“Without prayer there is no salvation” (Saint Alphonsus Ligouri). This single qoute from Saint Alphonsus Maria de Ligouri is sufficient to show the capital importance of prayer; prayer is an indispensable prerequisite for salvation.
How To Pray The Holy Rosary
JOYFUL MYSTERIES (Mondays & Saturdays, and Sundays in Christmas season)
- The Annunciation of the Lord
(Lk 1:26-38) - The Visitation of Mary to Saint Elizabeth
(Lk 1:39-56) - The Nativity of the Divine Child
(Lk 2:1-20) - The Presentation in the Temple
(Lk 2:2-35) - The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple
(Lk 2:41 52)
LUMINOUS MYSTERIES (Thursdays)
- The Baptism of Lord
(Mt 3:13-17) - The Wedding Feast at Cana
(Jn 2:1-11) - The Proclamation of the Kingdom
(Mt 5:1-48) - The Transfiguration of the Lord
(Mt 17:1-13) - The Institution of the Eucharist
(Mt 26:26-29)
SORROWFUL MYSTERIES (Tuesdays & Fridays, and Sundays in Lent)
- Agony in the Garden
(Lk 22:39-48) - The Scourging at the Pillar
(Mk 15:6-15) - The Crowing with Thorns
(Mt 27:27-31) - The Carrying of the Cross
(Lk 23:26-31) - The Crucifixion
(Lk 23:32-46)
GLORIOUS MSYTERIES (Wednesdays & Sundays)
- The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
(Mk 16:1-18) - The Ascension of Our Lord to Heaven
(Acts 1:3-11) - Descent of the Holy Spirit
(Acts 2:1-13) - The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Heaven
(Jdt 13:18-20) - The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(Rev 12:1; Song 6:10)
1.Initial Prayer: By the sign of the Holy Cross, O Lord deliver us from all that is evil, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
2. Act of Contrition:
Close your eyes for a minute and remember all of the things (actions, words, thoughts and omissions) with which you have offended, the Lord. With profound repentance we pray:
My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against You whom I should love above all things. I firmly intend, with Your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Savior, Jesus Christ suffered and died for us. In His name, my God, have mercy. Amen.
3. The Apostle’s 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; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and 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.
4. Offering of the Rosary
- In honor and glory of the Holy Trinity
- With thanks for the gifts we have received
- For the Holy Souls in Purgatory
- For the Pope & the Holy Catholic Church; for the priests, especially those in our lives
- In atonement and reparation of our sins and those of the whole world
- For the conversion of sinners
- For the sick, dying and imprisoned
- To ask for the virtues of humility, purity, obedience, fidelity, prayer,
charity, and apostolic zeal - For the directors, future directors, and missions of Bonds of Marian Love
- For all the souls evangelized through Bonds of Marian Love
- For the peace of the world and especially, that of our country
- For all public servants and leaders
- For an increase of holy vocations
- For an end to abortion and for the all the aborted babies
- For the intentions of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and all personal intentions
5. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. (Repeat 3x).
6. With each decade of the Rosary, meditate the corresponding mystery, and pray one “Our Father,” ten “Hail Mary,” and one “Glory Be.”
7. After each decade, pray the following:
V. Mary is the mother grace, Mother of mercy,
R. In life and in death, be our help and our protection
Jesus, my God, mayest thou be ever known, adored, loved and praised every moment in the most holy and Divine Sacrament.
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.
May the rosary of Mary deliver us from all evil. Let us praise the heavenly queen night and day. Come Divine Will, come to reign in the hearts of Bonds of Marian Love, and in those of the whole world. Amen.
8. Prayers for the Pope, the Church, Souls in Purgatory, and to gain the indulgences of this Holy Rosary:
Pray an “Our Father,” a “Hail Mary,” and a “Glory be” for the intentions of the Holy Father and in order to gain the indulgences of this Holy Rosary.
Holy souls of Purgatory seeking relief, may God deliver you from grief and grant you eternal rest.
Our Father and Hail Mary
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May the souls of the faithful departed, through the Mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
9. 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 to 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 the 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.
Amen.
10. Prayer to Saint Joseph
O, Saint Joseph, you whose power extends over all our needs, who knows how to make possible for us the most impossible of things, open your fatherly eyes to your children’s interests. Amen.
Saint Joseph, adoptive father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and true spouse of the Holy Virgin Mary pray for us and the dying. Amen.
O prudent and just St. Joseph, intercede for us before the Holy Trinity. Amen.
11. Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host – by the Divine Power of God – cast into hell, Satan and all the evil spirits, who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
Saint Michael the Archangel, with your light illuminate us. Saint Michael the Archangel, with your wings protect us. Saint Michael the Archangel, with your sword defend us. Amen.
12. Prayer to your Guardian Angel
Angel of God, my Guardian Dear, to whom God’s love commits me here. Ever this day be at my side, to light, and guard and rule and guide. Amen.
13. Final Prayer
Purest Virgin, trusting in your power, I go with you for under your protection my soul will return safely home. Sweet Mother, do not part from me. Keep me in your sight. Accompany me everywhere, and never leave me alone. Because you protect me like a true mother, obtain from me the blessing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The word Rosary means “Crown of Roses”. Our Lady has revealed to several people that each time they say a Hail Mary they are giving her a beautiful rose and that each complete Rosary makes her a crown of roses. The rose is the queen of flowers, and so the Rosary is the rose of all devotions and it is, therefore, the most important one.
With the Rosary in fact we meditate the mysteries of joy, of sorrow, and of the glory of Jesus and Mary. The Holy Rosary is a biblical prayer par excellence. It is nothing more than to meditate on the Gospel, with the Hail Mary as background music.
It is a simple prayer, humble much like Mary. It is a prayer we can all say together with her, the Mother of God. With the Hail Mary we invite her to pray for us. Our Lady always grants our request. She joins her prayer to ours. Therefore, it becomes ever more useful, because what Mary asks she always receives, Jesus can never say no to whatever His Mother asks for. In every apparition, the heavenly Mother has invited us to pray the Rosary as a powerful weapon against evil that brings us to true peace.
The History of the Holy Rosary
The Rosary probably began as a practice by the laity to imitate the monastic Divine Office (Breviary or Liturgy of the Hours), during the course of which the monks daily prayed the 150 Psalms. The laity, many of whom could not read, substituted 50, or even 150, Hail Mary’s for the Psalms. In order to count the Hail Mary’s as they prayed they made knots on a chord.
In the thirteenth century, Dominic Guzman, a holy priest, struggling to convert those who had separated themselves from the Church by the heresy of the Albigensians- who taught that Jesus is not God, denied the sacraments and the truth that Mary is Mother of God- worked for years in the midst of these unfortunates. Through his preaching, prayers and sacrifices he managed to convert a few, but quickly the conversions faded.
The Virgin came to the aid of Saint Dominic. She appeared to him in 1208. She held in her hand a Rosary and taught him how to recite it. She commissioned him to preach this devotion throughout the world. The Virgin also told him to use the Rosary as a powerful weapon against the enemies of the faith. She promised him that many sinners will convert and obtain abundant graces. Saint Dominic left the place full of zeal, with Rosary in hand. Indeed, he preached, and with great success. Many of the Albigensians returned to the Catholic faith.
The Rosary remained a favorite prayer for nearly two centuries. When the devotion began to decline, the Blessed Virgin appeared to Blessed Alan de la Roche. She told him to revive this devotion. The Virgin also told him that immense volumes would be required to record all the miracles achieved by the Rosary. She reiterated the promises given to St. Dominic concerning the Rosary.
The 15 Promises of Mary, Queen of the Rosary
- Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive powerful graces.
- I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.
- The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell; it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.
- It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
- The soul, which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.
- Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just, he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.
- Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.
- Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise.
- I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
- The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.
- You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.
- All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
- I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.
- All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ.
- Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
Objections and Answers about the Rosary
First Objection: “The Rosary is not in the Bible.”
Answer: The Rosary is a biblical prayer par excellence. Therein all the mysteries of Christ’s life are contemplated, one by one. From His childhood (Joyful Mysteries), through His public life (Luminous Mysteries), to His passion and death (Sorrowful Mysteries). The Rosary is a compendium of the Gospel. It is a biblical and Christocentric prayer par excellence.
The Hail Mary in in the bible. It is composed by God (Lk 1:28;39). The Our Father is in the bible (Mt 6:8). Each of the contemplated mysteries belong to passages of the Gospel.
Second Objection: “The Rosary is too repetitious.”
Answer: The Rosary more than a prayer is a meditation. It has a positive effect in Christians, when performed with a deep spirit of meditation in the mysteries of faith.
The repetition of vocal prayers only marks the time of meditation. Jesus himself (says the Bible) prayed saying the same words (Mk 14:39). In the heavenly liturgy described in Revelations, the “four living creatures” who were in the throne of God “day and night they never stopped singing: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty; who was, and is and is to come” (Rev 4:8).
Our Protestant brothers repeat again and again words such as “Hallelujah,” “Glory to God”, “Amen”, among others.
The vast majority of things we do in a day are repetitious: What is walking? Is to repeat steps. What is breathing? It is repeated inhalations and exhalations. What is the beating of the heart? Repeated and tireless systole and diastole to the rhythm of “bang”, “bang” … We have breakfast, lunch, we eat every day. We clean ourselves every day … that is repetitive. Moreover, we all like to be told we are loved; but if we are told 50 times, even better. When things are repeated with a new intention, each repetition is like the first time.
Third objection: “I only do it when I feel like it.”
Answer: As we know, love more than a feeling, it is a decision. A mother not only cares for her newborn baby when she feels like it. Certainly, if the child cries in the morning she is not at all happy at having to get up and take care of him. His mother loves him above her own feelings. Such is the love we must profess to God and His Holy Mother. It has to be a strong conviction. Also, knowing that God does not need my prayer, but it is I who need it. If I stop praying, God does not lose anything, but it is I who lose His graces.
Testimonies of the Holy Rosary
Miracle of the Holy Rosary in Hiroshima: August 6, 1945
During World War II, two Japanese cities were destroyed by atomic bombs: Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In Nagasaki, as a result of the explosion, all houses within approximated 2.5 km from the epicenter, were destroyed. Those inside the city were buried in the ruins. Those who were outside were burned.
Amid the tragedy, a small community of Jesuit Fathers lived next to the parish church, at only eight blocks (about 1 km) from the epicenter of the bomb. They were German missionaries serving the Japanese people. As the Germans were allied with the Japanese, they were allowed to stay. The church next to the house of the Jesuits was destroyed, but their residence was untouched, and the members of the small Jesuit community survived. They had no after effects from radiation nor hearing loss, or any other disease or consequence.
Father Hubert Schiffer was one of the Jesuits in Hiroshima. He was 30 years old when the atomic bomb exploded in the city. He lived another 33 years in good health. He narrated his experiences in Hiroshima, during the Eucharistic Congress held in Philadelphia (USA) in 1976. Then, the eight members of the Jesuit community were still alive. Father Schiffer was examined and questioned by more than 200 scientists. They were unable to explain how he and his companions had survived. He attributed it to the protection of the Virgin Mary. He said, “I was in the middle of the atomic explosion … and I am still here, alive and well. I was not brought down by its destruction.” In addition, Father Schiffer maintained for several years that hundreds of experts and researchers studied the scientific reasons why the house so close to the atomic explosion was not affected. He explained that the house only had one different thing: “In that house we prayed the Rosary everyday.”
The Rosary of St. Teresa of Calcutta
Jim Castle was tired when he boarded his plane in Cincinnati, Ohio, that night in 1981. The 45-year-old management consultant had put on a week-long series of business meetings and seminars. Now he sank gratefully into his seat ready for the flight home to Kansas City, Kansas.
As more passengers entered, the place hummed with conversation, mixed with the sound of bags being stowed. Then, suddenly, people fell silent. The quiet moved slowly up the aisle like an invisible wake behind a boat. Jim craned his head to see what was happening, and his mouth dropped open.
Walking up the aisle were two nuns clad in simple white habits bordered in blue. He recognized the familiar face of one at once, the wrinkled skin, the eyes warmly intent. This was a face he had seen in newscasts and on the cover of TIME. The two nuns halted, and Jim realized that his seat companion was going to be Mother Teresa.
As the last few passengers settled in, Mother Teresa and her companion pulled out rosaries. Each decade of the beads was a different color, Jim noticed. The decades represented various areas of the world, Mother Teresa told him later, and added, “I pray for the poor and dying on each continent.”
The airplane taxied to the runway, and the two women began to pray, their voices a low murmur. Though Jim considered himself not a very religious Catholic who went to church mostly out of habit, inexplicably he found himself joining in. When the prayer was finished, Mother Teresa turned toward him. He felt a sensation of peace.
“Young man,” she inquired, “do you say the Rosary often?” “No, not really,” he admitted.
She took his hand, while her eyes probed his. Then she smiled. “Well, you will now.” And she dropped her Rosary into his palm.
An hour later Jim entered the Kansas City airport, where he described to his wife, Ruth, the reason why he was holding a Rosary in his hand. he said. “I feel as if I met a true sister of God.”
Nine months later Jim and Ruth visited Connie, a friend of theirs for several years. Connie confessed that she had been told she had ovarian cancer. “I’m going to fight it. I won’t give up,” said Connie.
Jim remembered the Rosary that Mother Teresa had given to him. He told her the story and said, “Keep it with you Connie. It may help.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. “I hope I can return it.”
More than a year passed, before Connie returned the Rosary. “I carried it with me all year,” she said. “Last month, the doctors did second-look surgery, and the tumor is gone. Completely! I knew it was time to give the Rosary back.”