How to Pray the Rosary
The Rosary is a contemplative prayer: while the lips recite the Our Father and the Hail Marys, the soul meditates on the mysteries of the life of Christ and of his Mother.
Structure
- Make the Sign of the Cross and pray the Apostles’ Creed.
- On the first bead: Our Father.
- On the next three beads: three Hail Marys (for the virtues of faith, hope and charity).
- Glory Be.
- For each of the five decades: announce the mystery, pray an Our Father, ten Hail Marys while meditating the mystery, a Glory Be, and the Fatima Prayer (O my Jesus).
- At the end of the five decades: Hail, Holy Queen and Marian litanies, if desired.
Which mystery to pray each day
- Monday and Saturday: Joyful Mysteries
- Tuesday and Friday: Sorrowful Mysteries
- Wednesday and Sunday: Glorious Mysteries
- Thursday: Luminous Mysteries
St John Paul II added the Luminous Mysteries in 2002 and proposed this distribution in the apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae.