Would you like to have 15 to 20 minutes of peace, lower your blood pressure, escape from the stresses of the day, and grow closer to Jesus? Pray the rosary and you can realize all of that and more.

The rosary consists of the repetition of prayers including the Apostles’ Creed, Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, (Fatima Prayer), and Hail, Holy Queen which is calming and meditative. The meditation on the Mysteries of the Christ-centered rosary focuses on Jesus’ ministry, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension.

The complete rosary consists of 20 mysteries and 20 decades, however, we typically pray one set of mysteries of five mysteries and decades choosing from —

• Joyful, (Annunciation, Visitation, Birth of Jesus, Presentation, Finding in the Temple),
• Luminous (Baptism of Jesus, Jesus’ First Public Miracle, The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God, Transfiguration, Institution of the Eucharist),
• Sorrowful (Agony in the Garden, Scourging at the Pillar, Crowning with Thorns, Carrying of the Cross, Crucifixion), or
• Glorious (Resurrection, Ascension, Descent of the Holy Spirit, Assumption of Mary, Coronation of Mary)

Praying the rosary in October is especially important as it is recognized as the month of the rosary. The feast of Our Lady of the Rosary was instituted by Pope Pius V in 1571 and later was deemed to be celebrated on October 7^th.  In addition, on October 13, 1917, Mary appeared to three shepherd children and said she was the Lady of the Rosary.

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(For an easy way to learn how to pray the rosary, see my book The Rosary Prayer by Prayer, available from Amazon.com, ACTA Publications, and my website.)