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Hi Wayne,
Great to hear from you!
You said:
How do you hold the Rosary beads?
Good question. Cradle Catholics like me, sometimes take this for granted.
Let me share with you, not only how to hold the rosary, but an overall "How
to pray the Rosary".
You put your thumb on the crucifix and your fore finger (the one you
point with) behind the crucifix and say "the
Creed".
After you are finished, you move your thumb and fore finger to the
first single bead right next to the crucifix and say the "Our
Father".
After that, you will see some spacing and a set of three beads.
Say a "Hail Mary" on each of these beads in the same way as
described above.
Each of these beads are said for an increase of the three theological virtues:
- Faith
- Hope and
- Charity
- You finish this section by saying the "Glory
Be"
Then you will see some more spacing and another single bead.
- Put your thumb on that bead and your fore finger behind
it, like you have done up to now
- say the "First Joyful Mystery - The Annunciation" to yourself
or aloud
- and say the Our Father.
You will see that the next part of the Rosary is the centerpiece. To
the right and the left of that centerpiece are 10 beads close together.
Go either way and say 10 "Hail Mary's" on
each of those beads, WHILE: Important part, meditating
on the particular event in the life of Jesus and/or Mary; in this case:
Mary's choice {free will} to say YES to the angel Gabriel to become
the Mother of Jesus, Our Divine Savior. This is known as the Annunciation.
At first, the meditation portion can be a little difficult, but it
is an important aspect to the Rosary. We would say, the (internal)
meditation or thinking about each Mystery is the Soul of
the Rosary itself. Without
the meditation, we fall into the error of vain repetition.
Question
you may have: If we are having a hard time with the meditation portion
of the Rosary, do we still get graces and blessings? The Answer: SURE!!
Once you finish saying the Hail
Mary on the last bead and meditating on this mystery, you will notice
some spacing, a single bead and ten more beads.
Before you start the next mystery meditation, put your thumb and fore finger on the
spacing in between the last of the ten beads and before the NEXT single bead and
say the "Glory Be".
After you have finished praying the "Glory Be" and "O My Jesus" prayer,
you have completed one decade of the Rosary.
On that next single bead, put your thumb on that bead and your fore finger behind
it and say the "Second Joyful Mystery - The Visitation
of Mary to Elizabeth her cousin" to yourself or aloud, and start
the process over again: saying the prayers while meditating on
the new mystery, the Visitation of Our Blessed Mother to her cousin
St. Elizabeth.
For each set of (one Our Father, 10
Hail Mary's and one Glory Be, that we pray), we {meditate on
or think about} one important event in the life of Jesus and Mary.
There are 20 Holy Events in the Life of Jesus and Mary that we meditate
on. Most Catholics meditate on 5 mysteries a day. The twenty Holy Events
are grouped into the:
- Joyful Mysteries/Events
- Luminous Mysteries/Events
- Sorrowful Mysteries/Events and
- Glorious Mysteries/Events
of Our Lord and Our Blessed Mother's Life.
If you are interested in what the mysteries/holy events are, you can
check out the fifteen promises for those who pray the Rosary. This can be a little difficult at first, but, remember,
Our Lord understands and reads the heart and knows our intent.
After you have said/prayed the fifth holy Mystery, you will be back at
the centerpiece. Put your thumb on the centerpiece and your fore finger
(the one you point with) behind the centerpiece and say the "Hail
Holy Queen" followed by the "O God,
Whose Only-begotten Son (Offertory)"
Most Catholics finished by saying:
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray
for us.
Hope this helps!
Take care,
Mike
Prayers of the Rosary
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,
dead, and buried; he descended into Hell; 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 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 the life everlasting.
Amen. [ back ]
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.
[Matthew 6:9-13]
Amen. [ back ]
The Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; [Luke 1:28]
blessed art thou
among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. [Luke 1:42]
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray
for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. [ back ]
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.
Popular optional add-on after the Glory Be:
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.
Amen. [ back ]
Hail Holy Queen and Offertory
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 towards 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 worth of the promises
of Christ.
Let us Pray.
(Offertory)
O God, Whose Only-begotten Son, by his life, death, and resurrection,
has purchased for use the rewards of eternal life, grant, we beseech Thee,
that meditating upon these mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise,
through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen. [ back ]
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