Praying is a very personal and spiritual way of seeking to free our mind and sorrows in order to achieve peace, either from someone else or from ourselves. Sometimes when we pray we are paying our respects to someone’s memories or trying to bring relief to someone or ourselves.
It is common to make rosaries after a death or a tragedy of any kind, there are even rosaries for everyday use. Even many new Catholics and Christians may not know this and it never hurts to know how to pray the rosary.
There are many reasons why praying the rosary and following the protocol is not important, but the feelings and intentions we have when praying the rosary. However, not everyone knows how to say the rosary well and for many reasons it is preferable to know how to say a rosary well step by step.
If you are inexperienced in praying the rosary, don’t worry, relieve your mind of this because here we will show you the instructions so that you know how to pray the rosary either alone in prayers or in the company of the rosary.
See step by step how to start and finish praying a complete rosary so that you can be guided in your prayers.
Instructions to pray the complete rosary
- Begin by saying “By the sign of the holy cross of our enemies deliver us Lord Our God” and cross yourself making the shape of a cross with your right hand. This is the part that initiates the beginning of the rosary, always starting by crossing yourself and ending with another crossing. Try to form a cross with your hand by placing the thumb on the longest phalanx of the index finger and with the rest of the fingers bent inward as if you were trying to make a fist, you can also just leave the finger a little lower index and use your thumb to form that same cross, but leave the other fingers of the hand extended, the important thing is to form a cross with your hand.
- With your hand in the shape of a cross, touch first your forehead, then under your chest, then your left shoulder, then your right, and finally kiss the cross. Each movement of your hand when forming the cross corresponds to a word or phrase, that is, when you touch your forehead you will say; “In the name of the father”, when you touch your stomach you will say “of the son”, when you touch the left shoulder you will say “and of the holy spirit”, while you are about to say “holy”, that is when you will go to your right shoulder and you will touch, then you will say “amen” while your hand is next to your mouth and you will kiss it.
- You must begin by praying the Creed only once. The Creed is the introduction to the rosary, so you must recite it once. Remember that the creed is one that begins by saying “I believe in Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth…”
- After this you will continue to pray 1 Our Father. If you are accompanied and you are the one carrying the rosary, then after saying “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”, you will pause for the others to continue with the Our Father saying “Give us this day our daily bread, forgive our trespasses”, it is important that they finish this part of the Our Father prayer. From “your will be done”, it is traditional for others to start praying while you stop, since you guide the rosary.
- After finishing the Our Father you must begin with three Hail Marys, if you do not remember this part we will remind you with the phrase “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you“. To continue the Hail Mary in the company of whoever is praying with you, you must let the person or persons whom you guide in the rosary finish reciting starting with “Holy Mary, Mother of God”, which is where the other people are part of the prayer. Remember that you must do this 3 times.
- Then you will pray a Glory Be. In the part that you finish the first sentence saying “Glory to the Father, to the Son and to the Holy Spirit”, you will stop so that the others say the rest of the sentence starting with “As in the beginning, now and forever forever.” and the centuries. Amen”.
- Now is the time to mention the mystery you are beginning, for example: “First Joyful Mystery, The Annunciation” and the sentence following this title.
- It is time to pray 10 Hail Marys, then you will continue for a Glory Be and then you will do the Fatima prayer. You already know when you stop praying so that others form an orderly part of the prayer. Then he mentions the second mystery and its statement, then repeats with an Our Father.
- After this you will do 10 Hail Marys again, then you must pray a Glory Be and again the Fatima prayer. Then you will do the same with the fourth mystery, 10 Hail Marys, a Glory Be and finally the Fatima Prayer.
- Upon reaching the fifth mystery after mentioning the mystery, you will do an Our Father, then 10 Hail Marys, a Glory Be, the Fatima prayer and finally the Hail. If you do not remember it here we will mention a fragment; “God save you, Queen and Mother of mercy, life, sweetness and our hope.” After finishing this you will cross yourself making the sign of the cross again.
- If what we are going to do is follow a rosary with our hands, then we will begin with the prayer “For the sign of the Holy Cross” touching the cross of the rosary, then to the first ball an Our Father, then you will continue with three Hail Marys, one for each ball and at the end an ejaculatory prayer. When you arrive at the center of the rosary, you will say an Our Father, you will continue with 10 Hail, and in the little ball that follows you will do an Our Father, then 10 Holy Mary, 1 Our Father, 10 Hail, 1 Our Father, 10 Holy Mary , 1 Our Father and we will end with 10 God Save You and we will cross them by making a cross on their foreheads, another on their mouths and the big cross that you already know how to do while saying the prayer.
What do you need to pray the complete rosary?
- A rosary
Tips for praying the complete rosary
- Learn the mystery that corresponds to the day you are going to pray it to better follow the common protocol.
- Also learn the special prayers that are said in the rosary of a deceased if this is the reason for your prayers.