| The word rosary comes from Latin and means a garland of roses, the rose being one of the flowers used to symbolize the Virgin Mary. The rosary is emblematic of Catholics--from rosaries hanging around rearview mirrors, to someone fingering the beads to oversized rosaries hanging from the waist of a nun-most people immediately recognize a rosary and identify it with the Catholic faith.
A devotion in honor of the Virgin Mary, the rosary consists of a set number of specific prayers. First are the introductory prayers: one Apostles' Creed (Credo), one Our Father (the Pater Noster or the Lord's Prayer), three Hail Mary's (Ave's), one Glory Be (Gloria Patri).
Next is the meat of the rosary: the decades. Each decade is composed of ten Hail Marys and is between an Our Father and a Glory Be, so each decade actually has twelve prayers. A rosary has 5 decades and is prayed 3 times making the total number of decades fifteen in a full rosary (that is about 45 minutes of devotion time!).
Each decade is devoted to a mystery (truth of the faith) regarding the life of Jesus or his mother. There are twenty mysteries reflected upon in the Rosary, and these are divided into the five JOYFUL MYSTERIES, the five LUMINOUS MYSTERIES, the five SORROWFUL MYSTERIES, and the five GLORIOUS MYSTERIES.
The very last prayer is the Hail Queen (Salve Regina), sometimes called the Hail Holy Queen. After the Hail Mary prayer, it is the most commonly recited prayer in praise of Mary.
Click here for a Catholic Rosary Diagram and Prayer Guide
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