Praying the Rosary is a wonderful way to deepen your Catholic faith and grow closer to our Lord Jesus Christ, as well as, his mother the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Rosary comes from the Latin word “rosarium” meaning a “crown of roses” or a “garland of roses”.
A Rosary chain is made from grouped beads on a necklace like prayer rope that acts as a prayer guide. The Rosary beads are grouped in sets of ten “Hail Mary” prayers, called “decades”. Each decade is preceded by one “Lord’s Prayer” and then followed by one “Glory Be” prayer.
During recitation of each decade, thought is given to one of the Mysteries of the Rosary. These Mysteries recall events in the lives of our Lord Jesus Christ and his mother the Blessed Virgin Mary. Five decades are recited per Rosary chain. Other prayers are sometimes added before or after each decade.
Rosary beads are an aid towards saying these prayers in the proper sequence and help you keep count of where you are in a given prayer decade.
While many Catholics learned how to pray the Rosary during Catechism or while attending a Catholic school, for many of the faithful it is something they have not done in a long time. It is never to late to deepen your faith and become familiar again with the Rosary or to learn more about it by beginning to pray it today. The Rosary is easy to learn and through repetition easily memorized.
The Knights of Columbus has an online resource booklet called “A Guide to Praying the Rosary” that can be found here. This guide will walk you through step by step how pray the Rosary and explain what group of Mysteries is to be used when as each day of the week has its own Mystery devotion. The guide is short, simple, and easy to use. You will be praying the Rosary quickly and the more you pray the Rosary the better you will remember what to do when.
You can also download this same booklet in PDF form here. The PDF can be printed out for easy reference and use.
The Knights of Columbus offers a wide range of informational guides to deepen your Catholic faith through its Catholic Information Service (CIS) resource center. If you would like to learn more about your Catholic faith including particular topics such as prayers, devotions, history, and faith formation you can find their web site here.
Rosary beads are widely available at reasonable prices from many online and local Catholic retailers. Many Catholic Churches give away free Rosaries in their Church Atrium and others offer low cost purchases of Rosaries in their Atrium after Mass. Check with your Pastor to find out if your Parish offers Rosaries at free or reduced costs.
Many Parishes also have Rosary devotional Missions that pray the Rosary on a monthly or weekly basis as a group. Check your Parish Bulletin to see if your Parish offers such missions or ask your Pastor if there is a formal Rosary devotional group within your Parish. Praying the Rosary with other Catholics is another great way to grow your faith and deepen your sense of Faith Community. Lord Jesus Christ calls Catholics to pray together for this very reason.
Finally a great way pray the Rosary is within your own home. Your family can deepen its intimate ties to its Catholic faith by praying routinely together. The Rosary is the perfect way for your family to spend some the time with our Lord Jesus Christ and his mother the Blessed Virgin Mary. As Pope Francis tells us “May each family rediscover family prayer, which helps to bring about mutual understanding and forgiveness.”
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