The Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary
Commonly prayed on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The First Glorious Mystery – THE RESURRECTION
“Bring hither thy hand, and put it into My side; and be not faithless, but believing .”
John 20:27
In this mystery we contemplate our Divine Redeemer rising through His own power on the third day. His body is in a state of glory: His wounds are now tokens of His triumph over death.
Let us ask Our Lady of Fatima for a staunch hope in the triumph of her Immaculate Heart and a jubilant enthusiasm in the anticipation of her kingdom.
Our Father: God’s infinite eternity.
Hail Mary:
- The descent of the soul of Our Lord into hell.
- The joy of the souls of the holy fathers, and their departure from limbo.
- The rejoining of His soul and body in the sepulchre.
- His miraculous exit from the sepulchre.
- His victories over death and sin, the world and the devil.
- The four glorious qualities of His body.
- The power in heaven and on earth that He received from His Father.
- The apparitions with which He honoured His Holy Mother, His Apostles and His disciples.
- The conversations about heaven that He had with His Apostles, and the meal He partook with them.
- The authority and mission He gave them to preach throughout the world.
The Second Glorious Mystery – THE ASCENSION
“And behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.”
Matthew 28:20
In this mystery we contemplate the Just One withdrawing from His disciples and ascending into heaven forty days after His resurrection: it is the concluding work of redemption.
By this final elevation of Our Lord’s human nature into the condition of divine glory, let us ask the Most Holy Virgin for the ultimate exaltation of Holy Mother Church and Christian civilization.
Our Father: God’s boundless immensity.
Hail Mary:
- The promise Jesus made to His Apostles that He would send them the Holy Spirit, and the order He gave them to prepare themselves to receive Him.
- The gathering of all His disciples on Mount Olivet.
- The blessing He gave them as He ascended from this earth to heaven.
- His glorious and admirable ascension, by His own power, into the empyrean heaven.
- The reception and divine triumph given Him by God, His Father, and the whole celestial court.
- The triumphant power with which He opened the gates of heaven, where no mortal had ever entered.
- His sitting at the right hand of His Father as His well-beloved Son and equal.
- The power He received to judge the living and the dead.
- His second coming, in which His might and majesty will appear in all their splendour.
- The justice He will do in the Last Judgment, rewarding the good and chastising the evil for all eternity.
The Third Glorious Mystery – THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
“And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them.”
Acts 2:3
In this mystery we contemplate Our Lord fulfilling His words to the Apostles: “I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you forever” ( John 14:16). The Apostles, gathered around Our Lady in the Cenacle, are now so filled with the Holy Spirit that they seem drunk (Acts 2:13).
Let us ask the Spouse of the Holy Spirit to say but a word and thus transform our weak, lukewarm and sinful souls.
Our Father: God’s universal providence.
Hail Mary:
- The truth of the Holy Spirit, God Who proceeds from the Father and the Son, and Who is the Heart of the Divinity.
- The sending of the Holy Spirit by the Father and the Son to the Apostles.
- The great noise with which He descended, a sign of His strength and power.
- The tongues of fire He placed upon the Apostles to give them knowledge of the Scriptures, and love of God and neighbour.
- The plenitude of graces with which He distinguished Mary, His faithful spouse.
- His marvellous control over all the saints and over the person of Jesus Christ Himself, Whom He guided during His whole life.
- The twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit.
- The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.
- To request particularly the gift of wisdom and the coming of His reign over the hearts of men.
- To obtain victory over the evil spirits opposed to Him; namely, the spirits of the world, the flesh and the devil.
The Fourth Glorious Mystery – THE ASSUMPTION
“Thou art the glory of Jerusalem, thou art the joy of Israel, thou art the honour of our people.”
Judith 15:10
In this mystery we contemplate the Virgin Mary being taken body and soul into heaven by God amidst the rejoicing of the angels.
Let us ask our celestial Mother to fill us with faith and to make us pure and strong, so that we may fight worthily for her on earth and rejoice with her in heaven forever.
Our Father: God’s indescribable liberality.
Hail Mary:
- The eternal predestination of Mary as the masterpiece of God’s hands.
- Her Immaculate Conception, and her plenitude of grace and reason while within the womb of her mother, Saint Anne.
- Her nativity, which gladdened the whole universe.
- Her presentation and stay in the Temple.
- Her admirable life exempt from all sin.
- The fullness of her singular virtues.
- Her fertile virginity and painless birth.
- Her divine maternity and her alliance with the Most Holy Trinity.
- Her precious and loving death.
- Her resurrection and triumphant assumption.
The Fifth Glorious Mystery – THE CORONATION
“For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.”
Luke 1:48
In this mystery we contemplate the Daughter of God, the Mother of God, the Spouse of God, addressed in the words of the Canticle of Canticles “Come: thou shalt be crowned,” and made empress and mistress of all creation.
Let us ask our Queen that, from the height of glory on which she was placed, she will be for us a Mother of Mercy, raising us when we fall, loving us at every moment, so that, like the angels, we may faithfully serve her in all things.
Our Father: God’s inaccessible glory.
Hail Mary:
- The triple crown with which the Most Holy Trinity crowned Mary.
- The joy and new glory heaven received by her triumph.
- To recognise her as Queen of Heaven and Earth, angels and men.
- The treasurer of the graces of God, of the merits of Jesus Christ and of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
- The mediatrix and advocate of men.
- The destroyer and ruin of the devil and of heresies.
- The secure refuge of sinners.
- The mother and nurturer of Christians.
- The joy and sweetness of the just.
- The universal refuge of the living, the all-powerful consolation of the afflicted, of the dying and of the souls in Purgatory.
