The Secret Of The Rosary – How To Pray The Rosary – Part 2
Methods of saying the Rosary
To draw into our souls the graces of the Mysteries of the Life, Passion and Glory of Jesus and Mary.
First Method
Say the “Come Holy Spirit” and then make this offering of the Rosary:
I unite with all the saints in heaven and with all the just on earth; I unite with you, my Jesus, to praise your holy Mother worthily and to praise you in her and by her. I renounce all the distractions that may come to me while I am saying this Rosary. O Blessed Virgin Mary, we offer you this Creed to honour the faith you had upon earth and to ask you to permit us to share in that same faith. O Lord, we offer you this Our Father to adore you in your oneness and to acknowledge you as the first cause and the last end of all things. Most Holy Trinity, we offer you these three Hail Marys to thank you for all the graces which you have given to Mary and which you have given to us through her intercession.
Creed, Our Father, three Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
Offering of the Decades
Joyful Mysteries
First decade. We offer you, Lord Jesus, this first decade in honour of your Incarnation. Through this mystery and the intercession of your holy Mother we ask for humility of heart.
Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
May the grace of the mystery of the Incarnation come into me and make me truly humble.
Second decade. We offer you, Lord Jesus, this second decade in honour of the Visitation of your holy Mother to her cousin Saint Elizabeth. Through this mystery and the intercession of Mary we ask for a perfect love of our neighbour.
Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
May the grace of the mystery of the Visitation come into me and make me truly charitable.
Third decade. We offer you, Child Jesus, this third decade in honour of your holy Birth. Through this mystery and the intercession of your blessed Mother we ask for detachment from the things of this world, love of poverty and love of the poor.
Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
May the grace of the Birth of Jesus come into me and make me truly poor in spirit.
Fourth decade. We offer you, O Lord Jesus, this fourth decade in honour of your Presentation in the temple by the hands of Mary. Through this mystery and the intercession of your blessed Mother we ask for the gift of wisdom and purity of heart and body.
Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
May the grace of the mystery of the Purification come into me and make me truly wise and pure.
Fifth decade. We offer you, Lord Jesus, this fifth decade to honour Mary’s Finding you in the temple among the learned men after she had lost you. Through this mystery and the intercession of your blessed Mother we ask you to convert us and all sinners, heretics, schismatics and pagans.
Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
May the grace of the mystery of the Finding of Jesus in the temple come into me that I may be truly converted.
Sorrowful Mysteries
Sixth decade. We offer you, Lord Jesus, this sixth decade in honour of your intense Agony in the garden of Olives. Through this mystery and the intercession of your holy Mother we ask for perfect sorrow for our sins and perfect conformity to your holy will.
Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
May the grace of the Agony of Jesus come into me and make me truly contrite and perfectly obedient to the will of God.
Seventh decade. We offer you, Lord Jesus, this seventh decade in honour of your cruel Scourging. Through this mystery and the intercession of your holy Mother we ask for the grace to mortify our senses.
Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
May the grace of the Scourging of Jesus come into me and make me truly mortified.
Eighth decade. We offer you, Lord Jesus, this eighth decade in honour of being Crowned with Thorns. Through this mystery and the intercession of your holy Mother we ask for a deep contempt of the world.
Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
May the grace of the mystery of our Lord’s Crowning with Thorns come into me and make me truly opposed to the world.
Ninth decade. We offer you, Lord Jesus, this ninth decade in honour of your Carrying the Cross. Through this mystery and the intercession of your holy Mother we ask for great patience in carrying our cross after you all the days of our life.
Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
May the grace of the mystery of the Carrying of the Cross come into me and make me truly patient.
Tenth decade. We offer you, Lord Jesus, this tenth decade in honour of your Crucifixion on Mount Calvary. Through this mystery and the intercession of your holy Mother we ask for a great horror of sin, a love for the Cross and the grace of a holy death for us and for those who are now in their last agony.
Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
May the grace of the Death and Passion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ come into me and make me truly holy.
Glorious Mysteries
Eleventh decade. We offer you, Lord Jesus, this eleventh decade in honour of your triumphant Resurrection. Through this mystery and through the intercession of your holy Mother we ask for a lively faith.
Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
May the grace of the Resurrection come into me and make me truly faithful.
Twelfth decade. We offer you, Lord Jesus, this twelfth decade in honour of your glorious Ascension. Through this mystery and the intercession of your holy Mother we ask for a firm hope and a great longing for heaven.
Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
May the grace of the mystery of the Ascension of our Lord come into me and prepare me for heaven.
Thirteenth decade. We offer you, O Holy Spirit, this thirteenth decade in honour of the mystery of Pentecost. Through this mystery and the intercession of Mary, your most holy Spouse, we ask for your holy wisdom that we may know, taste and practice your truth and share it with everyone.
Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
May the grace of Pentecost come into me and make me truly wise in the eyes of God.
Fourteenth decade. We offer you, Lord Jesus, this fourteenth decade in honour of the Immaculate Conception of your holy Mother and her Assumption into heaven body and soul. Through these two mysteries and her intercession we ask for the gift of true devotion to her in order to live a good life and have a happy death.
Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
May the grace of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary come into me and make me truly devoted to her.
Fifteenth decade. We offer you, Lord Jesus, this fifteenth and last decade in honour of the Crowning in glory of your holy Mother in heaven. Through this mystery and her intercession we ask for perseverance and an increase in virtue up to the moment of our death and thereafter the eternal crown that is prepared for us. We ask for the same grace for all the just and all our benefactors.
Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
Luminous Mysteries
Sixteenth decade. We offer you, Lord Jesus, this sixteenth decade in honour of your Baptism in the River Jordan, and we ask of Thee, through this mystery and through the intercession of Thy holy Mother, the grace of obedience to the will of the Father. .
Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
May the grace of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary come into me and make me truly devoted to her.
Seventeenth decade. We offer you, Lord Jesus, this fourteenth decade in honour of the Immaculate Conception of your holy Mother and her Assumption into heaven body and soul. Through these two mysteries and her intercession we ask for the gift of true devotion to her in order to live a good life and have a happy death.
Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
May the grace of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary come into me and make me truly devoted to her.
Eighteenth decade. We offer you, Lord Jesus, this fourteenth decade in honour of the Immaculate Conception of your holy Mother and her Assumption into heaven body and soul. Through these two mysteries and her intercession we ask for the gift of true devotion to her in order to live a good life and have a happy death.
Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
May the grace of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary come into me and make me truly devoted to her.
Nineteenth decade. We offer you, Lord Jesus, this fourteenth decade in honour of the Immaculate Conception of your holy Mother and her Assumption into heaven body and soul. Through these two mysteries and her intercession we ask for the gift of true devotion to her in order to live a good life and have a happy death.
Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
May the grace of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary come into me and make me truly devoted to her.
Twentieth decade. We offer you, Lord Jesus, this fourteenth decade in honour of the Immaculate Conception of your holy Mother and her Assumption into heaven body and soul. Through these two mysteries and her intercession we ask for the gift of true devotion to her in order to live a good life and have a happy death.
Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father.
May the grace of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary come into me and make me truly devoted to her.
We beseech you, Lord Jesus, by the fifteen mysteries of your life, death, passion and glory, and the merits of your holy Mother, to convert sinners, to help the dying, to free the souls in purgatory, and to give all of us your grace so that we may live well and die well. We pray also for the light of glory to see you face to face and love you during all eternity. Amen.
Second, Shorter Method
Of celebrating the life, death and heavenly glory of Jesus and Mary in the holy Rosary and a method of restraining our imagination and lessening distractions.
To do this a word or two is added to each Hail Mary of the decade reminding us of the mystery we are celebrating. This addition follows the name of Jesus in the middle of the Hail Mary: and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
1st decade : “Jesus becoming man”
2nd decade : “Jesus sanctifying”
3rd decade : “Jesus born in poverty”
4th decade : “Jesus sacrificed”
5th decade : “Jesus Holy of holies”
6th decade : “Jesus in his agony”
7th decade : “Jesus scourged”
8th decade : “Jesus crowned with thorns”
9th decade : “Jesus carrying his Cross”
10th decade : “Jesus crucified”
11th decade : “Jesus risen from the dead”
12th decade : “Jesus ascending to heaven”
13th decade : “Jesus filling thee with the Holy Spirit”
14th decade : “Jesus raising thee up”
15th decade : “Jesus crowning thee”
At the end of the first five mysteries, we pray: “May the grace of the joyful mysteries come into our souls and make us really holy”
At the end of the second we pray, “May the grace of the sorrowful mysteries come into our souls and make us truly patient”
At the end of the third decade, we pray “May the grace of the glorious mysteries come into our souls and make us eternally happy.’
Conclusion:
The Luminous Mysteries were recently added to the Holy Rosary by the late Blessed John Paul 2 and as such, would not be covered in the methods outlined here. There are also other methods of praying the Rosary that have not been listed on this site, but are included in the document that is available at the end of this article for downloading.
May Mary the Mother of God, pray for us all, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
