Mysteries of the Rosary

The Rosary (pronunciation: /ˈrəʊz(ə)ri/, Latin: , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), usually in the form of the Dominican Rosary, is a form of prayer used especially in the Catholic Church named for the string of knots or beads used to count the component prayers. When used of the form of prayer, the word is usually capitalized ("the Rosary"), as is customary for other names of prayers, such as "the Lord's Prayer", "the Hail Mary", "the Magnificat". When referring to the beads, it is normally written with a lower-case initial ("a rosary").

The prayers that essentially compose the Rosary are arranged in sets of ten Hail Marys with each set preceded by one Lord's Prayer and followed by one Glory Be. During recitation of each set, known as a decade, thought is given to one of the Mysteries of the Rosary, which recall events in the lives of Jesus and Mary. Normally, five decades are recited in a session. Other prayers are sometimes added after each decade (in particular, the Fátima Prayer) and before (in particular, the Apostles' Creed), and after (in particular, the Hail, Holy Queen) the five decades taken as a whole. The rosary as a material object is an aid towards saying these prayers in the proper sequence.

A standard fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary, based on the long-standing custom, was established by Pope Pius V in the 16th century, grouping the mysteries in three sets: the Joyful Mysteries, the Sorrowful Mysteries, and the Glorious Mysteries. In 2002 Pope John Paul II said that it is fitting that a new set of five be added, called the Luminous Mysteries, bringing the total number of mysteries to twenty.

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