The Rosary · Rosarium

The whole Gospel, on a string of beads.

Fifty Hail Marys and twenty scenes from the life of Christ, prayed in the language the Church has used for them for centuries. Credo takes you bead by bead — in Latin, in English, or with both in front of you.

Pray the Rosary in Credo

Free · iPhone and iPad

The Rosary in Credo, showing the Ave Maria in Latin with its English translation and a progress ring of beads.

How to pray it

The Rosary, bead by bead.

There is one prayer for each bead and a mystery for each decade. If you have never prayed it, this is the whole of it — and nobody gets the order right from memory the first few times, which is precisely what the app is for.

  1. On the crucifix

    Make the Sign of the Cross, then pray the Apostles' Creed — the Symbolum Apostolorum, the Church's oldest profession of faith.

  2. On the first bead

    Pray one Our Father — the Pater Noster.

  3. On the next three beads

    Pray three Hail Marys, traditionally for an increase of faith, hope and charity.

  4. Before the medal

    Pray one Glory Be — the Gloria Patri.

  5. Announce the first mystery

    Name the scene you are about to hold in mind, then pray one Our Father.

  6. On the ten beads of the decade

    Pray ten Hail Marys, keeping the mystery before you. The words occupy the lips; the mystery occupies the mind. That division of labour is the method, not a distraction from it.

  7. At the end of the decade

    Pray one Glory Be, and — as asked at Fátima and now customary — the Fatima Prayer, O my Jesus.

  8. Repeat for five decades

    Announce the next mystery and begin again, until all five are prayed.

  9. At the close

    Pray the Hail Holy Queen — the Salve Regina — and finish with the Sign of the Cross.

A full Rosary is around twenty minutes. A single decade, prayed properly, is a complete and ancient prayer in its own right — start there if twenty minutes is not honest today.

The twenty mysteries

Four sets, one life.

Each decade is prayed while meditating on a scene from the life of Christ and his Mother. The four sets move through the Incarnation, the Passion, the Resurrection, and — added by St. John Paul II in 2002 — Christ's public ministry.

The Joyful Mysteries

Traditionally prayed on Monday and Saturday

The Incarnation, and the hidden years before the ministry.

  1. 1

    The Annunciation

    The Angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will conceive the Son of God.

    Luke 1:26–38

  2. 2

    The Visitation

    Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist.

    Luke 1:39–56

  3. 3

    The Nativity

    Jesus is born in Bethlehem.

    Luke 2:1–20

  4. 4

    The Presentation

    Mary and Joseph present the infant Jesus in the Temple.

    Luke 2:22–38

  5. 5

    The Finding in the Temple

    Mary and Joseph find Jesus teaching in the Temple at age twelve.

    Luke 2:41–52

The Sorrowful Mysteries

Traditionally prayed on Tuesday and Friday

The Passion, from the garden to the cross.

  1. 1

    The Agony in the Garden

    Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane before His arrest.

    Matthew 26:36–46

  2. 2

    The Scourging at the Pillar

    Jesus is brutally scourged by Roman soldiers.

    John 19:1

  3. 3

    The Crowning with Thorns

    Jesus is mocked and crowned with thorns by the soldiers.

    Matthew 27:27–31

  4. 4

    The Carrying of the Cross

    Jesus carries His cross to Calvary.

    John 19:16–17

  5. 5

    The Crucifixion

    Jesus dies on the cross for our salvation.

    John 19:18–30

The Glorious Mysteries

Traditionally prayed on Wednesday and Sunday

The Resurrection, and what it opens for the Church.

  1. 1

    The Resurrection

    Jesus rises from the dead on Easter Sunday.

    Mark 16:1–8

  2. 2

    The Ascension

    Jesus ascends into Heaven forty days after His resurrection.

    Acts 1:6–11

  3. 3

    The Descent of the Holy Spirit

    The Holy Spirit descends upon Mary and the Apostles at Pentecost.

    Acts 2:1–13

  4. 4

    The Assumption

    Mary is assumed body and soul into Heaven.

    Munificentissimus Deus (1950)

  5. 5

    The Coronation

    Mary is crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth.

    Revelation 12:1

The Luminous Mysteries

Traditionally prayed on Thursday

Christ's public ministry — proposed by St. John Paul II in Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 2002.

  1. 1

    The Baptism in the Jordan

    Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.

    Matthew 3:13–17

  2. 2

    The Wedding at Cana

    Jesus performs His first miracle, turning water into wine.

    John 2:1–11

  3. 3

    The Proclamation of the Kingdom

    Jesus preaches the Gospel and calls for repentance.

    Mark 1:14–15

  4. 4

    The Transfiguration

    Jesus is transfigured before Peter, James, and John on Mount Tabor.

    Matthew 17:1–8

  5. 5

    The Institution of the Eucharist

    Jesus institutes the Eucharist at the Last Supper.

    Matthew 26:26–29

Why Latin

You already half know it.

The Rosary is the best possible place to begin praying in Latin, for one reason: you are going to say the same six prayers fifty-odd times. Repetition is what makes a language stick, and the Rosary supplies it without anyone having to invent a drill.

There is no test at the end and nothing to memorise on purpose. Pray the Ave Maria enough times with the English beside it and you will one day notice that gratia plena has stopped being a sound and started being a meaning. That is how the language was actually passed on for most of its history.

Credo shows the Latin, the English, or both at once, and reads each line aloud in ecclesiastical pronunciation — the Italianate Latin of the Roman Rite, not the classroom's classical Latin.

Every prayer of the Rosary, with a line-by-line translation and spoken Latin:

All Catholic prayers in Latin →

An intention

Prayed for someone.

Credo asks what you are offering the Rosary for before you begin, and keeps it in front of you as you pray. It is a small thing that changes the act: you are not completing a devotional exercise, you are praying for your mother, or for a decision, or for someone who has no idea you are doing it.

When you finish, the app makes a card with that intention on it — yours to keep, or to send to the person you prayed for.

Questions about the Rosary

How do you pray the Rosary?

Begin on the crucifix with the Sign of the Cross and the Apostles' Creed, then pray an Our Father, three Hail Marys and a Glory Be. For each of the five decades: announce the mystery, pray one Our Father, ten Hail Marys while meditating on it, then a Glory Be and the Fatima Prayer. Close with the Hail Holy Queen and the Sign of the Cross. A full Rosary takes about twenty minutes.

What are the mysteries of the Rosary?

Twenty scenes from the life of Christ and his Mother, grouped into four sets of five: the Joyful (the Incarnation and hidden years), the Sorrowful (the Passion), the Glorious (the Resurrection and what follows), and the Luminous (Christ's public ministry, proposed by St. John Paul II in 2002). One set is prayed per Rosary, and each of its five mysteries belongs to one decade.

Which mysteries are prayed on which day?

In the customary assignment: the Joyful Mysteries on Monday and Saturday, the Sorrowful on Tuesday and Friday, the Glorious on Wednesday and Sunday, and the Luminous on Thursday. This is a custom rather than a law — the Rosary is a devotion, and any set may be prayed on any day.

Can I pray the Rosary in Latin?

Yes, and it is one of the easiest ways into the language. The Rosary uses only six prayers — the Signum Crucis, Symbolum Apostolorum, Pater Noster, Ave Maria, Gloria Patri and Salve Regina — and repeats them constantly, so the Latin becomes familiar very quickly. Credo shows Latin and English together and reads each line aloud.

How long does the Rosary take?

A full five-decade Rosary takes roughly twenty minutes at an unhurried pace. A single decade takes three or four minutes and is a complete prayer in itself — praying one decade well is better than racing through five.

Do I need physical rosary beads?

No. The beads are an aid to counting, not part of the prayer's validity, and Credo counts for you. Many people use both: the app to learn the order and the Latin, the beads once the sequence is known by heart.

Is the Rosary in Credo free?

Yes. The Rosary is free to pray in Credo, in Latin or in your own language, with no subscription required for it.

Rosarium

Pray it tonight.

Choose a set of mysteries, name what you are offering it for, and let Credo carry the order. In Latin, in English, or both.

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