The Prayers of the Rosary

To say the Rosary you need either to know or have a copy of each of the following prayers:

The Apostles’ Creed
The Our Father (or Lord’s Prayer)
The Glory be
The Hail Mary
The Salve Regina (or Hail Holy Queen)

Click here for the text of the prayers of the Rosary

How to pray the Rosary

1. Commit your saying of the Rosary to God by making the sign of the Cross and saying: ‘In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.’
2. Holding the Crucifix, say the Apostles’ Creed.
3. Holding the single bead immediately above the Crucifix, say an ‘Our Father’.
4. On each of the three beads in the following group, say the Hail Mary. Then say a Glory be.(Although there is no set of mysteries associated with these three Hail Marys, you may find it helpful to associate them with a prayer for an increase in yourself of the virtues of faith, hope and charity.)
5. Introduce the First Mystery and say an Our Father on the single bead immediately above the group of three smaller beads.
6. On each of the beads in the first group of ten, say an Hail Mary, meditating as you do so on the First Mystery. At the end of the ten Hail Marys, say a Glory be.
7. Repeat this pattern for each of the five mysteries you are meditating upon, moving along the groups of beads as you do so.
8. After the fifth set of ten beads, holding the medallion of Our Lady (most if not all Rosaries will have one) say the Salve Regina.
9. Conclude the Rosary by saying ‘Pray for us O holy Mother of God; that we made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen’.

Practical guidance

Rosaries can be bought in many Christians bookshops, at shrines of Our Lady and other Christian places. There is also a limited supply of Rosaries available for sale at St Mary’s. They need not be expensive – a rosary made up of plastic beads may cost as little as £2-£3. It can be helpful to have one or more books of meditations to accompany the saying of the Rosary. Again, these are widely available, via Internet booksellers such as amazon.co.uk, as well as from many Christian shops and bookshops, again for as little as £2-£3.

Many people like to have a new Rosary blessed by a priest and sprinkled with Holy Water. Any of the priests of the Anglo-Catholic parishes would be happy to bless a Rosary, or any other article of devotion, as would many other priests, Roman Catholic, Anglican or Orthodox.

Myths about the Rosary

The principle myth about the Rosary is that it is something that only Roman Catholics do. This is not true. That idea hides the fact that Christians of all traditions find devotion to Our Lady and the use of the Rosary immensely helpful in their prayer lives – John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was never without his Rosary. It also betrays that amongst some Christians there is a regrettable and sinful attitude that they won’t pray the Rosary expressly because it is done by Roman Catholics. It is Christ’s will for the Church that all Christians should be one as He and the Father are one (John 17:21). All Christians should be prepared to learn from and pray with one another in the cause of Christian unity. The saying of the Rosary by all Christians is an example of how we can do this.