FRANCISCAN ROSARY OR CROWN

Saint Francis “overflowed with an unspeakable love to the Mother of the Lord Jesus, for having made the Lord of majesty our brother and having mercy of us. Most of all on her, after Christ, he put all his trust and that is why he made her his lawyer and of his brothers. He fasted in her honor with great devotion, from the feast of the apostles Peter and Paul until the feast of the Assumption.” (Saint Bonaventure, Major Legend, 9:3).

The seven joys of the Virgin is a Franciscan devotion similar to the Rosary. It goes back to the XV Century and is based on the origin of the crown of the seven mysteries that many Franciscans carry hanged in the cord. It is a very simple prayer, easy for all those who want to honor the Virgin Mary, reliving with her some mysteries of her life with her son Jesus Christ.

The Franciscan crown consists of 72 Hail Mary’s, with the meditation of the seven principal joys that the Virgin lived through the 72 years that, according to tradition, lasted her pilgrimage in this world.

Rosary of beads: As is the case of the Holy Rosary, there is a rosary of beads to pray the Seven Joys. The rosary of the Franciscan Crown is convenient to count the prayers, but it’s not necessary to carry out the devotion. There are 76 beads in a circle, which is connected with a medal, and also a hanging of five beads that end in a crucifix and a medal of Saint Francis of Assisi. The circle contains seven 10-beads that represent the Hail Mary’s. One bead is Our Father, which divides each 10-beads with one exception. The bead for the first Joy for the Our Father is in the section hanging with the five beads, next to the medal that connects to the other 70 beads.

To pray the Seven Joys using the rosary of 76 beads: start with the bead for Our Father closest to the connecting medal. You keep going around until you come back at the connecting medal. From there you go down on the hanging beads, but skip the first bead (which you already used to pray the first Our Father). The four remaining beads of the hanging beads are used to pray the final four prayers, and you end at the crucifix.

V/ O Mary Conceived without Sin
R/ Pray for us who have recourse to Thee

+By the sign of the Holy Cross, +From our enemies, +Deliver us Lord God.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Joys

First Joy – The Annunciation.
Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s, and Gloria.

Second Joy – Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth.
Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s, and Gloria.

Third Joy – The birth of the Son of God in Bethlehem.
Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s, and Gloria.

Fourth Joy – The presentation of the child Jesus in the Temple.
Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s, and Gloria.

Fifth Joy – The child lost and found in the Temple.
Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s, and Gloria.

Six Joy – The Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s, and Gloria.

Seventh Joy – The Assumption and Coronation of our Lady as queen of all created.
Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s, and Gloria.

Final Prayers (four prayers)

Beads 1) and 2): Two Hail Mary’s in Honor of the 72 years that, according to tradition, the Virgin lived on earth.

3) Salute to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Hail, Lady, holy Queen, holy Mother of God, Mary Virgin made Church, and elected by the Holy Father of Heaven, consecrated by Him with his holy beloved Son, and the Holy Spirit the Paraclete, in which was and is all the fullness of grace, and all good being.

Hail, palace of God;
Hail, tabernacle of God;
Hail, of God.
Hail, garment of God.
Hail, servant of God;
Hail, mother of God,
Hail, also you, holy virtues, that by the grace and illumination of the Holy Spirit are infused in the hearts of the faithful, to make them from unfaithful, to faithful to God.

4) O God, that in the glorious resurrection of your Son, you have given back joy to the entire world, grant us that by the intercession of the Virgin Mary way may enjoy the endless joys of eternal life. By Christ our Lord, Amen.

(Two Hail Mary’s, one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and Gloria, according to the intentions of the Holy Popes and the following offering is made)

O sweet Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Angels and sure refuge of sinners, I beg you by all our joys, that you turn your benign eyes over the most intimate of your devotees, and receive with pleasure this Crown in memory of your principal joys. Continue your patronage with me, and increase my affection and return to you. Grant me the grace to be among the ones you love and keep written in your virginal heart. In the same manner, I commend to you through your clement intercession, the Holy Catholic Church, the Holy Pope, the eradication of the heresies, perpetual peace and union between the principal Christians, and finally, all the living and dead for which is my intention to pray for.

Particularly, I beg that you reach from your Divine Son the forgiveness of my grave sins, the necessary help to fulfill the divine law, and the final perseverance, which will be Immaculate Virgin, the most glorious triumph of your intercession and the Divine Mercy. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace…

My Lord Jesus Christ, sweetest Father, for the joy that your dear Mother had, when you appeared the sacred night of the Resurrection, and for the joy she had when she saw you full of glory with the light of divinity, I ask that you bestow on me the graces of the Holy Spirit, so I can fulfill your will all the days of my life, since you live and reign for ever and ever. Amen. (This prayer by itself has 80 years of indulgences each time it is spoken.)

(The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary may be prayed)

We fly to your patronage, O Holy Mother of God, Despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us from all dangers. O ever glorious and blessed Virgin.
Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy….