Rosary - How To Pray The Rosary - Catholic Rosary Prayer

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Welcome to How-To-Pray-The-Rosary.com: your place to pray the Rosary online, and get information on the Catholic Holy Rosary.

It is unimportant what kind of beads your rosary has or what color they are: you are free to select whatever type and color of beads that appeal to your personal tastes, providing the beads used do not conflict with the teachings of the Catholic Church. A plastic rosary is as good as a 14Kt gold rosary, as long as each of them have the right amount of beads in the right places.

The traditional Rosary on which the Rosary Mysteries are prayed, consists of 59 beads. Five of those beads are in the start of the Rosary between the crucifix and the centerpiece, beginning with an Our Father bead, then three Hail Mary beads, and then an Our Father bead.
Attached to the top of the centerpiece are the five decades and remaining Our Fathers. Each decade is exactly as it sounds: ten beads each, which make a decade. On these ten beads are recited the Hail Mary, one Hail Mary per bead. After each decade is one Our Father bead. In total there are four Our Father beads, which act as separators between the decades. The Our Father beads are also the starting point for each of the Mysteries of the Rosary. For a visual diagram of the Rosary prayer according to each bead, click here.

Usually a man's rosary has a centerpiece of Jesus, while a woman's has any kind of centerpiece with the Blessed Virgin Mary. However, this is not a strict adherence, and you can choose whatever kind of centerpiece that appeals to you.

You may like to select some kind of Miraculous Medal centerpiece depicting the Virgin Mary, as you receive the added benefits of the blessings attributed to this medal. However, if you wish to have a specialty center, such as a Holy Communion chalice, or a Holy Spirit, it is entirely acceptable, and your rosary will still be considered a regular traditional rosary.

There are children size rosaries, generally 14-16 inches long, and adult-size rosaries which typically run from 18 inches to 26 inches in length, but children can pray on adult rosaries and vice versus. If you want a small rosary for your pocket, you may also use a mini version of a regular 5-decade rosary called a one-decade rosary.

A one-decade has a single Our Father bead, and ten Hail Mary beads which requires you to keep track of which decade you are on. It also comes with a regular crucifix and a centerpiece. You pray the Rosary the same, in the same order of Mysteries of the Rosary, on the same days. As a regular five-decade rosary, your one-decade rosary can be made with any type of beads.

The only time there are specific color beads to be used, is when you are following a particular devotional prayer in other types of rosaries besides the traditional Mysteries of the Rosary prayer. These devotional rosaries are called chaplets.

The Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is the rosary all of the faithful Catholics are aquainted with, is the rosary with five decades on which the Mysteries of the Rosary are recited. And this regular rosary has no special colors prescribed for the beads.

A rosary bracelet is a wearable version of the one-decade, used in the identical manner, except instead of a centerpiece, a charm medallion of the Virgin Mary is used instead, often in the form of a Miraculous Medal. A crucifix is also used, but a very small one, bracelet charm size.

On the other hand, a twenty-decade rosary is the full version of the rosary, allowing you to consecutively keep track of all the Rosary Mysteries, if it is your devotion to pray all of the Mysteries each day.

Historically the name Rosary was used to describe the entire set of decades, which used to be fifteen decades, that is before Pope John Paul II added the Luminous Rosary Mysteries in the year of 2002. The five decade was called the corona, or the crown. But this distinction is no longer observed, and these names have now become synonymous.

How Do You Use A Rosary?

You use the rosary as a tool for meditation. Without your meditating on the various prayers and their corresponding themes, your recitation would have no point, because the purpose of the rosary is for you to contemplate specific significant times in the life of Jesus through the eyes of His mother Mary.

What Exactly Is The Rosary?

The rosary prayer consists of four sets of Rosary Mysteries, each set containing five mysteries. These sets are named:

1. Joyful Mysteries
2. Sorrowful Mysteries
3. Glorious Mysteries
4. Luminous Mysteries

Each set of Mysteries is based on a theme. Each of the Mysteries of the Rosary theme is prayed on certain days of the week.

Each of the mysteries in the set are what you contemplate on while you recite a decade set of prayers, thinking of one mystery per decade set.

A decade set starts with an Our Father prayer, followed by 10 Hail Mary prayers, and One Glory Be prayer at the end, with an optional Fatima prayer following. Each of the prayers are said on particular beads..

Once you have said those prayers in that decade set, your meditation ends on that particular mystery. The next decade starts your meditation on the next mystery, until you have completed the entire five decades.

What's The Point Of Saying The Rosary?

There are several reasons for reciting the Rosary:
•Our Lady of the Rosary said, "I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives...they must not offend Our Lord any more...People must say the Rosary. Let them continue saying it every day."
•You will benefit from the 15 promises of the Blessed Virgin Mary to those who pray the rosary, given to Blessed Alan de la Roche (15th Century) in an apparition appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
•You participate in Our Lady of Fatima's peace plan from heaven
•You can receive the blessings of the First Five Saturdays promise if you follow the simple steps stated by Our Lady.
•In saying the Holy Rosary daily, and contemplating on its Mysteries, and embracing the fruits of each Rosary mystery, you can learn from these divine models and become like them in patience, courage, purity, love, hope and faith.

What Kind Of Rosary Beads Should You Use?

Who Is Allowed To Pray The Rosary?

Anyone who wants to benefit from its spiritual fruits. You do not need to be Catholic, and, as a Catholic, it is not a requirement that you pray the Rosary. Yet 1 Thessalonians 5:17 calls us to "pray without ceasing." The Rosary is the ideal vessel to offer that ceaseless prayer.

Instructions:

Step 1: Click the current day in the Mysteries menu above to pray.
Step 2: Mouse over the Mysteries to view descriptions.
Step 3: Click on Begin to pray the Rosary Mystery.
Step 4: After saying the prayer, click on the Amen to advance to
the next prayer.

Pray Today's Mysteries of the Rosary:

Monday Or Saturday..............Joyful Mysteries

Tuesday Or Friday..................Sorrowful Mysteries

Wednesday Or Sunday..........Glorious Mysteries

Thursday..................................Luminous Mysteries

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