How to Pray the Scriptural Rosary

Rosary Beads

Traditionally, the Rosary is prayed using a set of beads with a ‘cross, not only because “the beads help us tracking our progress through the Rosary prayers” (Rosarium Virginis Mariæ, Pope John Paul II), but also because “the set of beads, a ‘chain’ which links us to God, remind us of our many relationships, of the bond of communion and fraternity which unites us all in Christ” (RVM).

The Praying Style of the Scriptural Rosary

What matters most in praying the Rosary, “what is really important is that the Rosary should always be seen and experienced as a path of contemplation” (RVM). Keep then in mind that “by its nature the recitation of the Rosary calls for a quiet rhythm and a lingering pace” (RVM). Indeed, it calls even for times of reflection and silence, because “attentive listening is indispensable: only the experience of silence and prayer offers the proper setting for the growth and development of a true, faithful and consistent knowledge of that [Christ’s] mystery” (RVM). Hence, the Pope’s practical advice: “Since listening and meditating are nourished by silence, after the announcement and the scriptural reading it is fitting to pause and focus one’s attention for a suitable period of time on the mystery concerned, before moving into vocal prayer” (RVM).

The Scripture passages, as they are properly used, will help you in disciplining your mind, memory and imagination to concentrate serenely on the mystery. Do not rush through the Rosary. Take the time necessary to give it a rhythm of calm prayer—even if you have time to do just a few mysteries (doing them well). For, “without contemplation, the Rosary is a body without a soul, and its recitation runs the risk of becoming a mechanical repetition of formulas, in violation of the admonition of Christ: ‘In praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think they will be heard for their many words’ (Mt. 6:7)” (RVM). Remember, prayers are just tools to help you achieve genuine prayer “in spirit and truth” (Jn. 4:24).

Further, the Bible passages are meant to help “the individual to meditate on the mysteries of the Lord’s life as seen through the eyes of her who was closest to the Lord” (RVM). The Bible should help you see Christ’s life through the eyes of Mary. She “treasured in her heart” (Lk. 2:19) Christ’s deeds, pondering their meaning under the light of the Scriptures and her own experience of those deeds. As the Pope stated, “the Rosary, precisely because it starts with Mary’s own experience, is an exquisitely contemplative prayer” (RVM).

Pray the Rosary with your family, with friends, or with neighbors. If you are praying with smaller children, avoid getting them into the bad habit of just repeating words mechanically—think of yourself at this point as a master of prayer to them. Children should not contemplate Jesus’ mysteries the way you ought to; they need help in achieving contemplation in their own way—probably, a much better one! One suggestion: after they have reached the limit of their own capacity in reciting part of the common Rosary, you could let them spend the rest of the time drawing quietly on the themes and details of each mystery as it unfolds in this or that Scripture passage. Thus, they will gradually begin “to see” the richness of each mystery through their own drawings, while also learning to be quiet and respectful in times of prayer. In turn, learning to contemplate the mysteries will get them more and more ready to join fruitfully in the praying of the full Rosary.

Contemplation through Coming Back

“The contemplative method of the Rosary is based on repetition, as an outpouring of that love which tirelessly returns to the person loved with expressions similar in their content but ever fresh in terms of the feeling pervading them” (RVM).

To facilitate repetition to be enriching and not trite, the Bible passages will give you an objective, God–revealed insight into the mysteries of Christ—from short references to the Gospel story, to moving depictions of Christ’s inner thoughts and feelings, to enlightening prophecies instructive of the Father’s provident plans.

In this way, the Bible will enable your contemplation as “remembering” through the eyes for Mary, for “Mary’s contemplation is above all a remembering. We need to understand this word in the biblical sense of remembrance (Heb. zakar) as a making present of the works brought about by God in the history of salvation. This making present comes about above all in the Liturgy: what God accomplished centuries ago did not only affect the direct witnesses of those events; it continues to affect people in every age with its gift of grace. To ‘remember’ them in the Rosary in a spirit of faith and love is to be open to the grace which Christ won for us by the mysteries of his life, death and resurrection” (RVM).

Introductory Rite

As the Pope says, “at present, there are many ways to begin the Rosary in different parts of the Church. To the extent that they prepare the mind for contemplation, they are all equally legitimate” (RVM). Our Scriptural Rosary starts as the Rosary has been traditionally started since its beginnings in the Middle Ages, i.e., with the same words and gestures that open the official prayer of the Church, the Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours.

Since “what is needed [to pray the Rosary well] is a revelation from above” (RVM), for “the only way to approach the contemplation of Christ’s face is by listening in the Spirit to the Father’s voice, since ‘no one knows the Son except the Father’ (Mt. 11:27)” (RVM), you will continue by praying for the assistance of the Holy Spirit with a special emphasis on the grace of each one of the “crowns” of the Rosary, i.e. the joyous, luminous, sorrowful and glorious mysteries (four crowns in all). Pause briefly after this prayer before moving into the first mystery.

The Praying of the Decades (Mysteries)

“Announce each mystery with words and perhaps even using a suitable icon to portray it, as it were to open up a scenario on which to focus our attention” (RVM).

After the announcement of the mystery, a special fruit is presented, together with a Bible selection weaved together to illustrate it and supply a scriptural foundation. Pause briefly again after this proclamation.

Pray the Our Father.

Before reciting each Hail Mary, read the corresponding Scripture quotation, making a small hiatus at the point indicated by the asterisk, which helps perceiving the balanced rhythm of thought, typically built in the Scriptures in parallelism. If you are praying with others, the part before the asterisk could be said by the leader, with the rest completing the second part, pretty much as in the Angelus prayer, i.e. [leader]: “The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,” * [others]: “and she conceived of the Holy Spirit”. Picture or consider the meaning of this text while you pray the Hail Mary.

The “Glory be” is now prayed. “After the Our Father and the ten Hail Marys the Trinitarian doxology could be sung in public recitation as a way of giving proper emphasis to the essentially Trinitarian structure of all Christian prayer” (RVM). Additionally, you could add emphasis to this prayer by bowing your head as you pronounce the name of the three divine Persons.

“In current practice, the Trinitarian doxology is followed by a brief concluding prayer which varies according to local custom” (RVM). In the Scriptural Rosary, this prayer is the one given by Our Lady at Fatima, i.e. “O my Jesus…”

As the Pope suggested, a final prayer is added as “each mystery would be more fruitfully concluded with a prayer for the fruits specific to that particular mystery” (RVM).

Luminous and Other Mysteries

Since the Rosary came about as a fitting substitute for busy or illiterate folk to the official prayer of the Church, the Divine Office (which every week raised to heaven the praying of 150 psalms), it was patterned after it. In the end, 150 Hail Marys were divided into 15 decades, preceded each by the Our Father and concluded by the Glory be. These 15 decades were grouped into three “crowns,” commemorating the infancy, passion and glory of Christ.

However, our Scriptural Rosary offers an added crown remembering the mysteries of Christ’s evangelical work, as the Pope proposed, as a very worth and fruitful organic development of this prayer: “for the Rosary to become more fully a ‘compendium of the Gospel’ it is fitting to add, following reflection on the Incarnation and the hidden life of Christ (the mysteries of joy) and before focusing on the sufferings of his Passion (the mysteries of sorrow) and the triumph of his Resurrection (the mysteries of glory), a meditation on significant moments in his public ministry (the mysteries of light). The addition is left to the freedom of individuals and communities” (RVM).

Otherwise, “the distribution of the parts of the Rosary according to a weekly pattern has the effect of giving the different days of the week a certain spiritual “color”, by analogy with the way in which the Liturgy colors the different seasons of the liturgical year” (RVM). Ordinarily, the mysteries of joy are prayed on Mondays and Saturdays; the mysteries of light on Thursdays; the mysteries of sorrow on Tuesdays and Fridays; and the mysteries of glory on Sundays and Wednesdays. However, during the week of Christmas, we recommend that you pray every day the joyful mysteries; during Epiphany week, the luminous; during Holy Week, the sorrowful; and during Easter and Pentecost weeks, the glorious.

Concluding Rite

“The Rosary is then ended with a prayer for the intentions of the Pope, as if to expand the vision of the one praying to embrace all the needs of the Church” (RVM). One Our Father and three Hail Marys are prayed for these intentions.

A traditional antiphon to Our Lady follows (usually, the Hail, Holy Queen, although alternatives are offered that customarily mark special liturgical seasons).

If one wants to pray the Litanies of Loreto, it can be done at this moment.

Finally, the Hail Holy Queen is said and all is concluded with the Sign of the Cross.