Rosary
How to Pray a Scriptural Rosary
How to pray the Rosary · 8 steps
Praying the Rosary with a short verse of Scripture before each Hail Mary, the method Saint John Paul II recommends in Rosarium Virginis Mariae for turning repetition into meditation.
8 steps · About 30 minutes
A Scriptural Rosary is the ordinary Rosary with one addition: before each Hail Mary a short verse is read that moves the story of the mystery forward, so that by the end of the decade you have walked through the Gospel scene line by line. In Rosarium Virginis Mariae Saint John Paul II asks that the announcement of each mystery be followed by the proclamation of a related biblical passage and a moment of silence, because 'in order to supply a biblical foundation and greater depth to our meditation, it is helpful to follow the announcement of the mystery with the proclamation of a related Biblical passage'. The Scriptural Rosary simply extends that practice to every bead.
What you need
- A rosary
- A Bible, or a Scriptural Rosary booklet with ten verses for each mystery
- About thirty minutes, since the readings add time
When to pray it
Whenever you pray the Rosary; it is especially fruitful when praying alone, in a group that can share the reading, or when a set of mysteries has become too familiar.
Steps
Step 1: Understand why Scripture belongs with the beads
The Rosary was called 'the psalter of the poor' because its 150 echoed the 150 psalms. Reading Scripture at each bead restores that link: the Word of God, as Dei Verbum teaches, is the soul of all Christian prayer, and the Rosary is meant to be a contemplation of the Gospel, not a recitation apart from it.
Step 2: Choose today's mysteries and gather the verses
Choose the set for the day (Joyful on Monday and Saturday, Sorrowful on Tuesday and Friday, Glorious on Wednesday and Sunday, Luminous on Thursday). For each mystery select ten short verses that tell the scene in order, for example for the Annunciation ten lines from Luke 1:26-38. Mark them so you can find them without pausing.
Step 3: Open as usual and announce the first mystery
Make the and pray the on the crucifix, then the , three and the on the opening beads. Announce the first mystery and read its first verse; then pray the on the large bead.
Step 4: Pause in silence
After the announcement and the reading, keep a moment of silence before beginning the . Rosarium Virginis Mariae asks for exactly this pause, so that the mind can settle on the mystery before the words begin.
Step 5: Read a verse, then pray each Hail Mary
On each of the ten small beads read the next verse of the passage, then pray the . Read, pray; read, pray. The verse gives the its picture, and the gives the verse time to sink in. Do not hurry the reading to get to the prayer.
Step 6: Close the decade with the Glory Be and the Fatima Prayer
After the tenth pray the , and, if you wish, the : ", forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy." A short concluding prayer proper to the mystery may follow, as the apostolic letter suggests.
Step 7: Repeat for the remaining four mysteries
Announce the next mystery, read its opening verse, keep the silence, pray the , and continue through its ten verses and . Do the same for the third, fourth and fifth mysteries.
Step 8: Close the Rosary
Pray the Hail, Holy Queen (), then: 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 by 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. End with the .
Tips
- Prepare the ten verses for each mystery beforehand rather than hunting through the Bible mid-decade; the USCCB publishes ready-made scriptural rosaries.
- Keep the verses short: one sentence is enough. The point is to give the imagination something to hold, not to read a chapter.
- In a group, let one reader proclaim the verse and everyone pray the Hail Mary that follows it.