“Many seek God in books but He’s not there, only in prayer that we find Him. Prayer is the key which opens God’s heart.” – Padre Pio.

The Holy Rosary

What is the Holy Rosary?

2019-Nov-16   . . .   By: ncdm

[The following came from Letter of Sister Lucia of Fatima to her friend Mother Maria Martins, a Dorothean sister, 1970-Sept-16 – [1260.org].]

Sister Lucy declared: “Voluntarily I sacrifice myself and offer my life to God, for peace in His Church, for priests and for all consecrated souls, above all for those who carry on so erroneously and so deceived! For our separated Brothers: May God give light to all of them and put them on the right path – the path of Truth, which is Jesus Christ.”

The prayer of the Rosary or five decades of it, after the Liturgy of the Most Holy Eucharist, is what most unites us to God by the richness of the prayers with which it is composed, all of them coming from Heaven, dictated by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

The Glory Be that we pray in all the mysteries was dictated by the Father to the Angels when He sent them to sing it to His Word as a newborn baby, and it is a hymn to the Trinity.

The Our Father was dictated to us by the Son, and it is a prayer addressed to the Father.

The Hail Mary is, all of it, impregnated with meaning both with regard to the Trinity and to the Eucharist. The first words were dictated by the Father to the Angel when He sent him to announce the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word.
“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee”: Thou art full of grace, because in Thee resides the source of the same Grace. And it is by Thy union with the Most Holy Trinity that Thou art full of grace.
… Moved by the Holy Ghost, St. Elizabeth said:
“Blessed art Thou amongst all women, and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus”: If Thou art blessed, it is because Jesus, the fruit of Thy womb, is blessed.
… The Church also moved by the Holy Ghost, added the words:
“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death”: This is also a prayer addressed to God through Mary: Because Thou art the Mother of God, pray for us.
… It is indeed a Trinitarian prayer because Mary was the first living Temple of the Most Holy Trinity:
“The Holy Ghost shall come upon Thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow Thee; – and the Son which shall be born of Thee shall be called the Son of the Most High.”

Mary is the first living Tabernacle where the Father enclosed His Word. Her Immaculate Heart is the first Monstrance that sheltered Him. Her lap and Her arms were the first altar and the first throne upon which the Son of God made man was adored. There the Angels, the Shepherds and the wise men of the earth adored Him. Mary is the first Who took the Son of God in Her pure and Immaculate hands and brought Him to the Temple to offer Him to the Father as a victim for the salvation of the world.

So the prayer of the Rosary, after the Liturgy of the Most Holy Eucharist, is what most introduces us to the intimate mystery of the Most Holy Trinity and the Eucharist; what most brings us to the spirit of the mysteries of Faith, Hope and Charity.

The prayer of the Rosary is the spiritual bread of souls: Whoever does not pray, wastes away and dies. It is by prayer that we find ourselves with God, and in this meeting with Him, He communicates to us Faith, Hope and Charity: virtues without which we cannot be saved.

The Rosary is the prayer of the rich and the poor, of the educated and the simple. Take this devotion away from souls, and you take away their spiritual daily bread. The Rosary is what sustains the little flame of Faith that still has not been extinguished in many consciences. Even for those souls who pray without meditating, the very act of taking up the Rosary to pray is already a remembrance of God, of the Supernatural. A simple recollection of the mysteries of each decade is one more ray of light to sustain in souls the still smoldering wick.

This is why the devil has made such war against it. And what is worse is that he has succeeded in deluding and deceiving souls who have much responsibility because of the positions they occupy.

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How to pray the Holy Rosary

Through the Holy Rosary, we can ask God for special favors such as helping a loved one recover from an illness, or just to express our gratitude for the blessings that we receive.

#1. On the crucifix, make the sign of the cross and then pray the 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 Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified; died, and was buried. He descended into Hell; the third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall 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.

#2. On the next large bead, say 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.

#3. On the following three small beads, pray three Hail Marys

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.

#4. On the chain, pray the Glory Be.

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

#5. On the large bead, meditate on the first mystery and pray the Our Father.
You pray mysteries for each of the five sections (decades) of the rosary according to the day of the week:

  • Mondays and Saturdays – The Joyful Mysteries remind the faithful of Christ’s birth:
    1. The Annunciation (Luke 1:26–38)
    2. The Visitation (Luke 1:39–56)
    3. The Nativity (Luke 2:1–21)
    4. The Presentation (Luke 2:22–38)
    5. The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:41–52)
  • Tuesdays and Fridays – The Sorrowful Mysteries recall Jesus’ passion and death:
    1. The Agony of Jesus in the Garden (Matthew 26:36–56)
    2. The Scourging at the Pillar (Matthew 27:26)
    3. The Crowning with Thorns (Matthew 27:27–31)
    4. The Carrying of the Cross (Matthew 27:32)
    5. The Crucifixion (Matthew 27:33–56)
  • Wednesdays and Sundays – The Glorious Mysteries focus on the resurrection of Jesus and the glories of heaven:
    1. The Resurrection (John 20:1–29)
    2. The Ascension (Luke 24:36–53)
    3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1–41)
    4. The Assumption of Mary, the Mother of God, into heaven
    5. The Coronation of Mary in heaven.
  • Thursdays – Pope John Paul II added The Mysteries of Light, also known as the Luminous Mysteries, in 2002:
    1. The Baptism in the River Jordan (Matthew 3:13–16)
    2. The Wedding Feast at Cana (John 2:1–11)
    3. The Preaching of the coming of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14–15)
    4. The Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1–8)
    5. The Institution of the Holy Eucharist (Matthew 26)

#6. Skip the centerpiece medallion, and on the ten beads after that, pray a Hail Mary on each bead; on the chain, pray a Glory Be.
Although a decade is 10, these 12 prayers form a decade of the rosary.
Many Catholics add the Fatima Prayer after the Glory Be and before the next Our Father:

O My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy.
Amen.

#7. Repeat Steps 5 and 6 four more times to finish the next four decades.

#8. At the end of your Rosary, say the 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.
… O God, whose only-begotten Son, by His life, death, and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal salvation; 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.

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