POPE PROCLAIMS
“YEAR OF THE ROSARY”
AND ADDS NEW MYSTERIES 

Stating “the Rosary should be especially emphasized and promoted”, John Paul 11 
in an apostolic letter to bishops, clergy, and the faithful, proclaimed “the 
year from October 2002 to October 2003 the Year of the Rosary”. 

He also added the Mysteries of Light:
1. The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan
2. The self-manifestation of Jesus at the wedding at Cana
3. The proclamation by Jesus of the Kingdom of God, with His call to conversion.
4. The Transfiguration, and
5. The institution of the Eucharist.

The Rosary

We should "pray" the Rosary, rather than just recite the prayers. To each decade is attached a meditation, and while reciting the whole Rosary decade, we should raise our mind and hearts to God by meditating on the important event in the lives of Christ and His Blessed Mother indicated by the Rosary Mystery. By custom, the following schedule for saying the Mysteries of the Rosary is observed. The Joyful Mysteries are recited on Mondays and Thursdays, the Sorrowful on Tuesdays and Fridays, and the Glorious on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Exceptions to these are the recitation of the Joyful Mysteries on Sundays in Advent and the Sorrowful Mysteries on Sundays in Lent

How to Say the Rosary

  1. After making the Sign of the Cross, say the Apostles' Creed.
  2. Say the Our Father
  3. Say Three Hail Marys
  4. Say the Glory Be to the Father
  5. Announce the first mystery and meditate on it during the prayers of the decade which follow; then say the Our Father
  6. Say ten Hail Marys
  7. Say the Glory be to the Father
  8. Announce the second mystery and meditate on it during the prayers of the decade which follow; then say the Our Father
  9. Say ten Hail Marys.
  10. Say the Glory Be to the Father
  11. Announce the third mystery and meditate on it during the prayers of the decade which follow; then say the Our Father.
  12. Say ten Hail Marys
  13. Say the Glory Be to the Father
  14. Announce the fourth mystery and meditate on it during the prayers of the decade which follow; then say the Our Father.
  15. Say ten Hail Marys
  16. Say the Glory Be to the Father
  17. Announce the fifth mystery and meditate on it during the prayers of the decade which follow; then say the Our Father.
  18. Say ten Hail Marys
  19. Say the Glory Be to the Father
Hail, Holy Queen
Let Us Pray

The Story of the Rosary

The Rosary is one of the Church's greatest treasures, and over the years since the Blessed Virgin herself gave it to us in the eary 13th Century, it has proved itself to be on of the most popular forms of prayer in honor of Our Lady. Every day on the year, throughout the world, millions of people recite the Rosary in obedience to the Blessed 'virgin's many requests that they do so as a most effective means for overcoming the evils of modern society, for restoring peace to the world and to men's souls, and in helping man gain his eternal reward in heaven. Saints have acclaimed its effectiveness and Popes in all ages have recognized it as a rich source of divine blessing.

The complete Rosary consists essentially of 15 Our Fathers and 150 Hail Marys; however, the Church has divided the original Rosary into three equal parts, each consisting of 5 Our Fathers and 50 Hail Marys, and these groups are called the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries. They are so named because the meditations in each group correspond to either joyful, sorrowful, or glorious events in the lives of Jesus and Mary. Nowadays, when we speak of the "Rosary, we usually refer to only one of the groups, that is, to one-third of the Rosary, which is the ordinary and more convenient length for recitation, and the Rosary beads are arranged accordingly. The Apostles' Creed, the Glory Be to the Father, and the Hail, Holy Queen are also recited in the Rosary.

The Rosary originated about the year 1208, during the period when St. Dominic was preaching aganst the Albigensian heresy in southern France. Dominic had preached for years to members of this sect without much seccess. One night, while praying in the chapel of Notre Dame at Prouille, Our Lady appeared to him, holding a Rosary in her hand. According to tradition, she taught him how to say it, and bade him teach it to the world, promising that it would convert sinners and obtain graces for the just.

Armed with this weapon, St. Dominic's preaching among the Albigenses began to show effect, and many of them returned to the faith. In the military crusade carred on against these people by Simon de Montfort, the Rosary scored another triumph. The Christian army, instructed by St. Dominic, recited the Rosary before the crucial battle of Muret in 1213 and De Montfort ascribed his victory, under God, to those prayers.

Perhaps the mightiest of victories attributed to the Rosary was the naval battle of Lepanto. The Saracens threatened to overrun Christian Europe. In this extremity, Pope Pius V formed a league against them, with a Christian fleet furnished by Venice, Genoa, and Spain. As early as September, 1569, Pope Pius V ordered all the churches in Christendom to hold the Forty Hours Devotion, with public processions and recitation of the Rosary, for the success of the Christian army. In the year 1627, when Ling Louis XIII moved against the rebellious Huguenots, he ordered the public recitation of the Rosary, and fifteen thousand Rosaries were distributed among the soldiers and at appointed hours were recited night and day. As a result, victory was won and France was saved for the Catholic faith.

The defeat at Lepanto broke the sea power of the Saracens, but they still possessed a mighty land army. Invading the Balkan area, they laid siege to the key city of Vienna in 1683. In these dire circumstances, King Leopold put his hope in Our Lady of the Rosary, and the city was miraculously saved by a rescuing army under John Sobieski, King of Poland.

In more modern times, the Blessed Virgin appeared to Bernadett Soubirous in 1858 at Lourdes in France on eighteen occasions, each time with a Rosary draped over her arm, and at Lourdes today the Church of the Rosary has been built and marvelous cures and conversions are wrought there. Our Lady also appeared at Pompeii, Italy, in 1884, to Fortuna Agrelli and indicated her pleasure at the recitation of the Rosary and told her that whoever desires to obtain heavenly favors should make three novenas of prayers of the Rosary in petition and three novenas in thanksgiving. Again, during the first World War, in 1917, the Blessed Virgin appeared to three shephaed children at Fatima, in Portugal. The most important of the Blessed Mother's instructions, repeated on several occasions, was "To say the Rosary every day" in order to obtain peace for the world and to save souls that would otherwise be lost.

On many occasions the Popes have urged the faithful to recite the Rosary, and to quote one, the saintly Pius X: "The Rosary, of all prayers, is the most beautiful, the most rich in grace, the one which most touches the heart of the Mother of God. If you want peace to reign in your home, say the beads there, every day, with your family".

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