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Praying the Rosary Step-by-Step
Few devotions have become as widespread among the Catholic faithful as the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is undoubtedly the most popular and common Marian devotion due to its simplicity, the ease with which it can be learnt and the profound and sublime character of its prayers and meditations.
The Rosary has been variously described as “an epitome of the Old Testament,” “an abridgement of the New Testament,” “a compendium of the Gospel,” “the Breviary of the laity,” “the catechism of youth,” “a beautiful system of popular theology,” “an inexhaustible book of meditation for our greatest theologians” and “a whole badge of Christian piety.””
Apart from the Eucharist and other Sacraments of the Church, the Rosary is probably the most powerful means of sanctification. It is a key to the most intimate knowledge of Jesus and Mary, and is an effective way to attain to the perfection of Christian charity.
As Blessed Pope John Paul II pointed out in his great Apostolic Letter on the Rosary, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, published at the beginning of the Year of the Rosary in October 2002, “to recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ.”
As the title suggests, this book is a step-by-step guide to praying the Rosary. The layout of a standard Rosary bead set is imitated, so that each section of the Rosary begins on a new page. The active Table of Contents contains hyperlinks to every prayer in the book.
The Introduction includes sections on the origins of the Rosary, the Rosary today, Our Lady's 15 promises, the prayers of the Rosary, and how to pray the Rosary. In addition to the complete Rosary, the book contains the Angelus, the Memorare of Saint Bernard, the Magnificat and the Thirty Days Prayer for obtaining graces, an Act of Consecration to Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, the Prayer to Saint Joseph for the October devotions, and the prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel.
The Bibliography contains an extensive list of Papal Encyclicals related to the Rosary. Clicking on the title of an encyclical will open a web browser and take the reader directly to the official English text of the Encyclical on the Vatican web site.
Interest in the Rosary has been rekindled since Blessed Pope John Paul II proposed the addition of a new decade comprised of the five 'Mysteries of Light' which he described as “a revelation of the Kingdom now present in the very person of Jesus.”
In addition to the traditional Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries, the Luminous Mysteries (which have never been officially incorporated into the Rosary) have been included in this book for those who like to recite them.
To supply a scriptural foundation and greater depth to the meditations on each mystery, suitable Bible passages are provided before the commencement of each decade.
The Biblical texts chosen by the author refer not only to the subject-matter of the particular mystery, but also to the spiritual grace which the mystery is believed to confer. The spiritual grace is specified, as is the day on which the subject-matter of the mystery is commemorated by the Church.
To give the user's meditation even further depth, and to help focus his or her attention on the mysteries of the Rosary, the beautiful woodcut engravings of Gustave Doré which were made for the English translation of the Bible of 1866 are included to illustrate the mysteries.
As Sister Lucia of Fatima said, "There is no problem ... no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary.
The Rosary has been variously described as “an epitome of the Old Testament,” “an abridgement of the New Testament,” “a compendium of the Gospel,” “the Breviary of the laity,” “the catechism of youth,” “a beautiful system of popular theology,” “an inexhaustible book of meditation for our greatest theologians” and “a whole badge of Christian piety.””
Apart from the Eucharist and other Sacraments of the Church, the Rosary is probably the most powerful means of sanctification. It is a key to the most intimate knowledge of Jesus and Mary, and is an effective way to attain to the perfection of Christian charity.
As Blessed Pope John Paul II pointed out in his great Apostolic Letter on the Rosary, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, published at the beginning of the Year of the Rosary in October 2002, “to recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ.”
As the title suggests, this book is a step-by-step guide to praying the Rosary. The layout of a standard Rosary bead set is imitated, so that each section of the Rosary begins on a new page. The active Table of Contents contains hyperlinks to every prayer in the book.
The Introduction includes sections on the origins of the Rosary, the Rosary today, Our Lady's 15 promises, the prayers of the Rosary, and how to pray the Rosary. In addition to the complete Rosary, the book contains the Angelus, the Memorare of Saint Bernard, the Magnificat and the Thirty Days Prayer for obtaining graces, an Act of Consecration to Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, the Prayer to Saint Joseph for the October devotions, and the prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel.
The Bibliography contains an extensive list of Papal Encyclicals related to the Rosary. Clicking on the title of an encyclical will open a web browser and take the reader directly to the official English text of the Encyclical on the Vatican web site.
Interest in the Rosary has been rekindled since Blessed Pope John Paul II proposed the addition of a new decade comprised of the five 'Mysteries of Light' which he described as “a revelation of the Kingdom now present in the very person of Jesus.”
In addition to the traditional Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries, the Luminous Mysteries (which have never been officially incorporated into the Rosary) have been included in this book for those who like to recite them.
To supply a scriptural foundation and greater depth to the meditations on each mystery, suitable Bible passages are provided before the commencement of each decade.
The Biblical texts chosen by the author refer not only to the subject-matter of the particular mystery, but also to the spiritual grace which the mystery is believed to confer. The spiritual grace is specified, as is the day on which the subject-matter of the mystery is commemorated by the Church.
To give the user's meditation even further depth, and to help focus his or her attention on the mysteries of the Rosary, the beautiful woodcut engravings of Gustave Doré which were made for the English translation of the Bible of 1866 are included to illustrate the mysteries.
As Sister Lucia of Fatima said, "There is no problem ... no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary.
219 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 12, 2013
330 people are currently reading
114 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 13, 2020
I’ve prayed the Rosary for years but never really understood the complete breath of what I was doing. This is a great book with thought provoking insights into a deeper praying of the Rosary. Includes many prayers to help. I am very happy I purchased it and have it for a reference, easy read and easy to understand
July 25, 2015
Beautiful
Here is the Rosary in all its beauty. The steps for saying the Rosary are laid out perfectly, with each prayer of the Rosary stated the correct number of times, all the way through the stations. There are many prayers listed for each day of the week, and personal prayers as well.
This books provides a great deal of information which can be read over and over.
I haven't found any spelling errors to break the flow.
Everyone should have this take-along book to use no matter where you are.
Here is the Rosary in all its beauty. The steps for saying the Rosary are laid out perfectly, with each prayer of the Rosary stated the correct number of times, all the way through the stations. There are many prayers listed for each day of the week, and personal prayers as well.
This books provides a great deal of information which can be read over and over.
I haven't found any spelling errors to break the flow.
Everyone should have this take-along book to use no matter where you are.
January 17, 2018
Outlines so it can be easily understood and makes the rosary accessible to anyone. If you want to dig deeper into your prayer life, o just need a focal point for your prayers, I highly recommend this book.
May 21, 2016
Good book
I found this book to be a good read it is a helpful tool for learning and reciting the rosary
I found this book to be a good read it is a helpful tool for learning and reciting the rosary
October 21, 2018
I am so pleased with the way it teaches how to pray the rosary
My mom was a devout Catholic and I asked her why she prayed the rosary, her answer "Peace".
Missing mom
My mom was a devout Catholic and I asked her why she prayed the rosary, her answer "Peace".
Missing mom
October 6, 2019
Enjoyed reading this
I've always wanted to learn the mysteries for the rosary. This was very easy and helpful. I would recommend this book for anyone starting to use the rosary.
I've always wanted to learn the mysteries for the rosary. This was very easy and helpful. I would recommend this book for anyone starting to use the rosary.
January 19, 2020
Well organized
November 10, 2015
This Book is Very Inspirational.
I enjoyed this book, and think it has great potential in teaching how to pray the rosary. However, I still believe that this is only the beginning, and that there is much more to learn.
I enjoyed this book, and think it has great potential in teaching how to pray the rosary. However, I still believe that this is only the beginning, and that there is much more to learn.
March 28, 2017
As a fairly recent convert this was a wonderful in depth look at praying the Rosary. It also told of the beautiful history of the Rosary; some of which I was not aware of. I loved all the Scripture references and thoughts for each mystery and will be incorporating them into my own personal prayer time as well as our family Rosary time. The additional prayers and references were a delightful bonus.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews