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The Holy Rosary

It has been suggested that the rosary began as a practice by the laity to imitate the

monks who prayed the 150 psalms in the Liturgy of the Hours. Many people could not read,

so Ave Maria's were substituted for the psalms and knotted cords were used to keep

an accurate count. Tradition tells us that the rosary was given to St. Dominic

by the Blessed Virgin Mary in the 12th century.

She appeared to him and asked him to spread devotion to the rosary.

The rosary is a meditative and contemplative prayer that brings us closer to Jesus

through His mother, Mary. It is a powerful form of prayer to invoke peace, healing,

and a deeper understanding of the Gospel. In October of the year 2002, Pope John Paul II

proclaimed the year of the Rosary and added the Luminous Mysteries to the meditation.

We reflect on the life of Jesus and Mary in the mysteries of the Rosary.

From the Gospel of Luke, chapter 1,

we recall the angel, Gabriel's greeting to Mary, the Mother of God,

Hail, full of Grace the Lord is with Thee.

And Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit cried out in a loud voice and said,

Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

We then ask our heavenly mother's intercession in aiding us as we pray,

Holy Mary Mother of God,

pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Click each mystery to view Holy Land photos for each of the mysteries

The Joyful Mysteries

The Luminous Mysteries

The Sorrowful Mysteries

The Glorious Mysteries

The Rosary, precisely because it starts with Mary’s own experience, is an exquisitely contemplative prayer.

Without this contemplative dimension, it would lose its meaning…

Without contemplation, the Rosary is a body without a soul, and its recitation runs the risk

of becoming a mechanical repetition of formulas, in violation of the admonition of Christ:

“In praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do,

for they think they will be heard for their many words.”

-Pope John Paul II

The Fifteen Promises of Mary
to Christians Who Recite the Rosary

1. Whoever shall faithfully serve Me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.

2. I promise My special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.

3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell; it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.

4. 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 men from the love of the world and its vanities and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that the souls would sanctify themselves by this means.

5. The soul, which recommends itself to Me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.

6. 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.

7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.

8. Those, who are faithful in reciting the Rosary, shall have, during their life and at their death, the light of God and the plenitude of His graces. At the moment of death, they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.

9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.

10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in heaven.

11. You shall obtain all you ask of Me by recitation of the Rosary.

12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by Me in their necessities.

13. 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.

14. All who recite the Rosary are My sons, and brothers of My only Son Jesus Christ.

15. Devotion to My Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

Ave Maria Productions Rosary Recordings:

Pray the Rosary, A Prayer for all Christians with Diane Travis and Guitar by Bill Sheffield. $15 for double cd in paper sleeves. (no artwork available at this time)

Click here to hear Pray the Rosary audio sample