The rosary is a Scripture-based prayer. It begins with the Apostles’ Creed, which summarizes the great mysteries of the Catholic faith. The Our Father, which introduces each mystery, is from the Gospels. The first part of the Hail Mary is the angel’s words announcing Christ’s birth and Elizabeth’s greeting to Mary. The mysteries of the rosary center on the events of Christ’s life. There are four sets of mysteries: joyful, sorrowful, glorious and the luminous, which were added by St. John Paul II in 2002. Look online for details about each and a breakdown of how to pray the rosary.
Did you know there are other rosaries? Since the early days of the Church, religious orders have built on and modified this beautiful prayer to emphasize different devotions. Among them are the World Mission Rosary created by Blessed Fulton Sheen to encourage Catholics to pray for the mission work of the Church around the world. Other variations that use different prayers or numbers of prayers include the Seven Sorrows rosary, which honors the Blessed Mother’s sorrows, the Seraphic rosary, which honors her seven joys, and the Brigittine Crown, which adds a sixth mystery honoring Our Lady as Queen of the Carmelite Order.