How to Pray the Rosary

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Hey Everyone,

So, I know the basic format of how to pray the rosary. What confuses me is the end of it. After you have gone through all 5 decades, how do you finish? All of the websites list the concluding prayer as being the “Hail Holy Queen” but some of the websites cut it off after the line “oh clement, oh loving, oh sweet virgin Mary”; then others go on to say “pray for us oh holy mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ” and yet others, go further than this phrase.

I tried searching on the Vatican website, and the version of "Hail Holy Queen that they had on their website was the short version, which just says the “oh clement, oh loving, oh sweet virgin Mary.” But I feel that this is incomplete. Ending the prayer like this seems too abrupt.

So basically, my question is, which of these versions of the “Hail Holy Queen” prayer is most correct? Also, if you are praying the Rosary for a specific intention, when do you put that intention in?

Thanks for your help.
 
Here’s the whole thing, just to make sure there’s no confusion.

[Sign of the Cross]

[Apostle’s Creed]

[Our Father]

3x [Hail Mary]

[Glory Be to the Father]

Repeat 5x:
Declare the Mystery
Click to expand...
[Our Father]
Click to expand...
10x [Hail Mary] while meditating on the Mystery
Click to expand...
[Glory Be to the Father]
Click to expand...
[Fatima Prayer]
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[Hail, Holy Queen]

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
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 while meditating on 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.

[Sign of the Cross]

(Optional):
For the intentions of the Holy Father.
[Our Father]
[Hail Mary]
[Glory Be to the Father]
 
true_believer said:
Hey Everyone,

So, I know the basic format of how to pray the rosary. What confuses me is the end of it. After you have gone through all 5 decades, how do you finish? All of the websites list the concluding prayer as being the “Hail Holy Queen” but some of the websites cut it off after the line “oh clement, oh loving, oh sweet virgin Mary”; then others go on to say “pray for us oh holy mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ” and yet others, go further than this phrase.

I tried searching on the Vatican website, and the version of "Hail Holy Queen that they had on their website was the short version, which just says the “oh clement, oh loving, oh sweet virgin Mary.” But I feel that this is incomplete. Ending the prayer like this seems too abrupt.

So basically, my question is, which of these versions of the “Hail Holy Queen” prayer is most correct? Also, if you are praying the Rosary for a specific intention, when do you put that intention in?

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
I was taught to say the, “pray for us oh Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.” As for the intention, I usually say a short prayer specifying my intention prior to beginning the Rosary. I don’t know whether that is the correct way inwhich to do it, but that is how I have always done it. God bless.
 
The Hail Holy Queen ends “O Clement, O Loving, O Sweet, Virgin Mary”.

The other bit is a versicle and response, i.e.:
V. “Pray for us, Holy Mother of God”
R. “That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ”.

Hail Holy Queen and that versicle/response are also proper to Compline in the old Breviarum Romanum from Trinity Sunday until the day before Advent Sunday.

You might then want to add the prayer that is tacked on there:

"Let us pray.

Almighty, everlasting God, who by the co-operation of the Holy Ghost didst prepare the body and soul of the glorious Virgin-Mother Mary to become a dwelling-place meet for Thy Son: grant that as we rejoice in her commemoration; so by her fervent inercession we may be delivered from present evils and from everlasting death. Through the same Christ our Lord.

Amen."

Just an idea, of course. 👍
 
Miles_Mariae said:
Here’s the whole thing, just to make sure there’s no confusion…
Click to expand...
I normaly start with the opening Fatima Prayer:Queen of the Holy Rosary, who deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three shephard children the treasures of grace hidden in the rosary, inspire our hearts with a sincere love of this devotion, that by meditating on the mysteries of our redemption that are recalled herein, we may be enriched with its fruits, obtain peace for the world and of Russia, and for the favor which we as of you in this rosary*…**(here mention a specific intention you wish to attach to this rosary). *We ask this for the greater glory of God, for your own honor, and for the good of souls, especially our own. Amen.
Peace in Christ,
DustinsDad
 
The reality is that the Salve Regina, and thus the entire rosary, end with the phrase “O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.” As as has been pointed out, this does seem abrupt to the ear and for this reason is has been customary to add at least the versicle and prayer, if not also other prayers. But being a private devotion, there is no “official” way to conclude it. 😉
 
Well, I’m still confused…
Intentions.
We have one post here that says at the end, with more prayers. This sounds good.
We have two posts that says at the beginning but one person was unsure. I’m in the same boat because any of the “how to pray the Rosary” pamplets I have do not say anything about intentions. So is this the wrong mechanism?
My wife did it a third way, the other day. When praying a rosary with the family specifically for someone or a small group, she interjected a specific request in harmony with the mystery. This was interesting, too, but with a long list of intentions, this is not very easy.

Also, I’m having great difficulty memorizing the Hail! Holy Queen. Any suggestions to make this easier would be appreciated.
 
OK, another thing… which mysteries during lent.

I have ONE “how to pray the rosary” pamphlet that states during lent everyday is Sorowful Mysteries. Other places make no distiction on lent. What’s up?
 
As someone stated, the Rosary is a private devotion, so there can be variations on it. There is no wrong way to pray it.
 
The two ways I have done it is:
  1. say all of your intentions after the Creed and before the first Our Father. Or
  2. say each decade for a specific intention.
(It is perfectly legit to omit the Apostles’ Creed, Our Father, 3 Hail Marys, Glory Be and simply begin at the first mystery, too. I only found this out last year. I try not to do it out of laziness, but sometimes this encourages me to start since it seems to take so long otherwise.)

On Lent… The usual way as far as I know is to say the Sorrowful Mysteries every Sunday and the rest of the week as usual. Probably Sorrowful Mysteries every day of the Triduum?
 
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