The Rosary with the Great Artists: the Joyful Mysteries


The Virgin Mary
El Greco [Web Gallery of Art]

'The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer. In the sobriety of its elements, it has all the depth of the Gospel message in its entirety, of which it can be said to be a compendium. It is an echo of the prayer of Mary, her
perennial Magnificat for the work of the redemptive Incarnation which began in her virginal womb. With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love. Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer.' [St John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, No 1.

The Rosary here is the formula prayed by members of the Legion of Mary, the way I prefer. There are various ways of beginning and ending the Rosary but the Five Mysteries are the heart of the prayer. 

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

Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of Your love.
v. Send forth Your Spirit, O Lord, and they shall be created.
R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray.

God our Father, pour out the gifts of Your Holy Spirit on the world. You sent the Spirit on Your Church to begin the teaching of the gospel: now let the Spirit continue to work in the world through the hearts of all who believe. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
v. You, O Lord, will open my lips.
R. And my tongue shall announce Your praise.
v. Incline unto my aid, O God.
R. O Lord, make haste to help me.
v. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. 


The Joyful Mysteries 
(Monday and Saturday)

First Mystery

The Annunciation

The Annunciation 
El Greco [Web Gallery of Art]

Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be

Second Mystery
The Visitation

The Visitation
El Greco [Web Gallery of Art]

Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be

Third Mystery
The Nativity

The Adoration of the Shepherds
El Greco [Web Gallery of Art]


Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be

Fourth Mystery
The Presentation in the Temple

Simeon and Anna Recognise the Lord in Jesus
Rembrandt [Web Gallery of Art]


Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be

Fifth Mystery
The Finding in the Temple

Christ among the Doctors
Master of the Catholic Kings [Web Gallery of Art]

Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory be


Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy; hail, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To you we cry, poor banished children of Eve, to you we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, O most gracious advocate, your eyes of mercy towards us, and after this our exile, show us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

v. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.

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 salvation; grant, we beseech You, that meditating upon these mysteries in 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. Amen. 

v. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus R. Have mercy on us.
v. Immaculate Heart of Mary R. Pray for us.
v. St Joseph R. Pray for us.
v. St John the Evangelist R. Pray for us.
v. St Louis-Marie deMontfort. R. Pray for us. 

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


Alma Redemptoris Mater 

Abbaye de Ligugé


Alma Redemptoris Mater is one of four seasonal Marian anthems sung or recited at the end of Compline (Night Prayer) in the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours, Breviary). It is traditionally sung from the First Sunday of Advent until the Feast of the Purification of the Lord, 2 February.

Alma Redemptoris Mater, quae pervia caeli porta manes et stella maris, succurre cadenti, surgere qui curat, populo: tu quae genuisti, natura mirante, tuum sanctum genitorem, Virgo prius, ac posterius, Gabrielis ab ore sumens illud ave, peccatorum miserere.

Holy mother of our Redeemer, thou gate leading to heaven and star of the sea; help the falling people who seek to rise, thou who, all nature wondering, didst give birth to thy holy Creator. Virgin always, hearing the greeting from Gabriel’s lips, take pity on sinners.

Alma Redemptoris Mater
Setting by Palestrina
Sung by the Tallis Scholars in St Mary Major Basilica, Rome


Madonna (detail)
Agostino di Duccio [Web Gallery of Art]

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