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Catholic Questions · Week 1

Why do Catholics pray the Rosary?

And why the same prayer over and over? The short answer, from the Catechism and Scripture. About 7 minutes.

The short answer

The Rosary is a way of praying through the life of Jesus, with Mary. Much of it comes straight from the Gospel, and saying the words over and over is how love speaks.

The answer in plain words

Five things to know

Each link opens the Vatican's text or the USCCB Bible, so you can read the real words.

  1. Luke 1:28, 42 · CCC 2676

    The Hail Mary begins with words from the Gospel.

    It opens with the angel Gabriel's greeting to Mary: “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” Next come the words of her relative Elizabeth: “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” The Catechism says, “After the angel's greeting, we make Elizabeth's greeting our own.” The prayer uses older wording than a modern Bible, and its second half asks Mary to pray for us.

  2. CCC 2708 · Rosarium Virginis Mariae 3

    Your lips say the words while your heart looks at Jesus.

    While you pray the words, you keep one moment from Jesus' life in mind. That is meditating: thinking it over with your mind and heart. The Catechism says Christian prayer “tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ,” the events of his life, and it names the Rosary as one way. Saint John Paul II put it simply in his letter on the Rosary: “To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ.” You look at Jesus, together with Mary.

  3. CCC 971 · 2674 · John 2:5

    It sums up the Gospel, and Mary always points to Jesus.

    The Catechism calls the Rosary an “epitome of the whole Gospel,” a short summary of it. The Church honors Mary with special devotion, a love and honor that “differs essentially from the adoration,” the worship, given to God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Catechism says Mary “shows the way” to Jesus. At the wedding at Cana, she told the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”

  4. Rosarium Virginis Mariae 26

    Saying it again and again is the language of love.

    Saint John Paul II admits that, looked at “superficially,” the repetition could seem like “a dry and boring exercise.” But love keeps coming back to the one it loves, with words that are much the same yet “ever fresh.” He points to Peter after the Resurrection: three times Jesus asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” and three times Peter answered, “Lord, you know that I love you.” And though each Hail Mary is spoken to Mary, “it is to Jesus that the act of love is ultimately directed, with her and through her.”

  5. Leo XIII · Benedict XVI · October 7

    October is the month of the Rosary.

    In 1883, Pope Leo XIII called on the whole Church to give the month of October to the Rosary, and he renewed that call in later years. Pope Benedict XVI called October “the month of the Holy Rosary.” Each year on October 7, the Church keeps the memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, a yearly day to honor Mary under that name. But any day is a good day to pray it.

How to pray one decade

Ten Hail Marys and one moment

A decade is a group of ten Hail Marys, with an Our Father before them and a Glory Be after. The usual Rosary has five decades, but one is a good place to start. You can count on rosary beads or on your fingers.

  1. Step 1

    Choose one moment from Jesus' life.

    This moment is called a mystery. Pick one from the list below and bring it to mind. You can read about it in the Bible first.

  2. Step 2 · Matthew 6:9–13

    Pray the Our Father once.

    It is the prayer Jesus taught his disciples. The USCCB has its words here.

  3. Step 3

    Pray the Hail Mary ten times.

    As you say the words, keep that moment in your mind and heart. Here is the prayer as the USCCB gives it:

    “Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

    The Hail Mary · USCCB

    Thee, thou and thy are old words for you and your, and art means are. The fruit of thy womb is Mary's child, Jesus.

  4. Step 4

    End with the Glory Be.

    It is a short prayer of praise to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The USCCB has its words here.

Steps from the USCCB's How to Pray the Rosary, which also lists the prayers said before the first decade and after the last.

The mysteries

Four sets of five

In the Rosary, a mystery is an event in the life of Jesus or of his mother, Mary. Saint John Paul II suggested a set for each day of the week, but he said this is not meant to limit your freedom.

  1. Rosarium Virginis Mariae 20

    The Joyful Mysteries

    Prayed on Mondays and Saturdays.

    1. The Annunciation: the angel Gabriel tells Mary she will be the mother of Jesus.

    2. The Visitation: Mary visits her relative Elizabeth.

    3. The Nativity: Jesus is born in Bethlehem.

    4. The Presentation: Mary and Joseph present the baby Jesus to God in the Temple.

    5. The Finding in the Temple: Mary and Joseph search for twelve-year-old Jesus and find him in the Temple.

  2. Rosarium Virginis Mariae 21

    The Mysteries of Light

    Prayed on Thursdays. Also called the Luminous Mysteries.

    1. The Baptism in the Jordan: the Father calls Jesus his beloved Son, and the Holy Spirit comes down on him.

    2. The Wedding at Cana: when the wine runs out, Mary tells Jesus, and he changes water into wine.

    3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom: Jesus announces the Kingdom of God, calls people to turn back to God, and forgives sins.

    4. The Transfiguration: on a mountain, God's glory shines from Jesus' face.

    5. The Institution of the Eucharist: at the Last Supper, Jesus gives us his Body and Blood under the signs of bread and wine.

  3. Rosarium Virginis Mariae 22

    The Sorrowful Mysteries

    Prayed on Tuesdays and Fridays.

    1. The Agony in the Garden: in Gethsemane, Jesus prays in great anguish.

    2. The Scourging: Jesus is whipped.

    3. The Crowning with Thorns: Jesus is mocked and crowned with thorns.

    4. The Carrying of the Cross: Jesus carries his cross.

    5. The Crucifixion: Jesus dies on the cross.

  4. Rosarium Virginis Mariae 23

    The Glorious Mysteries

    Prayed on Wednesdays and Sundays.

    1. The Resurrection: Jesus rises from the dead.

    2. The Ascension: Jesus is taken up into heaven, in glory.

    3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit: at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is poured out on Jesus' followers, gathered with Mary.

    4. The Assumption: at the end of her life on earth, Mary is taken up, body and soul, into heaven.

    5. The Coronation of Mary: Mary is crowned in glory as Queen of the Angels and Saints.

The lists follow Saint John Paul II's letter on the Rosary, paragraphs 20 to 23, and the days follow paragraph 38. He added the Mysteries of Light in 2002.

“And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”

The line to remember · Luke 2:19 · NABRE

Saint John Paul II wrote that, in a way, Mary's memories of Jesus were her own “rosary,” prayed all through her life (Rosarium Virginis Mariae 11). When you pray it, you remember those moments with her.