How to Pray the Rosary: Guide to the Rosary Prayer

Abby Fredrickson
How to Say the Rosary Guide: Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. How to Pray the Rosary Step by Step
3. Rosary Prayer Overview
4. Prayers Said in the Rosary
   • Apostles’ Creed
   • Our Father
   • Hail Mary
   • Glory Be
   • Fatima Prayer
   • Hail, Holy Queen
5. The Mysteries of the Rosary
   • Joyful Mysteries
   • Sorrowful Mysteries
   • Luminous Mysteries
   • Glorious Mysteries
6. Why Do We Pray the Rosary?
7. Praying the Rosary Every Day
8. How to Pray the Rosary PDF

The Rosary is a meditative prayer based on Scripture. When we pray the Rosary, we ask Mary to pray for us as we seek to grow closer to her son Jesus by contemplating His life, death, and Resurrection. 
In his 2002 apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Pope John Paul II wrote that with the Rosary, “the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love.”

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The Rosary remains an important prayer today. In May 2022, Pope Francis called on Christians to pray “the Holy Rosary for peace” in response to the war in Ukraine. In November 2022, Archbishop Cordileone of San Francisco invited the faithful to pray a “Rosary for Peace” on Election Day.

The Rosary is a prayer that always accompanies me; it is also the prayer of the ordinary people and the saints … it is a prayer from my heart.
Pope Francis

How to Pray the Rosary: Step by Step Guide

Time needed: 20 minutes
How to Pray the Rosary

1. Begin with the Sign of the Cross.
2. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 
3. Holding the crucifix, pray the Apostles’ Creed.
4. 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, died and was buried; He descended into hell; on 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 there He will 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 life everlasting. Amen. 
5. On the first bead, pray an Our Father.
6. 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. Amen. 
7. On each of the next three beads, pray a Hail Mary.
8. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. 
9. On the next bead, pray a Glory Be.
10. Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
11. Pray the first decade.
12. On the large bead, announce the mystery and then say an Our Father.
13. 
    
14. On each of the 10 small beads, say a Hail Mary while continuing to meditate on the mystery.
15. 
    
16. At the end of the decade, say the Glory Be.
17. 
    
18. Then say the Fatima Prayer:
19. O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell; lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who have most need of your mercy. Amen
20. Repeat this pattern for the remaining decades.
21. Our Father -> 10 Hail Marys -> Glory Be -> O my Jesus (Fatima Prayer)
22. After the 5 decades, conclude with the Hail Holy Queen.
23. Hail, holy Queen, mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To you we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to you we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
24. 
    
25. Turn, then, most gracious advocate, your eyes of mercy toward us; and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
26. 
    
27. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
28. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ
29. Close with the concluding prayer.
30. Let us pray:
31. 
    
32. O God, whose Only Begotten Son, by His Life, Death, and Resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life, grant, we beseech thee, that while meditating on 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. 
33. End with the Sign of the Cross.
34. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

What is the Rosary?