayer must spring from the heart, so that while the Rosary is said, the mind can enter into contemplation of each one of the mysteries.

    - Saint Josemaria Escriva

  • Behold, if we desire to rise even to Mary's knowledge and loving of Jesus, we must whisper 'Hail Mary,' and repeating it, meditate upon these mysteries in union with her.

    - Saint Maximilian Kolbe

  • In addition to the Lord's Prayer and the Angelic Salutation the essence of the Rosary is contemplating the mysteries of the life of Christ the Lord and the most holy Mother of God.

    - Saint Maximilian Kolbe

  • We should meditate on the mysteries of the Rosary, applying them to the circumstances of our own lives.

    - Saint Anthony Mary Claret