06 June 2010

The Dominican Rosary

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The Dominican family follows the medieval custom of beginning the Rosary like the Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary—for the Rosary is known as Mary’s prayer.

Let us pray.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Spirit,
Amen.

V.  Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
R.  Blessed art though amongst women and
     blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

V.  Lord, open my lips. +
R.  And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

V.  God come to my assistance.
R.  Lord make haste to help me.

V.  Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
R.  As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
(Alleluia.) (Praise be to Thee, O Lord, King of everlasting glory.)

Now begin the mysteries of the day. Start each decade by announcing the mystery and directing your imagination and attention towards that particular episode in the life of Christ or Our Lady.

It can be useful to follow the announcement of the mystery with the reading of a related scriptural passage, as indicated below. In this way, the Rosary is not merely a matter of recalling information, but of allowing God to speak to us directly through his word.

Ideally this should be followed be a period of silence, in which to reflect upon the scripture passage before moving on to vocal prayer.

Then, proceed to the recitation of the decade. On the large bead say the Our Father. On each of the ten small beads, say a Hail Mary. (Optionally, the appropriate intercessory prayer, provided below, can be added after each Hail Mary, asking for the assistance one of the Dominican members of the communion of Saints to carry our prayers to Mary, our Mother.) Then pray the Glory Be.

Each decade is a contemplation of the life of Our Lord, witnessed by Mary—one aspect of the paschal mystery. In recognition of the connection with Christian life, we should conclude our contemplation of each decade with a prayer for the fruits specific to that particular mystery. Alternatively, a more general prayer may be said according to custom, such as the following:

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, draw all souls to heaven, especially those who are in most need of your mercy.

Or:
Mary, mother of grace, mother of mercy, shield me from the enemy and receive me at the hour of my death. Amen.

Mysteries of the Rosary

Joyful 
Mondays and Saturdays
1.     The Annunciation (Lk 1, 26-38)
2.     The Visitation (Lk 1, 39-56)
3.     The Nativity (Lk 2, 1-20)
4.     The Presentation (Lk 2, 22-28)
5.     The Finding of Jesus in the Temple (Lk 2, 41-52)

Sorrowful
Tuesdays and Fridays
1.     The Agony in the Garden (Mt 26, 36-56)
2.     The Scourging at the Pillar (Is 53, 1-12 / Mk 15, 1-15)
3.     The Crowning with Thorns (Mk 15, 16-20 / Mt 27, 27-31)
4.     The Carrying of the Cross (Lk 23, 26-32 / Mk 10, 17-21)
5.     The Crucifixion (Jn 19, 17-30 / Mt 27, 35-56)

Glorious 
Wednesdays and Sundays
1.     The Resurrection (Mt 28, 1-15 / Lk 24, 1-49 / Mk 16, 1-18)
2.     The Ascension (Acts 1, 3-11)
3.     The Descent of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2, 1-21)
4.     The Assumption (Rev 12, 1)
5.     The Coronation of the Blessed Mother in Heaven (Lk 1, 46-55)

Luminous (Mysteries of Light) 
Thursdays
1.     The Baptism of Christ in the Jordan (Mt 3, 13-17 / Mk 1, 4-11)
2.     The Manifestation of Christ at the wedding of Cana (Jn 2, 1-11)
3.     The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with his call to conversion (Mt 4, 12-25 / Mk 1, 15 and 2, 3-13 / Lk 7, 47-48 / Jn 20, 22-23)
4.     The Transfiguration (Mt 17, 1-9 / Lk 9, 28-36)
5.     The Institutionalization of the Holy Eucharist (Lk 22, 14-20 / Jn 13, 1)

OPTIONAL INTERCESSORY PRAYERS
(by Jean Jeandron DeCuir)
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First Decade: We ask Saint Dominic to carry our prayers to Mary, our Mother.
1.     Father Dominic, founder of this family of spiritual brothers and sisters praying before you, pray for us.
2.     Father Dominic, beloved son of Blessed Joan of Asa and brother to Blessed Anthony, pray for us.
3.     Father Dominic, passionate son of the Virgin Mary, pray for us.
4.     Father Dominic, devoted instrument of Mary in promoting her Holy Rosary, pray for us.
5.     Father Dominic, unflinching apostle in your apostolic and mission of preaching, pray for us.
6.     Father Dominic, mediator of Mother Church in battle against the heresies of your time, pray for us.
7.     Father Dominic, unselfish defender and brother to the poor and humble, pray for us.
8.     Father Dominic, guileless instrument of God's many miracles, pray for us.
9.     Father Dominic, contemporary and spiritual brother of Saint Francis of Assisi, pray  for us.
  1. Father Dominic, incorrupt model in body and spirit, in life and death, pray for us.

Second Decade: We ask Saint Catherine of Siena to carry our prayers to Mary, our Mother.
1.     Sister Catherine, our spiritual sister in the charism of Dominic, pray for us.
2.     Sister Catherine, virgin, mystic, and visionary, pray for us.
3.     Sister Catherine, gifted daughter of Christ with whom you shared your heart, pray for us.
4.     Sister Catherine, joyful embracer of the stigmata of our Lord, pray for us.
5.     Sister Catherine, nurse to those stricken by plagues, leprosy, and cancer, pray for us.
6.     Sister Catherine, minister to condemned prisoners, pray for us.
7.     Sister Catherine, spiritual daughter of your confessor, Blessed Raymond of Capua, pray for us.
8.     Sister Catherine, peacemaker, prophet, and Doctor of the Church, pray for us.
9.     Sister Catherine, tireless supporter of the Roman papacy against it enemies in the Great Schism, pray for us.
10. Sister Catherine, faithful recorder of our Lord's intimate conversations with you in the Dialogue, pray for us.

Third Decade: We ask Saint Martin de Porres to carry our prayers to Mary, our Mother.
1.     Brother Martin, our spiritual brother in Dominic, pray for us.
2.     Brother Martin, patron saint of interracial justice, pray for us.
3.     Brother Martin, child of humble birth and giant among saints,  pray for us.
4.     Brother Martin, contemporary and friend of Saint Rose of Lima, pray for us.
5.     Brother Martin, humble instrument of God's supernatural gifts and miracles, pray for us.
6.     Brother Martin, caretaker of the poor, the orphaned, and the African slaves, pray for us.
7.     Brother Martin, lover and protector of all of God's creatures, great and small, pray for us.
8.     Brother Martin, possessor of spiritual wisdom beyond all limits, pray for us.
9.     Brother Martin, model of deep, personal penance, pray for us.
10. Brother Martin, champion of the humble, pray for us.

Fourth Decade: We ask Saint Rose of Lima to take our prayers to Mary, our Mother.
1.     Sister Rose, virgin, mystic, and visionary, pray for us.
2.     Sister Rose, humble, recluse and devoted daughter, pray for us.
3.     Sister Rose, secret sufferer of your great beauty, pray for us.
4.     Sister Rose, spiritual sister of Saint Catherine of Siena, pray for us.
5.     Sister Rose, holy instrument against the earth's fury, pray for us.
6.     Sister Rose, spiritual sister of your contemporary, Saint Martin de Porres, pray for us.
7.     Sister Rose, survivor of temptations, loneliness, and sadness, pray for us.
8.     Sister Rose, beloved daughter of God, author of countless miracles, pray for us.
9.     Sister Rose, patroness of Latin America and the Philippines, pray for us.
10. Sister Rose, first American to be canonized by Mother Church, pray for us.

Fifth Decade: We ask Saint Thomas Aquinas to take our prayers to Mary, our Mother.
1.     Brother Thomas, most scholastic son of Father Dominic, pray for us.
2.     Brother Thomas, holy priest and Doctor of the Church, pray for us.
3.     Brother Thomas, chaste servant and "Angelic Doctor," pray for us.
4.     Brother Thomas, humble master of theological and philosophical studies, pray for us.
5.     Brother Thomas, greatest theological master of Christianity, pray for us.
6.     Brother Thomas, servant of God, gifted with visions, ecstasies, and revelations, pray for us.
7.     Brother Thomas, scholar who opened our natural reasoning to discover God, pray for us.
8.     Brother Thomas, fruitful preacher of the Word, who declined all offers of priestly promotions, pray for us.
9.     Brother Thomas, author of the great Summa Theologica, pray for us.
10. Brother Thomas, patron of all universities, colleges, and schools, pray for us.

Conclusion of the Holy Rosary
Hail, holy queen, Mother of mercy,
hail our life, our sweetness, and our hope.
To thee do we cry,
poor banished children of Eve.
To thee do we send up our sighs
mourning and weeping in this vale of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us,
and after this our exile
show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving,
O sweet virgin Mary.

V.  Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us.
R.  That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.— O God, whose only-begotten Son, by His life, death and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life; grant we beseech thee, that meditating upon these mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain, and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ our Lord.
R.  Amen.

V.  May the divine + assistance remain always with us.
R.  Amen.

V.  May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
R.  Amen.

V. May the blessing of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit descend upon us and remain with us always.
R.  Amen.

There is also a custom of ending the Rosary with prayers for the intentions of the holy Father, the whole Church, the (arch)bishop of the diocese, and the holy souls in purgatory. The following prayers are suggested:

For the Intentions of the Pope and the needs of the Church and of the nation:

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory Be.

For the (arch)bishop of this diocese and his intentions:

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory Be.

For the Holy Souls in Purgatory:

Our Father. Hail Mary. May they rest in peace.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
And let perpetual light shine upon them.
And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

R.  Amen.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Spirit,
Amen.

10 comments:

  1. Thank you very much! May God continue to bless and reward you, and protect you from the infernal enemy.

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  2. Thank you for this post. I try to pray the dominican rosary as I plan on joining the third order of saint Dominic; the Dominican laity.

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  3. I am early in formation with the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. This post explains how and why Dominicans pray the rosary differently than I learned as a child.

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  4. the luminous mysteries are a fraud of JPII and should be ignored.

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  5. I cannot believe the great and learned Dominicans have fallen so low as to be fooled by the Luminous mysteries. Our Lady gave the Rosary to St. Dominic and in every true apparition Our Lady has taught the 15 decade rosary. The luminous mysteries are a fraud of JPII and conciliar church - who fool millions of faithful - even the elect... even the great Dominican Order whose mission is to teach and preach truth - not go succumb to error and heresy.

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  6. I cannot disagree with the two comments on 17 November more. I encourage your prayerful reading of the Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, from which a few provisions are quoted below:

    To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ. (no. 3)

    But the most important reason for strongly encouraging the practice of the Rosary is that it represents a most effective means of fostering among the faithful that commitment to the contemplation of the Christian mystery . . . . (no. 5)

    The Rosary is also a path of proclamation and increasing knowledge, in which the mystery of Christ is presented again and again at different levels of the Christian experience. Its form is that of a prayerful and contemplative presentation, capable of forming Christians according to the heart of Christ. (no. 17)

    And, from No. 19:

    Of the many mysteries of Christ's life, only a few are indicated by the Rosary in the form that has become generally established with the seal of the Church's approval. The selection was determined by the origin of the prayer, which was based on the number 150, the number of the Psalms in the Psalter.

    I believe, however, that to bring out fully the Christological depth of the Rosary it would be suitable to make an addition to the traditional pattern which, while left to the freedom of individuals and communities, could broaden it to include the mysteries of Christ's public ministry between his Baptism and his Passion. In the course of those mysteries we contemplate important aspects of the person of Christ as the definitive revelation of God. Declared the beloved Son of the Father at the Baptism in the Jordan, Christ is the one who announces the coming of the Kingdom, bears witness to it in his works and proclaims its demands. It is during the years of his public ministry that the mystery of Christ is most evidently a mystery of light: “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (Jn 9:5).

    Consequently, for the Rosary to become more fully a “compendium of the Gospel”, it is fitting to add, following reflection on the Incarnation and the hidden life of Christ (the joyful mysteries) and before focusing on the sufferings of his Passion (the sorrowful mysteries) and the triumph of his Resurrection (the glorious mysteries), a meditation on certain particularly significant moments in his public ministry (the mysteries of light). This addition of these new mysteries, without prejudice to any essential aspect of the prayer's traditional format, is meant to give it fresh life and to enkindle renewed interest in the Rosary's place within Christian spirituality as a true doorway to the depths of the Heart of Christ, ocean of joy and of light, of suffering and of glory.

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    Replies
    1. I will also ad an Amen , and be amazed at how quickly people who are unwilling to reveal their identity will disparage the Vicar of Christ. (One who has been Cannonized as a Saint at that.)
      Leon Foreman,
      An inquirer

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  7. Why is it at some points here in the Philippines the dominican friars do not recite the luminous mystery?

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    Replies
    1. I could not begin to say why someone does something. Have you asked them?

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