Theme

Marian

Type

Prayers

Number of Participants

4+

Quick Overview

The rosary is one of the most popular prayers in our faith. Through the recitation of the prayers and contemplation on the mysteries, we journey through the life of Jesus.

Supplies you’ll need

• Rosaries – enough for everyone. Although fingers work too!
• How to Pray the Rosary guide (Click here)
• Bible/Scripture verses
• Anything for the space: music, candles, cross, icon etc.

Preparation

Depending on the group and how the Rosary is being led, as much or as little preparation is required. The question is how can you help your young people enter into prayer.

However, some useful things to think about:

• The space. Are you using a particular space; are people sat on the floor or on chairs?
• A visual focus. Sometimes candles and/or a cross is helpful; what is the lighting like?
• Session flow. Are you going from a crazy, loud, high-energy game straight into prayer, or are you expecting your young people to do lots of sitting?
• Involvement. Are you asking them to help with leading the prayer; do they know what they are expected to do?

Leading the prayer

Start with an explanation of the Rosary, what is it and why we might pray it. We are not praying to Mary, we’re asking her to intercede for us and to guide us in a reflection on Jesus. It’s a form of meditation where we repeat set prayers to help us focus on the story and so we can be still to reflect on how God was moving then, and how he is moving now.

For the practical explanation of how to pray the rosary step by step, see the attached document.

The Rosary can be a really powerful and active way to pray for or intercede for others. One way to highlight this is to ask your young people to write down ten things or people or situations they want to pray for. Then, as you are praying the rosary together, you can hold each intention in mind.

It is totally okay to start small – praying one decade together can be a very powerful experience, and allows young people to take it further if they want to. If you want to pray a whole rosary, perhaps split the mysteries and ask different young people to lead them.

Try different ways of encountering the rosary, for example using scripture or music:

• The Scriptural rosary incorporates Scripture passages that accompany the mysteries to each prayer of the rosary and can be a great way of maintaining focus during the mysteries.
• There are lots of music tracks out there that can be related to the mysteries of the rosary. Using music can help to create a different atmosphere and focus.

Young people love creating and making things. If you want to make a rosary, which you can then use to pray with, find our instructions here!