Appendix-3: How to Pray the Rosary
The Rosary is a devotion to the Incarnation of Our Lord and to His Blessed Mother.
It is composed of five decades, each decade consisting of The Our Father, ten Hail Marys,
and The Glory Be to the Father. Each decade is recited in honor of some mystery in the life of
Our Lord Jesus Christ and of His Most Blessed Mother: the Patroness of Our Catholic School.
While praying each decade you should call to mind the sacred mystery, which that
Decade of the Rosary is intended to honour, and pray that you may learn to
practice the particular virtue highlighted by that mystery.
Begin the Rosary by:
1. Making the Sign of the Cross and saying The Apostles’ Creed
2. Say The Our Father
3. Say three Hail Marys
4. Say The Glory Be and then say The Fatima Prayer
5. Announce the First Mystery; then say The Our Father
6. Say ten Hail Marys while meditating on the Mystery
7. Say The Glory Be and then say The Fatima Prayer
8. Announce the Second Mystery; then say The Our Father
(Repeat 5 and 6 and continue with the Third, Fourth and Fifth Mysteries)
9. Say the Hail, Holy Queen followed by The Memorare and The Sign of the Cross
The Mysteries of The Rosary
The Five Joyful Mysteries
Mondays & Saturdays (Sundays of Advent and after Epiphany until Lent)
1. The Annunciation (virtue of humility): The Angel Gabriel appears to Mary, greeting
her by saying, “Hail Mary full of grace,” and announcing that she is to be the Mother of
God. Mary replied, “Here I am, the handmaiden of the Lord; let it be done to me
according to your word.”
2. The Visitation (virtue of charity): Mary’s visits her relative Elizabeth who greets her
by saying: "Blessed are thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb."
3. The Nativity (spirit of poverty): The Virgin Mary gives birth to Jesus the Redeemer of
the World in a stable in the small town of Bethlehem (the hometown of her husband
Joseph).
4. The Presentation (virtue of obedience): Mary and Joseph present the infant Jesus to
the Lord in the Temple in Jerusalem.
5. The Finding in the Temple (virtue of piety): Mary and Joseph find Jesus, as a lost
twelve-year-old boy, in the Temple in Jerusalem debating with the rabbis (the teachers
of the Law).
The Five Sorrowful Mysteries
Tuesdays & Fridays (Sundays in Lent)
1. The Agony in the Garden (contrition for sin): At Gethsemane Jesus prays as He
contemplates the sins of the World and His coming torture and execution.
2. The Scourging at the Pillar (virtue of purity): Jesus is cruelly scourged (whipped) by
Roman soldiers; until His mortified body could bear no more torture.
3. The Crowning with Thorns (virtue of moral courage): A crown of long thorns is forced
on the head of Jesus.
4. The Carrying of the Cross (virtue of patience): Jesus carries the heavy cross upon His
shoulders to Calvary.
5. The Crucifixion (virtue of perseverance): Jesus is nailed to the Cross and dies after
three hours of agony.
The Five Glorious Mysteries
Wednesdays & Sundays (after Easter until Advent)
1. The Resurrection (virtue of faith): Jesus rises to life, glorious and immortal, three days
after His death.
2. The Ascension (virtue of hope): Jesus ascends into Heaven forty-days after His
Resurrection.
3. The Coming of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles (virtue of love): The Holy Spirit
descends upon Mary and the Apostles in the Upper-Room in Jerusalem giving them
courage to carry on Jesus’ mission on Earth by spreading the Gospel to all people.
4. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin (hope for a happy death): After her death,
Mary’s uncorrupted body is mysteriously taken into heaven where Our Blessed Mother
is united with her Divine Son: Jesus.
5. The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin (hope for eternal salvation): Mary is Gloriously
crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth by Our Heavenly Father.
The Five Luminous Mysteries: Mysteries of Light (Suggested by Pope John Paul II)
Thursdays
1. The Baptism of Christ in the Jordan River (submission to God’s will): Jesus begins his
public ministry after being baptized, in a Jewish purification ritual, by his relative John
the Baptist (son of Elizabeth); experiencing God’s affirmation and blessing.
2. Christ's Self-Manifestation at the Wedding Feast at Cana (devotions to Mary): Jesus
performs the first public miracle of His ministry at a wedding in Cana when, at Mary’s
request, He turns six large jars of ordinary water into the finest wine.
3. Christ's Proclamation of the Kingdom of God with His Call to Conversion (grace of
conversion): Jesus teaches the crowd in the Sermon on the Mount beginning with the
eight Beatitudes.
4. Christ's Transfiguration (holy fear of God): Jesus takes His three closest Apostles
(Peter, John and James), to the top of Mount Tabor where He is mysteriously
transfigured before their eyes, into a radiant vision of His heavenly glory. Moses and
the Prophet Elijah appear with Him.
5. Christ's Institution of the Eucharist (thanksgiving to God): On Holy Thursday (in the
Upper-Room) the night before His death, during the Last Supper, Jesus blesses and
shares bread and wine—mysteriously turning them into his body and blood. Jesus
commissions His Apostles to repeat this Eucharistic thanksgiving meal—for all times in
His memory.
Preach the Gospel
at all times,
and if necessary,
use words.
St. Francis of Assisi
(one of the patron saints of Our Catholic School)