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the
Rosary
T H E G R E AT W E A P O N O F
THE 21ST CENTURY

A G U I D E T O P R AY I N G T H E R O S A R Y

To order more copies of this booklet

if you live in the United States, contact:
America Needs Fatima
(888) 371-5571
P.O. Box 341, Hanover, PA 17331
www.ANF.org ANF@ANF.org
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To order more copies of this booklet

if you live in Canada, contact:
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9 5

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How to Pray the Rosary

1. Make the Sign of the Cross and say the Apostles Creed.
2. Say the Our Father.
3. Say three Hail Marys.
4. Say the Glory Be. Announce the first Mystery and say
the Our Father.
5. Say ten Hail Marys while meditating on the Mystery.
6. Say the Glory Be. Say the Fatima prayers. Announce the
second Mystery and say the Our Father.
7. Say ten Hail Marys while meditating on the Mystery.
8. Say the Glory Be. Say the Fatima prayers. Announce the
third Mystery and say the Our Father.
9. Say ten Hail Marys while meditating on the Mystery.
10. Say the Glory Be. Say the Fatima prayers. Announce the
fourth Mystery and say the Our Father.
11. Say ten Hail Marys while meditating on the Mystery.
12. Say the Glory Be. Say the Fatima prayers. Announce the
fifth Mystery and say the Our Father.
13. Say ten Hail Marys while meditating on the Mystery.
14. Say the Glory Be. Say the Fatima prayers. Say the Hail
Holy Queen and the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel.
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“P ray the rosary every day to obtain peace for

the world and the end of the war,” Our Lady
said to the three young shepherds of Fatima on May
13, 1917. In each of the six apparitions, she insisted
on the necessity of the daily rosary.
When praying the rosary it is important to re-
member to meditate on the life of Our Lord. Each de-
cade or mystery corresponds to an episode in the life
of Our Lord Jesus Christ or of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
When praying the Hail Mary it is important to
pronounce the Holy Name of Jesus with great reve-
rence. This means that when the rosary is being pra-
yed in a group, before joining in with the second part
of the Hail Mary, those answering the prayers should
wait until after whoever is leading has finished the
first part. Otherwise the Holy Name of Jesus will not
be uttered and meditated upon with due reverence.
At Fatima, Our Lady requested that we pray one
rosary of five decades every day. It is good and prai-
seworthy to pray more than one rosary each day if
and when possible.

P r ay e rs
The Sign of the Cross
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost. Amen.
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of He-
aven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son,
Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,

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born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pi-

late, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descen-
ded into Hell; the third day He rose again from the
dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the
right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence
He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I be-
lieve in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the
resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
The Our Father
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy
name; Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on
earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily
bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive
those who trespass against us, and lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
The Hail Mary
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 Glory Be
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the
Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and
ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
The O My Jesus
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires
of hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in
most need of Thy mercy.
The Hail Holy Queen
Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our swe-
etness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banis-
hed children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs,

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mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn

then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy to-
wards us, and after this our exile, show unto us the
blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving,
O sweet Virgin Mary.
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises
of Christ.
Let us pray. O God, Whose only-begotten Son, by
His life, death, and resurrection, has purchased for
us the rewards of eternal life; grant, we beseech
Thee, that meditating upon these mysteries of the
most holy rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may
imitate what they contain and obtain what they
promise. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen..
Sub Tuum Praesidium
We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; des-
pise not our petitons in our necessities, but deliver us
from all dangers, O glorious and Blessed Virgin.
The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us.
(repeat ‘pray for us’ after each invocation.)
Holy Mother of God,
Holy Virgin of virgins,
Mother of Christ,
Mother of divine grace,
Mother most pure,
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Mother most chaste,

Mother inviolate,
Mother undefiled,
Mother most amiable,
Mother most admirable,
Mother of good counsel,
Mother of our Creator,
Mother of our Savior,
Virgin most prudent,
Virgin most venerable,
Virgin most renowned,
Virgin most powerful,
Virgin most merciful,
Virgin most faithful,
Mirror of justice,
Seat of wisdom,
Cause of our joy,
Spiritual vessel,
Vessel of honor,
Singular vessel of devotion,
Mystical rose,
Tower of David,
Tower of ivory,
House of gold,
Ark of the covenant,
Gate of heaven,
Morning star,
Health of the sick,
Refuge of sinners,
Comforter of the afflicted,
Help of Christians,
Queen of angels,
Queen of patriarchs,
Queen of prophets,
Queen of apostles,
Queen of martyrs,

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Queen of confessors,
Queen of virgins,
Queen of all saints,
Queen conceived without original sin,
Queen assumed into heaven,
Queen of the most Holy Rosary,
Queen of families,
Queen of peace,
V. Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the
world,
R. Spare us, O Lord.
V. Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the
world,
R. Graciously hear us, O Lord.
V. Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the
world,
R. Have mercy on us.
V. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises
of Christ.
Let us pray. Grant unto us, Thy servants, we bese-
ech Thee, O Lord God, at all times to enjoy health of
soul and body; and by the glorious intercession of
Blessed Mary, ever virgin, when freed from the so-
rrows of this present life, to enter into that joy which
hath no end. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
The Memorare
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never
was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection,
implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was
left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto
thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother! To thee do I
come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O
Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my peti-
tions, but in thy mercy, hear and answer me. Amen.

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The Magnificat
My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath
rejoiced in God my Savior.
Because He hath regarded the humility of His hand-
maid.
For behold, from henceforth all generations shall
call me blessed.
Because He that is mighty hath done great things to
me, and holy is His Name.
And His mercy is from generation unto generations,
to them that fear Him.
He hath shewed might in his arm.
He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and
hath exalted the humble.
He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the
rich He hath sent empty away.
He hath received Israel His servant, being mindful
of His mercy.
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his
seed for ever.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy
Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall
be, world without end. Amen.

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Meditation
on the Rosary

Saint Louis de Montfort’s Summary

of the Life, Death and Glory
of Jesus and Mary in the Holy Rosary
Creed
1. Faith in the presence of God.
2. Faith in the Gospel.
3. Faith in and obedience to the Pope as the
Vicar of Jesus Christ.
Our Father
The unity of the one, true and living God.
First Hail Mary
In honor of the Eternal Father, Who begets the
Son in contemplating Himself.
Second Hail Mary
In honor of the Eternal Word, Who is equal to the
Father, with Whom He produces the Holy Ghost.
Third Hail Mary
In honor of the Holy Ghost, Who proceeds from
the Father and the Son by way of love.

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F i rs t Joyful Mystery
The A n n u nc i at ion

“Behold the handmaid of the Lord.”

Luke 1:38
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I n this mystery we contemplate the Virgin Mary

being greeted by the angel, who announces that she
is to conceive and give birth to Christ, our Redeemer.

Let us ask the Virgin of virgins, by the holy joy that

filled her Immaculate Heart, to drive from our souls
the discouragement and harmful sadness caused by
the difficulties of daily life in this our neopagan
world.

Our Father: God’s immense charity.

Hail Mary:
1. The unfortunate state of disobedient Adam, his
just condemnation, and that of all his children.
2. The desires of the Patriarchs and Prophets who
asked for the Messias.
3. The wishes and prayers of the Most Holy Virgin,
which hastened the coming of the Messias, and
her marriage to Saint Joseph.
4. The charity of the Eternal Father, Who gave us
His Son.
5. The love of the Son, Who gave Himself for us.
6. The Archangel Gabriel’s mission and salutation.
7. Mary’s virginal fear.
8. The Most Holy Virgin’s faith and consent.
9. The creation of the soul and the formation of the
body of Jesus Christ in the womb of Mary by the
Holy Ghost.
10. The angels’ adoration of the Incarnate Word in
the womb of Mary.

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S e c on d Joyful Mystery
The Visitation

“Blessed art thou among women, and

blessed is the fruit of thy womb.”
Luke 1:42
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I n this mystery we contemplate the Mother of the

Creator going to visit her cousin Saint Elizabeth,
whose son, John the Baptist, trembled with joy in
the womb upon hearing the voice of Mary.

Let us ask the Mother of Good Counsel that we too

may tremble with joy and devotion when the call of
grace makes itself heard in the interior of our souls.

Our Father: God’s adorable majesty.

Hail Mary:
1. The joy of the Heart of Mary, and the dwelling of
the Incarnate Word in her womb for nine months.
2. The sacrifice Jesus Christ made of Himself to the
Father on entering this world.
3. The delights of Jesus in the humble and virginal
womb of Mary, and those of Mary in the posses-
sion of her God.
4. Saint Joseph’s doubt concerning Mary’s maternity.
5. The election of the chosen ones, decided bet-
ween Jesus and Mary in her womb.
6. The fervor of Mary in her visit to Saint Elizabeth.
7. The salutation of Mary and the sanctification
of Saint John the Baptist and his mother, Saint
Elizabeth.
8. The Most Holy Virgin’s gratitude toward God in
the Magnificat.
9. Her charity and humility in serving her cousin.
10. The mutual dependence of Jesus and Mary and
the dependence we should have on each of them.

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T h i r d Joyful Mystery
The Nativit y

“For this day is born to you a

savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
Luke 2:11
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I n this mystery we contemplate Our God, born of

the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem, and laid in a man-
ger because there was no room in the inn.

Let us ask Jesus, Mary and Joseph to give us the

piety, serenity and fortitude that emanate from the
holy grotto of Bethlehem.

Our Father: God’s inexhaustible riches.

Hail Mary:
1. The scorn and rejection Mary and Joseph endured
in Bethlehem.
2. The poverty of the stable wherein God came to
the world.
3. Mary’s high contemplation and surpassing love
at the moment of Our Lord’s birth.
4. The Eternal Word’s departure from the womb of
Mary while maintaining her virginity.
5. The angels’ adoration and hymnody at the birth
of Jesus Christ.
6. The captivating beauty of His divine infancy.
7. The coming of the shepherds to the stable with
their small presents.
8. The circumcision of Jesus Christ, and His affec-
tionate pains.
9. The imposition of the Name of Jesus, and its
grandeur.
10. The adoration of the Magi Kings, and their gifts.

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F o u rt h Joyful Mystery
The Presentation

“And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that

out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.”
Luke 2:35
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I n this mystery we contemplate the Virgin Mary

carrying her Son to Jerusalem to present Him to
the Lord in accordance with the Law of Moses. In
the Temple, she meets the old Simeon, who takes
the Christ Child in his arms and prophesies that He
will be the light to the gentiles, the glory of Israel,
the rock of scandal for the perdition and salvation
of many.

Let us ask the Most Holy Virgin for a fearless soul

ablaze with love for Holy Mother Church, so that we
also may be a light to our brethren and, if need be, a
rock of scandal to our social circles.

Our Father: God’s eternal wisdom.

Hail Mary:
1. Jesus and Mary’s obedience to the Law.
2. Jesus’ sacrifice of His humanity in the Temple.
3. Mary’s sacrifice of her honor.
4. The joy and praise of Simeon and Anna the
Prophetess.
5. The ransom of Jesus by the offering of two turtle
doves.
6. The slaughter of the Holy Innocents by Herod in
his cruelty.
7. The flight of Jesus into Egypt through Saint Joseph’s
obedience to the voice of the angel.
8. His mysterious stay in Egypt.
9. His return to Nazareth.
10. His growth in age and wisdom.

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Fifth Joyful Mystery

The F i n di ng
in the T e m p l e
“Son, why hast thou done so to us?”
Luke 2:48
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I n this mystery we contemplate how the Virgin

Mary, having lost her Son, found Him in the Temple
after three days of wearisome search, listening to the
Doctors of the Law and asking them questions.

Let us ask Mary Most Holy, by the merits of the an-

guish she suffered during her searching, to grant us
an ever-increasing fidelity to the Church amidst the
multiple perplexities that a faithful Catholic must
undergo in our days.

Our Father: God’s unfathomable sanctity.

Hail Mary:
1. Our Lord’s hidden, laborious and obedient life in
the house of Nazareth.
2. His preaching and finding in the Temple among
the doctors.
3. His baptism by Saint John the Baptist.
4. His fasting and temptations in the desert.
5. His admirable preaching.
6. His astonishing miracles.
7. The selection of His twelve Apostles and the powers
He gave them.
8. His marvellous transfiguration.
9. The washing of His Apostles’ feet.
10. The institution of the Holy Eucharist.

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F i rs t s orrowful Mystery
The A g o n y in
the G a r d e n
“Father, if ou wilt, remove this chalice from
Me: but yet not My Will, but ine be done.”
Luke 22:42
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I n this mystery we contemplate our Divine

Redeemer praying in the Garden of Olives and
sweating blood as He foresees the Passion He is to
suffer. His apostles sleep.
Let us ask our dauntless Mother to remove from our
souls all the cowardly optimism that invites us to sleep
when we should be watching and praying, and to give
us the virtue of seriousness so that we will courage-
ously embrace suffering every time it comes our way.
Our Father: God’s essential felicity.
Hail Mary:
1. The divine seclusions of Jesus Christ during His life,
and especially His seclusion in the Garden of Olives.
2. His humble and fervent prayers during His life
and on the eve of the Passion.
3. The patience and sweetness with which He bore
His Apostles during His life and particularly in
the Garden of Olives.
4. His soul’s anxiety throughout His life and princi-
pally in the Garden of Olives.
5. The rivers of blood that sorrow caused to gush
from His adorable being.
6. The consolation He willingly accepted from an
angel during His agony.
7. His conformity to the will of His Father despite
the aversion of His nature.
8. The valor with which He went to meet His
executioners, and the force of the word with
which He threw them to the ground and then
raised them.
9. His betrayal by Judas and His arrest by the Jews.
10. His apostles’ abandonment.

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S econd sorrowful Mystery

The Scourging
at the Pillar

“ou shouldst not have any power against

Me, unless it were given thee from above.”
John 19:11
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I n this mystery we contemplate Our Lord Jesus

Christ bound to the pillar and mercilessly flogged
at the order of Pilate, who wanted to please the crowd.

Let us ask the Mother of Divine Grace to give us,

whenever we are beset by tribulation, the strength
and perseverance shown by her Son as the blows of
the lash tore into His undefiled flesh for our sins.

Our Father: God’s admirable patience.

Hail Mary:
1. The chains and ropes that bound Jesus.
2. The blow He received in the house of Caiphas.
3. The denials of Saint Peter.
4. The ignominies He suffered in the house of
Herod when the white robe was put on Him.
5. The removal of all His garments.
6. The scorn and insults He suffered from His
executioners because of His nakedness.
7. The thorny rods and the cruel whips with which
they beat and tore Him.
8. The pillar to which He was tied.
9. The blood He shed and the wounds He received.
10. His fall in His own blood out of weakness..

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T h i r d s orrowful Myste ry
The Crowning
with Thorns

“Art ou a king then?”

John 18:37
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I n this mystery we contemplate the King of Kings

despoiled of His garments and clothed in a scarlet
cloak. He is crowned with thorns, crushed with
blows, overwhelmed with affronts and outrages by
the procurator’s brutal soldiers.

Let us ask Mary Immaculate for an unshakable faith

and at least a drop of the infinite dignity of Jesus
when the wicked, with their laughter, mock our
faithfulness to the morality of Holy Church.

Our Father: God’s ineffable beauty.

Hail Mary:
1. The third stripping of Jesus.
2. His crown of thorns.
3. The cloth with which He was blindfolded.
4. The blows and spit with which His face
was covered.
5. The old cloak placed on His shoulders.
6. The reed that was stuck in His hand.
7. The sharp stone on which He was seated.
8. The outrages and insults hurled at Him.
9. The blood and sweat that issued from His adorable
head.
10. The hairs pulled from His head and beard.

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Fourth sorrowful Mystery

The Carrying
of the Cross
“ey hated Me without cause.”
John 15:25
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I n this mystery we contemplate our Divine Master—

“the reproach of men and the Man of Sorrows”—
bearing the crushing burden of the Cross, which tears
His flesh and lays bare His bones.

By the shoulder wound of Christ, let us ask the

Mother of Sorrows for the grace to proceed with
supernatural determination in our spiritual lives
and in our apostolate even when we fall under the
weight of the cross.

Our Father: God’s unlimited omnipotence.

Hail Mary:
1. Our Lord’s presentation to the people with the
“Ecce Homo.”
2. Barabbas being preferred to Our Lord.
3. The false witnesses brought against Him.
4. His condemnation to death.
5. The love with which He embraced and kissed
His Cross.
6. The frightful pains He had while carrying it.
7. His falls from sheer weakness under its weight.
8. The painful meeting with His Holy Mother.
9. Veronica’s veil, marked with the imprint of
His face.
10. His tears and those of His Holy Mother and the
pious women who accompanied Him to Calvary.

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fifth sorrowful Mystery

The Crucifixion

“Father, into y Hands

I commend My Spirit.”
Luke 23:46
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I n this mystery we contemplate our Divine Savior

nailed to the Cross and raised aloft between two
thieves. He is plunged in an ocean of bitterness; He
is abandoned by the Father Himself.

Let us ask the Blessed Mother, who stands at the

foot of the Cross, to grant us the grace of taking our
vocation to its last consequences and of loving the
sacrifices it entails.

Our Father: God’s frightful justice.

Hail Mary:
1. The five wounds of Jesus and the blood He shed
on the Cross.
2. His pierced heart and the Cross upon which He
was crucified.
3. The nails and lance that pierced Him, and the
sponge of vinegar and gall given Him to drink.
4. The shame and infamy He suffered being crucified
naked between two thieves.
5. The compassion of His Holy Mother.
6. His seven last words.
7. His abandonment and silence.
8. The affliction of the whole universe.
9. His cruel and ignominious death.
10. His taking down from the Cross and His burial.

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First Glorious Mystery

The Resurrection

“Bring hither thy hand, and put it into My

Side; and be not faithless, but believing.”
John 20:27
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I n this mystery we contemplate our Divine

Redeemer rising through His own power on the
third day. His body is in a state of glory: His wounds
are now tokens of His triumph over death.

Let us ask Our Lady of Fatima for a staunch hope in

the triumph of her Immaculate Heart and a jubilant
enthusiasm in the anticipation of her kingdom.

Our Father: God’s infinite eternity.

Hail Mary:
1. The descent of the soul of Our Lord into hell.
2. The joy of the souls of the holy fathers, and their
departure from limbo.
3. The rejoining of His soul and body in the
sepulcher.
4. His miraculous exit from the sepulcher.
5. His victories over death and sin, the world and
the devil.
6. The four glorious qualities of His body.
7. The power in heaven and on earth that He
received from His Father.
8. The apparitions with which He honored His Holy
Mother, His Apostles and His disciples.
9. The conversations about heaven that He had
with His Apostles, and the meal He partook with
them.
10. The authority and mission He gave them to
preach throughout the world.

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Second Glorious Mystery

The As cension

“And behold, I am with you all days, even

to the consummation of the world.”
Matthew 28:20
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I n this mystery we contemplate the Just One

withdrawing from His disciples and ascending
into heaven forty days after His resurrection: it is
the concluding work of redemption.

By this final elevation of Our Lord’s human nature

into the condition of divine glory, let us ask the
Most Holy Virgin for the ultimate exaltation of Holy
Mother Church and Christian civilization.

Our Father: God’s boundless immensity.

Hail Mary:
1. The promise Jesus made to His Apostles that He
would send them the Holy Ghost, and the order He
gave them to prepare themselves to receive Him.
2. The gathering of all His disciples on Mount Olivet.
3. The blessing He gave them as He ascended from
this earth to heaven.
4. His glorious and admirable ascension, by His
own power, into the empyrean heaven.
5. The reception and divine triumph given Him by
God, His Father, and the whole celestial court.
6. The triumphant power with which He opened the
gates of heaven, where no mortal had ever entered.
7. His sitting at the right hand of His Father as His
well-beloved Son and equal.
8. The power He received to judge the living and the
dead.
9. His second coming, in which His might and
majesty will appear in all their splendor.
10. The justice He will do in the Last Judgment, rewar-
ding the good and chastising the evil for all eternity.

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Third Glorious Mystery

The Descent of the
Holy Ghost
“And there appeared to them parted tongues as
it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them.”
Acts 2:3
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I n this mystery we contemplate Our Lord fulfilling

His words to the Apostles: “I will ask the Father, and
He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide
with you forever” (John 14:16). The Apostles, gathered
around Our Lady in the Cenacle, are now so filled with
the Holy Ghost that they seem drunk (Acts 2:13).
Let us ask the Spouse of the Holy Ghost to say but a
word and thus transform our weak, lukewarm and
sinful souls.
Our Father: God’s universal providence.
Hail Mary:
1. The truth of the Holy Ghost, God Who proceeds
from the Father and the Son, and Who is the Heart
of the Divinity.
2. The sending of the Holy Ghost by the Father and
the Son to the Apostles.
3. The great noise with which He descended, a sign
of His strength and power.
4. The tongues of fire He placed upon the Apostles
to give them knowledge of the Scriptures, and
love of God and neighbor.
5. The plenitude of graces with which He distin-
guished Mary, His faithful spouse.
6. His marvellous control over all the saints and
over the person of Jesus Christ Himself, Whom
He guided during His whole life.
7. The twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost.
8. The seven gifts of the Holy Ghost.
9. To request particularly the gift of wisdom and
the coming of His reign over the hearts of men.
10. To obtain victory over the evil spirits opposed to
Him; namely, the spirits of the world, the flesh
and the devil.

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Fourth Glorious Mystery

The As sumption

“ou are the glory of Jerusalem,

thou art the joy of Israel, thou art
the honor of our people.”
Judith 15:10
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I n this mystery we contemplate the Virgin Mary

being taken body and soul into heaven by God
amidst the rejoicing of the angels.

Let us ask our celestial Mother to fill us with faith

and to make us pure and strong, so that we may
fight worthily for her on earth and rejoice with her
in heaven forever.

Our Father: God’s indescribable liberality.

Hail Mary:
1. The eternal predestination of Mary as the
masterpiece of God’s hands.
2. Her Immaculate Conception, and her plenitude
of grace and reason while within the womb of
her mother, Saint Anne.
3. Her nativity, which gladdened the whole universe.
4. Her presentation and stay in the Temple.
5. Her admirable life exempt from all sin.
6. The fullness of her singular virtues.
7. Her fertile virginity and painless birth.
8. Her divine maternity and her alliance with the
Most Holy Trinity.
9. Her precious and loving death.
10. Her resurrection and triumphant assumption.

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Fifth Glorious Mystery

The C oronation

“For behold, from henceforth all

generations shall call me blessed.”
Luke 1:48
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I n this mystery we contemplate the Daughter of God,

the Mother of God, the Spouse of God, addressed in
the words of the Canticle of Canticles “Come: thou
shalt be crowned,” and made empress and mistress of
all creation.

Let us ask our Queen that, from the height of glory

on which she was placed, she will be for us a Mother
of Mercy, raising us when we fall, loving us at every
moment, so that, like the angels, we may faithfully
serve her in all things.

Our Father: God’s inaccessible glory.

Hail Mary:
1. The triple crown with which the Most Holy Trinity
crowned Mary.
2. The joy and new glory heaven received by her
triumph.
3. To recognize her as Queen of Heaven and Earth,
angels and men.
4. The treasurer of the graces of God, of the merits
of Jesus Christ and of the gifts of the Holy Ghost.
5. The mediatrix and advocate of men.
6. The destroyer and ruin of the devil and of heresies.
7. The secure refuge of sinners.
8. The mother and nurturer of Christians.
9. The joy and sweetness of the just.
10. The universal refuge of the living, the all-powerful
consolation of the afflicted, of the dying and of
the souls in Purgatory.

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The Fi v e F i rs t
Sat u r d ay s

O n December 10, 1925, Our Lady promised Sister

Lucia she would “. . .assist at the hour of death,
with the graces necessary for salvation, all those
who on the first Saturdays of five consecutive
months confess, receive Holy Communion, pray a
rosary, and keep me company for a quarter of an
hour meditating on the fifteen mysteries with the
intention of offering me reparation.”
There are four requirements to faithfully fulfil the
Five First Saturdays.
1. Go to confession.
2. Receive Holy Communion.
3. Say five decades of the Holy Rosary.
4. Meditate for a quarter of an hour on the fifteen
mysteries of the rosary (separate from praying
the rosary).
During an apparition on February 15, 1926,
because of the difficulty that some people had to be
able to confess on a Saturday, Sister Lucia asked Our
Lord if the confession would be valid if done within
a period of eight days before or eight days after the
first Saturday. Our Lord answered: “Yes, it can even
be within many more days, provided they are in the
state of grace when they receive Me, and have the
intention of offering reparation to the Immaculate
Heart of Mary.”
Our Lord explained to Sister Lucia why five first
Saturdays—there are five kinds of offenses and blas-
phemies committed against the Immaculate Heart
of Mary:
1. Those committed against the Immaculate
Conception

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2. Those committed against the virginity of Our Lady

3. Those committed against the Divine maternity,
refusing at the same time, to accept her as the
mother of men
4. Those committed by men who publicly attempt
to instill indifference, scorn, and even hatred for
this Immaculate Mother in the hearts of children
5. Those committed by men who insult her directly
in her sacred images.

A B r ief History
of the Rosary

T he word rosary means crown of roses. In pre-

Christian times, pagans used to crown their
statues with roses to symbolize the rendering of
their hearts to the gods. With the coming of
Christianity, the fusing of their love for false gods
with their hatred for the early Christians led to the
Roman persecutions.
During these persecutions, Christian virgins,
dressed in their best and crowned with roses, went
to their martyrdom in the sandy arena of the Coli-
seum. Their brethren in the Faith later collected
these crowns of roses and prayed before them,
saying one prayer per rose.
Among these prayers, that which held the foremost
place in Christian hearts from the beginning was the
one that flowed from the lips of our Divine Redeemer
Himself: the Our Father.
Little by little, as though to complement this most
perfect prayer, the Holy Ghost inspired the faithful to
address the Mother of the Redeemer with the words
spoken by the angel and by Saint Elizabeth, giving
rise to the recitation of the first part of the Hail Mary.

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The Church added the name of Mary to the begin-

ning and that of Jesus to the end of this salutation.
At the Council of Ephesus, in 431, Holy Mother
Church defined that the Blessed Virgin is truly the
Mother of God and gave us the conclusion of the Hail
Mary: “Holy Mary, Mother of God. . .,” which officially
became the second part of the Hail Mary in 1568.
In the monasteries of the Middle Ages, the monks
who could not read replaced the recitation of the
Psalms with the repetition of the Our Father. Since
there are 150 Psalms in the Bible, they prayed a series
of 150 Our Fathers, which they called the “Psalter of
Christ.” To count the Our Fathers, the monks used
knotted ropes or collars of grains, which in France
came to be called “patenôtres.”
In the eleventh century, some hermits and
laymen began to recite “Our Lady’s Psalter,” that is,
150 salutations “Hail Mary. . . fruit of thy womb,”
instead of the 150 Our Fathers. They divided these
salutations into three series of 50, which they
termed “rosaries” or “crowns” because of the custom
of crowning Our Lady’s statues with flowers.
But it was only in 1214, according to a pious and
admirable tradition, that the Most Holy Virgin her-
self consecrated this devotion by appearing to Saint
Dominic of Guzman, founder of the Dominicans,
and giving him the rosary in its present form as a
weapon to combat the Albigensian heresy that was
devastating southern France.
Let the great apostle of Mary, Saint Louis de
Montfort, tell us the circumstances in which that
great event took place:
“Saint Dominic, seeing that the gravity of people’s
sins was hindering the conversion of the Albigen-
sians, withdrew into a forest near Toulouse where
he prayed unceasingly for three days and three

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nights. During this time he did nothing but weep

and do harsh penances in order to appease the
anger of Almighty God. He used his discipline so
much that his body was lacerated, and finally he fell
into a coma.
“At this point Our Lady appeared to him, accom-
panied by three angels, and she said:
“‘Dear Dominic, do you know which weapon the
Blessed Trinity wants to use to reform the world?’
“‘Oh, my Lady,’ answered Saint Dominic, ‘you
know far better than I do because, next to your Son
Jesus Christ, you have always been the chief instru-
ment of our salvation.’
“Then Our Lady replied:
“‘I want you to know that, in this kind of war-
fare, the battering ram has always been the Angelic
Psalter which is the foundation stone of the New
Testament. Therefore, if you want to reach these
hardened souls and win them over to God, preach
my Psalter.’
“So he arose, comforted, and burning with zeal
for the conversion of the people in that district he
made straight for the Cathedral. At once, unseen an-
gels rang the bells to gather the people together and
Saint Dominic began to preach.
“At the very beginning of his sermon an appalling
storm broke out, the earth shook, the sun was
darkened, and there was so much thunder and
lightning that all were very much afraid. Even
greater was their fear when, looking at a picture of
Our Lady exposed in a prominent place, they saw
her raise her arms to heaven three times to call
down God’s vengeance upon them if they failed to
be converted, to amend their lives, and seek the
protection of the Holy Mother of God.
“At last, at the prayer of Saint Dominic, the storm

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came to an end, and he went on preaching. So fer-

vently and compellingly did he explain the impor-
tance and value of the Holy rosary that almost all
the people of Toulouse embraced it and renounced
their false beliefs” (The Secret of the Rosary, Montfort
Publications, Bay Shore, N.Y., 1954, pp. 18-19).
After this brilliant victory of the Faith, obtained by
preaching the rosary, Saint Dominic endeavoured,
with renewed fervor to spread this meritorious
devotion. But after his death in 1221, as the memory
of his preaching gradually faded in the minds of the
Christians who had heard him, devotion to the rosary
declined.
One century later it was practically buried and
forgotten.
To re-establish this devotion in its pristine
fervour, Our Lady chose Blessed Alan de la Roche, a
Dominican from the monastery at Dinan, France. In
1464, after apparitions of Our Lord, Our Lady and
Saint Dominic himself, Blessed Alan solemnly
resolved to preach the rosary incessantly, which he
did until his death in 1475, around the time of the
founding of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary at
the Dominican convent at Cologne. It was to him
and Saint Dominic that Our Lady gave her promises
to those who pray the rosary. (These promises
appear on page 47 of this book.)
The erection of confraternities in many other pla-
ces led to the printing of numerous books on the ro-
sary. The devotion quickly spread throughout
Europe. It is to the confraternities that the accep-
tance of the list of fifteen mysteries to be meditated
on during the recitation of the Hail Mary’s is mainly
due. Pope Saint Pius V, a Dominican himself, enun-
ciated the list in his Consueverunt of 1569.
By then, Europe was tragically menaced by the

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might of the Turkish Empire. Saint Pius V convoked

a crusade to save Christendom. However, many
Christian peoples, either rendered lukewarm by the
Renaissance or alienated from the bosom of the
Church by Protestantism, turned a deaf ear to the
Pope. But the Holy Father did not rest until he had
organized a fleet of about 200 galleys from the Papal
States, Malta, Spain, Naples and Sicily, and the states
of Venice and Genoa.
This Christian fleet, placed under the Most Holy
Virgin’s protection by the Pope, sailed under the
command of Don Juan of Austria, half-brother of
King Philip II of Spain. The Muslim fleet was sighted
about 50 miles west of the harbor of Lepanto, which
is just inside the narrow entrance of the Gulf of
Corinth.
Battle was joined on October 7, 1571. Upon its
outcome depended the future of Christendom.
During four long hours, galleys crashed into each
other, musket balls and arrows flew everywhere,
men swarmed aboard the enemy ships wherever
they could get a grip.
Although things had gone badly for the Christians
at first, in the end they were victorious. Ali Pasha, the
commander-in-chief of the Muslim fleet, was killed
and his standard taken. The Muslims, losing courage,
began to flee.
The combat became a slaughter of infidels. It is
reckoned that 24,000 Muslims were killed and 5,000
taken prisoner. The Christians captured 177 ships and
freed perhaps as many as 15,000 Christian rowers,
slaves in the Turkish galleys.
On the day of the battle, Saint Pius V was working
with the cardinals. Suddenly, interrupting his work and
opening the window, he looked at the sky and cried
out: “A truce to business; our great task at present is to

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thank God for the victory He has just given the Chris-
tian army.”
More than two weeks later, a courier, delayed by
storms at sea, arrived in Rome with the news of the
naval victory of Lepanto. The Pope wept for joy: the
power of Islam had been dealt a shattering blow
from which it will hopefully never recover. To thank
the Most Holy Virgin for this triumph obtained
while the members of all the confraternities of
Rome were holding rosary processions, Saint Pius
V added to the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary the
supplication “Help of Christians” and instituted for
the first Sunday of October the feast of Our Lady of
Victory, which was changed by Gregory XIII to the
feast of the Most Holy Rosary.
After a new victory over the Turks gained by Prince
Eugene of Savoy in 1716, at the Battle of Peterwardein
in Hungary, Pope Clement XI extended the celebra-
tion of the feast of the rosary to the universal Church.
The great Saint Pius X fixed the feast on October 7.
In 1917, less than three years after the death of Saint
Pius X, Our Lady appeared to three shepherd children,
Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta (aged ten, nine and seven
respectively), at Cova da Iria, Fatima, Portugal, in a
series of six apparitions that began May 13 and ended
October 13. The authenticity of these apparitions was
confirmed by the miracle of the sun witnessed by
about 70,000 spectators during the final apparition.
At Fatima, Our Lady gave the three children the
mission of telling the world that she was profoundly
displeased with the impiety and corruption of men.
She warned that if mankind did not amend its ways
a terrible chastisement would come, several nations
would be annihilated, Russia would spread its
errors throughout the world and the Holy Father
would have much to suffer.

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In her message, the Queen of Heaven and Earth,

along with pointing out the danger, tells us how to
avoid it. She maternally provides guidelines to
avert this terrible chastisement: she asks for prayer
and penance, and especially the recitation of the
Holy Rosary.
It was after giving the warning of the chastisement
and the ways to avoid it that Our Lady taught us the
prayer to be recited at the end of each mystery of the
rosary. She told Lucia: “When you pray the rosary,
after each decade say, ‘O my Jesus, forgive us our sins,
save us from the fires of hell; lead all souls to heaven,
especially those in most need of Thy mercy.’”
At the tempestuous beginning of the twenty-first
century, amidst the most devastating crisis in history,
a beacon of hope shines in the words spoken by Our
Lady at Fatima, for she has assured us: “Finally, my
Immaculate Heart will triumph!”

The Fifteen Promises

of Mary MOst Holy
to Those Who Pray the Rosary

1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the reci-

tation of the rosary shall receive signal graces.
2. I promise my special protection and the greatest
graces to all those who shall recite the rosary.
3. The rosary shall be a powerful armor against
hell; it will destroy vice, decrease sin and defeat
heresy.
4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish;
it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of
God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from
the love of the world and its vanities, and will
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lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that

souls would sanctify themselves by this means!
5. The soul that recommends itself to me by the
recitation of the rosary shall not perish.
6. Whoever shall recite the rosary devoutly,
applying himself to the consideration of its
sacred mysteries, shall never be conquered by
misfortune: if he be a sinner, he shall not perish
by an unprovided death; if he be just, he shall
remain in the grace of God. He shall become
worthy of eternal life.
7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the
rosary shall not die without the sacraments of
the Church.
8. Those who are faithful to the recitation of the
rosary shall have, during their life and at their
death the light of God and the plenitude of His
graces. At the moment of death they shall par-
ticipate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have
been devoted to the rosary.
10. The faithful children of the rosary shall merit a
high degree of glory in heaven.
11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the
recitation of the rosary.
12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall
be aided by me in their necessities.
13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the
advocates of the rosary shall have for intercessors
the entire celestial court during their life and at
the hour of death.
14. All who recite the rosary are my sons, and
brothers of my son, Jesus Christ.
15. Devotion to my rosary is a great sign of
predestination.

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