The Rosary prayer is composed of sets of shorter prayers, called decades. Each decade of prayers consists of the Our Father, ten (10) Hail Marys, a Glory Be and an Oh, My Jesus.

Praying a 'rosary' means praying usually five decades, but you can also say twenty decades of prayers. Each decade concentrates on an event in the life of Jesus, especially those in which Mary played an important part.

In saying five decades, we meditate on a Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious event of Our Lord and Our Lady's life. These events are called the Mysteries of the Rosary.

A circle of large and small beads, with an additional short set of beads and a crucifix attached at one end, is used to give the rosary its structure and help keep track of the prayers.

On the large beads the Our Father is prayed, on the smaller the Hail Mary and in the spaces, the Glory Be and the Oh My Jesus. It is customary to 'announce' the mystery before the Our Father, add your own intentions (if you have any) then begin the decade with the Our Father followed by the ten Hail Mary's and the other prayers.

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