Prayers

How to pray the rosary

Everything needed is on this page. Someone who has never held a set of beads can pray a full rosary tonight; someone who has prayed one every day for fifty years should find nothing here to correct.

What the beads are for

The beads do one job: they keep your place, so that your attention is free for the prayer rather than for counting. There are sixty of them. Fifty make five groups of ten — the decades — and a single bead sits before each group, which is fifty-five in the loop. The loop meets at the centre, and from the centre a short strand of five hangs down: one large bead, then three small ones, then one more large bead, and a cross at the end.

The prayer begins at the cross and works up the strand to the centre: an Our Father on the large bead, a Hail Mary on each of the three small ones, and the Glory Be on the large bead below the centre. Then the loop, once round, where every large bead is an Our Father.

The order of the prayers

Hold the cross. Make the Sign of the Cross, then say the Apostles' Creed.
On the first bead, the Our Father.
On the next three beads, three Hail Marys.
On the large bead below the centre, the Glory Be.
At the centre, announce the first mystery.
On the next bead, the Our Father.
On the ten beads that follow, ten Hail Marys, one to a bead, holding that mystery in mind as you go.
After the tenth bead, the Glory Be, and then the Fatima prayer if you keep that custom.
Announce the next mystery on the single bead you have come to, and begin again from the Our Father. Five decades in all.
When the loop is finished you are back at the centre. The Hail Holy Queen, and the Sign of the Cross to close.

That is one rosary: five decades, fifty Hail Marys, one set of mysteries. It takes about twenty minutes unhurried, and there is no prize for hurrying.

The Fatima prayer at the end of each decade was given in 1917 and is a custom rather than a rule; a rosary prayed without it is a whole rosary. The same is true of the prayers some people add after the Hail Holy Queen.

Which mysteries, and when

The mysteries are the scenes from the life of Christ and his mother that you hold in mind, one to a decade. There are four sets of five, and each set has its days.

The Joyful Mysteries Monday and Saturday
The Sorrowful Mysteries Tuesday and Friday
The Glorious Mysteries Wednesday and Sunday
The Luminous Mysteries Thursday

All twenty mysteries, set by set

Pray it one bead at a time

If you would rather be shown where you are than remember it, there is a guided rosary here. It tells you which bead you are on and which prayer belongs to it, from the cross to the last Sign of the Cross. Nothing is recorded, nothing is counted from day to day, and there is nothing to sign in to.

Pray a rosary, bead by bead

The prayers, in full

These are the traditional English forms. They are given here in the order they are first said.

The Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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 Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried;

he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead;

he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;

from there he will 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.

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.

The Hail Mary

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.

The Glory Be

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

The Fatima Prayer

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell;

lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.

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. Amen.

One last thing

Any set of beads will keep your place, and the oldest ones are usually the ones that have been prayed on most. If you are looking for a set to hold, the collection is here. Every piece arrives unblessed — a blessing is given freely by a priest, and it is not ours to sell.