Instruction on the rosary

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I am trying to study and practice rosary prayer. I dont understand what the “First Joyful Mystery – The Annunciation” is. I have tried utilizing google and it still has left me confused. Are there different annunciations for different times? Is this a prayer we should know? Is there a good book to read about this? My Catechism book is on it’s way, if it will be in there please let me know. Thank you so much.
 
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The First Joyful Mystery is the Annunciation, when Our Lady was told by the angel Gabriel that she would be the mother of the Son of God. Luke 1: 26-38:

[26] And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, [27] To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. [28] And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. [29] Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. [30] And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.

[31] Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. [32] He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. [33] And of his kingdom there shall be no end. [34] And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man? [35] And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. [36] And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: [37] Because no word shall be impossible with God. [38] And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
 
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Margaret_Ann, can you explain how you do this when you pray the rosary? I have never seen anyone pray the rosary. This is new to me.
 
The mysteries are the events in the lives of Jesus and Mary that we meditate on as we pray the prayers of the rosary. It can be awkward to get the hang of it at first, praying the prayers while simultaneously thinking about these events, but that’s the end goal to work toward (don’t worry if it takes you a while, and bear in mind, it’s not everyone’s “thing”). So when you see “the annunciation” or “the visitation”, you’re just supposed to meditate on the significance of the event while you pray the next 10 Hail Mary prayers.
 
You can look at Youtube for instruction on the Rosary and its mysteries. Or just look up a mystery like the Annunciation. Read the Bible on the Annunciation–the “announcing” to Mary by the Angel Gabriel that she would bear the Son of God. Then as you are praying, meditate on the scene.
 
Download the Laudate app. There’s a section on the Rosary and it guides you along praying it virtually
 
The best way I have found to learn to pray the Rosary is to pray along with others or with a recording.

In order to get a better understanding of the mysteries themselves, using a scriptural Rosary is very helpful! You can search for audio scriptural Rosary or look on YouTube, where they have some with pictures of the mystery. (If you need links, let me know.)

It is hard to learn how to both pray the prayers and meditate on the mystery at the same time, and to be honest, I have to say the prayers out loud in order to be able to meditate–the prayers are like a physical habit while the meditating is a mental event. (ETA: it just takes practice. I say it is hard, but only at the beginning, it gets easier with practice.)

Rosary Mysteries of the Catholic Rosary If you go here, on the first page you can click to a brief description of the mysteries, but on that second page you can click through to a more comprehensive set of descriptions of each mystery.

The mysteries come in 4 sets of 5 mysteries each. Many people pray one set of mysteries at a time, and this is usually what is meant by praying a Rosary.
 
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Megwalters2288 said:
Margaret_Ann, can you explain how you do this when you pray the rosary? I have never seen anyone pray the rosary. This is new to me.
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There are videos on Youtube of the Rosary with the different sets of mysteries, usually with visual helps like films or art pictures of the mystery you can look at when you pray. You may want to watch some of these.
 
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