Why pray the Rosary?
Imagine a distant land where a castle sits at the top of a hill. In this castle lives a good king, and beneath the hill, a peasant walks up towards the castle, covered in dirt after working in the fields all day. He walks with an apple in his hand that he wishes to give to the king to show his love and appreciation for all the king has done for him and his people. The peasant could knock on the castle door and give the apple to the king, and the king would love it and appreciate it. This is good, but it would be better if, after knocking on the door, the peasant presented the apple to the queen, and the queen then took the apple and put it on a golden tray and surrounded the apple with beautiful flowers, to present the offering to the king on behalf of the peasant. The queen took the gift from the peasant and enhanced it to make it worthy of a king.
This is what St. Luis de Montfort says Mary does with all of our prayers; she enhances them and brings them to her Divine Son on our behalf. This is why the rosary is such a powerful and important form of prayer.
How to pray the Rosary
- Make the sign of the Cross and say the “Apostle’s Creed”
- Say the “Our Father”
- Say 3 “Hail Marys” (1 to grow in faith, 1 to grow in hope, and 1 to grow in love)
- Say the “Glory be to the Father”
- Announce the First Mystery; Then say the “Our Father”
- Say 10 Hail Mary’s while meditating on the Mystery
- Say the “Glory be to the Father”
- After each decade say the “Fatima Prayer”
- Announce the Second Mystery: then say the “Our Father.” Repeat steps 6-7 and 8 and continue with the 3rd 4th and 5th Mysteries in the same manner
- After completing the five decades, say the “Hail, Holy Queen” followed by the “Concluding Rosary Prayer”
- As a general rule, the Joyful Mysteries are said on Monday and Saturday; the Sorrowful Mysteries on Tuesday and Friday; the Glorious Mysteries on Wednesday and Sunday; and the Luminous Mysteries on Thursday
Find The Mysteries By Clicking Below
15 Promises of Mary to Those Who Pray the Rosary
These promises were given to Blessed Alan de la Roche from Our Blessed Mother through private revelation.
1. Those who 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. The recitation of the Rosary 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 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. Those who recite my Rosary devoutly, applying themselves to the consideration of its sacred mysteries, shall never be conquered by misfortune. In His justice, God will not chastise them; nor shall they perish by an unprovided death (i.e., be unprepared for heaven). Sinners shall convert. The just shall persevere in grace and become worthy of eternal life.
7. Those who have a true devotion to the Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
8. Those who faithfully recite 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. By the recitation of the Rosary you shall obtain all that you ask of me.
12. 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 their death.
14. All who recite the Rosary are my beloved children and the brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ.
15. Devotion for my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
Where does the Hail Mary come from?
The Hail Mary is a prayer that comes straight from the Bible. In Luke 1:28, when the angel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary, she greeted her by saying, “Hail, full of grace”. To say “Hail” to someone means to greet them with enthusiastic approval. The angel then said, “The Lord is with you!” These are the words God chose to greet Mary with, as the angel Gabriel is God’s messenger. A few verses later, in Luke 1:42, Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth. When Mary arrived, Elizabeth, being filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” This gives us the first half of the Hail Mary prayer.
The second half just exclaims the desire that longs in our hearts, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death.” We are asking her to go directly to her Son Jesus, and she asks him to help us. We know that Jesus listens to her, which was shown to us during the performance of his first miracle, the wedding feast of Cana. In John 2:3-5, when the wine ran out, Mary asked for Jesus to intervene, and he agrees. The important thing is what follows. Mary then says to the servant, “do whatever he tells you.” We ask for Mary’s help, and she brings her petitions to her Divine Son. Jesus listens to his mother, and Mary guides us to follow Jesus.
Why is Mary so Important?
Each of us was born with the mark of original sin from the fall of Adam and Eve. God, the most holy, could not have been brought into the world from someone marked by sin. In God’s wisdom and mercy, He created Mary without any mark of original sin (the immaculate conception), and because of this, Mary was made so pure that she was able to carry God in her womb and mother him. She remained pure her entire life and never sinned.
Even though she was without fault and remained pure, she still suffered along with Christ for our salvation. No human has loved Jesus more than Mary, yet there she was at the foot of the cross, holding her Son’s lifeless body as she wept for him after witnessing our Lord’s passion for our salvation.
Many people have experienced or understand how deeply a mother loves their child. Maybe you have a bad relationship with your own mother, but remember that Mary was literally perfect. Her love for her son was pure, and she had a front row seat to watch him die in one of the most horrific ways possible. It has been described that on Good Friday, a sword pierced her heart from watching her son’s death.
This is one of the reasons why Mary has been given the responsibility by God to bring all people to her divine son. In John 19:26-27 it says, “When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother!” In this moment, Jesus gave his mother to be our mother, and we are all her children, and she loves us a such.
In Mathew 18:3 it says “Truly I tell you,” he said, “unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Just as a baby is reliant on their mother to be fed, so are we reliant on Mary to be brought to her son for salvation. St. Padre Pio stated that “all graces given from God passed through the Blessed Mother.” Christ merits all grace, but just as he chose to enter the world through Mary, so has he chosen to distribute graces and gifts through Mary.
God could have saved us by himself, but through his love and humility, he has invited us to take part in salvation history by trusting Mary to bring us to her Son and for us to intercede for one another.
The moon is beautiful and acts as our light in the night, but the moon provides no light of its own. The moon simply reflects the light of the sun, and without the sun, the moon has no beauty. The sun is too bright and powerful for us to look at, but we can see the light of the sun reflected off the moon. This relationship between the sun and moon is an excellent analogy for Mary reflecting the light of God and guiding us in the darkness towards her Son.
For more information on the rosary, we recommend listening to “The Rosary in a Year” podcast with Fr. Mark-Mary
