SAN DIEGO — The Catholic Church has traditionally dedicated the month of October to the rosary.
What is the rosary?
The rosary is a prayer typically recited with the assistance of a looped string of beads with a crucifix at the end. The faithful recite a series of prayers, predominantly Our Fathers and Hail Marys, while meditating on specific events in the lives of Jesus and Mary.
What is a “decade”?
In rosary parlance, a decade is a group of 10 Hail Marys that is preceded by an Our Father. Each string of beads includes five decades. While praying a decade, one seeks to meditate on a particular “mystery” of the rosary.
What is a “mystery”?
First of all, there’s no need to call Sherlock Holmes or Scooby Doo. We’re not talking about that kind of mystery.
The mysteries of the rosary are best understood as important moments experienced by Jesus and Mary that are worthy of contemplation.
They come in four sets, each of which consist of five individual mysteries.
The Joyful Mysteries include: the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Birth of Jesus, the Presentation, and the Finding of Jesus in the Temple. The Sorrowful Mysteries include: the Agony in the Garden, the Scourging at the Pillar, the Crowning with Thorns, the Carrying of the Cross, and the Crucifixion. The Glorious Mysteries include: the Resurrection, the Ascension, the Assumption of Mary, and the Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven. The Luminous Mysteries include: the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, the Wedding Feast at Cana, the Proclamation of the Kingdom, the Transfiguration, and the Institution of the Eucharist.
When do we pray each set of mysteries?
The Joyful Mysteries are typically prayed on Mondays and Saturdays, the Sorrowful Mysteries on Tuesdays and Fridays, the Glorious Mysteries on Wednesdays and Sundays, and the Luminous Mysteries on Thursdays. On Sundays during the Advent and Christmas seasons, the Joyful instead of Glorious Mysteries are prayed; similarly, during the Sundays of Lent, the Glorious Mysteries are swapped for the Sorrowful.
When were the Luminous Mysteries introduced?
They were added to the three traditional sets of mysteries in October of 2002 by Pope St. John Paul II.
How often should we pray the rosary?
We can pray the rosary as frequently or as infrequently as we wish. There is no obligation to pray it. But, in her apparitions in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917, the Blessed Mother asked that the rosary be recited daily to obtain peace in the world.
How can I learn to pray the rosary?
The necessary information is readily available from various sources, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops at usccb.org/how-to-pray-the-rosary.
Are there any parishes in San Diego named in honor of the rosary?
Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in Little Italy takes its name from the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, celebrated Oct. 7, which commemorates the Christian Holy League’s victory over the Ottoman Empire at the naval Battle of Lepanto on Oct. 7, 1571. The victory, which was against overwhelming odds, was attributed to the power of the rosary.
Have any other miracles been credited to the rosary?
One example is the famous story of eight Jesuit priests who were living in a church rectory in Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, when the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan. They were only eight blocks – less than 1 mile – from the epicenter and yet received only minor injuries from the blast. Their rectory was among the few buildings in the area left standing and, after more than 200 examinations by doctors, none of the priests showed signs of radiation sickness.
One of the priests, Father Hubert Schiffer, who lived until 1982, reflected on their survival.
“We believe that we survived because we were living the message of Fatima,” he said. “We lived and prayed the rosary daily in that home.”
Sister Lucia dos Santos, one of the three visionaries of the Our Lady of Fatima apparitions, once said, “There is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, temporal or especially spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations, that cannot be solved by the rosary.”
Is there any recent rosary-related news in San Diego?
As part of its Guadalupe 2031 initiative, a five-year preparation for the 500th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, the Diocese of San Diego has set a goal of reciting 1 million rosaries by the year 2031. The faithful are invited to submit their name, parish, ministry and the number of rosaries they prayed at sdcatholic.org/guadalupe2031/1-million-rosaries.
