St Clare of Assisi

The Holy Rosary


The Rosary of the Virgin Mary, which gradually took form in the second millennium under the guidance of the Spirit of God, is a prayer loved by countless Saints and encouraged by the Magisterium. Simple yet profound, it still remains, at the dawn of this third millennium, a prayer of great significance, destined to bring forth a harvest of holiness. It blends easily into the spiritual journey of the Christian life, which, after two thousand years, has lost none of the freshness of its beginnings and feels drawn by the Spirit of God to “set out into the deep” (duc in altum!) in order once more to proclaim, and even cry out, before the world that Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour, “the way, and the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6), “the goal of human history and the point on which the desires of history and civilization turn”.
The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer. In the sobriety of its elements, it has all the depth of the Gospel message in its entirety, of which it can be said to be a compendium. It is an echo of the prayerof Mary, her perennial Magnificat for the work of the redemptive Incarnation which began in her virginal womb. With the Rosary, the Christian peoplesits 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. Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer.  (from the Apostolic Letter - Rosarium Virginis Mariae.  For full text: http://www.vatican.va




The Joyful Mysteries 
to be recited on Mondays and Saturdays

1. The Announciation

2. The Visitation

3. The Nativity of Our Lord

4. The Presentation of Baby Jesus in the Temple

5. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple



The Sorrowful Mysteries
to be recited on Tuesdays and Fridays

1. The Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane
2. The Scourging at the Pillar
3. The Crown of Thorns

4. The Carrying of the Cross

5. The Crucifixion and Death of Our Lord


The Glorious Mysteries
to be recited on Wednesdays and Sundays

1. The Resurrection of Our Lord

2. The Ascension of Christ into Heaven

3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles

4. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

5. The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary by the Holy Trinity


The Luminous Mysteries
to be recited on Thursdays

1. The Baptism of Our Lord in the River Jordan

2. The Miracle at Cana

3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God and a Call for Conversion

4. The Transfiguration at Mount Tabor

5. The Institution of the Holy Eucharist


For every decade 1 Our Father, 10 Hail Mary's and 1 Glory be


HAIL HOLY QUEEN (Salve Regina)

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, hail, 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 vale of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show 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 worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen