Our Lady of Guadalupe - Mystical Rose
Our Lady of Guadalupe, mystical rose, intercede for the Church, protect the Holy Father, help all who invoke You in their necessities. Since You are the ever Virgin Mary and Mother of the True God, obtain for us from Your Most Holy Son the grace of a firm and sure hope amid bitterness of life, as well as an ardent love and the precious gift of final perseverance.  Dearest Lady, fruitful Mother of Holiness, teach me Your ways of gentleness and strength. Hear my prayer, offered with deep felt confidence to beg this favor. O Mary, conceived without sin, I come to your throne of grace to share the fervent devotion of your faithful Mexican children who call to Thee under the glorious title "Guadalupe" - the Virgin who crushed the serpent. Queen of Martyrs, whose Immaculate Heart was pierced by seven swords of grief, help me to walk valiantly amid the sharp thorns strewn across my path. Invoke the Holy Spirit of Wisdom to fortify my will to frequent the Sacraments so that, thus enlightened and strengthened, I may prefer God to all creatures and shun every occasion of sin. Help me, as a living branch of the Vine that is Jesus Christ, to exemplify His divine charity always seeking the good of others. Queen of Apostles, aid me to win souls for the Sacred Heart of my Savior. Keep my apostolate fearless, dynamic, and articulate, to proclaim the loving solitude of Our Father in Heaven so that the wayward may heed His pleading and obtain pardon, through the merits of Your Merciful Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our Lady Help of Christians by St. John Bosco
Most Holy Virgin Mary, Help of Christian, how sweet it is to come to your feet imploring your perpetual help. If earthly mothers cease not to remember their children, how can you, the most loving of all mothers forget me? Grant then to me, I implore you, your perpetual help in all my necessities,  in every sorrow, and especially in all my temptations. I ask for your unceasing help for all who are now suffering.  Help the weak, cure the sick, convert sinners. Grant through your intercessions many vocations to the religious life.  Obtain for us, O Mary, Help of Christians, that having invoked you on earth we may love and eternally thank you in heaven.

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; Because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid; for behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed; Because He who is mighty has done great things for me, and Holy is His Name; And His mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear Him. He has shown might with His arm, He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and has exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has given help to Israel, His servant, mindful of His mercy - Even as He spoke to our father - to Abraham and to his posterity forever.

O Mary Bright Dawn of the New World 
O Mary bright dawn of the new world, Mother of the living, to you do we entrust the cause of life: Look down, O Mother, upon the vast numbers of babies not allowed to be born, of the poor whose lives are made difficult, of men and women who are victims of brutal violence, of the elderly and the sick killed by indifference or out of misguided mercy. Grant that all who believe in your Son may proclaim the Gospel of life with honesty and love to the people of our time. Obtain for them the grace to accept that Gospel as a gift ever new, the joy of celebrating it with gratitude throughout their lives and the courage to bear witness to it resolutely, in order to build, together with all people of good will, the civilization of truth and love, to the praise and glory of God, the Creator and lover of life.

Steps to Praying the Rosary
1.            While holding the crucifix make the Sign of the Cross. and then recite the Apostles Creed.

2.            Recite the Our Father on the first large bead.

3.            Recite a Hail Mary for an increase of faith, hope and charity on each of the three small beads.

4.            Recite the Glory Be to the Father on the next large bead.

5.            Recite the Fatima Prayer "O my Jesus" on the large bead.

6.            Recall the first Rosary Mystery and recite the Our Father on the large bead.

7.            On each of the adjacent ten small beads (also refered to as a decade) recite a Hail Mary while reflecting on the mystery.

8.            On the next large bead, recite the Glory Be to the Father, the Fatima prayer.

9.            Each succeeding decade is prayed in a similar manner by recalling the appropriate mystery, reciting the Our Father, ten Hail Marys, the Glory Be to the Father, and the Fatima prayer while reflecting on the mystery.

10.          When the fifth mystery is completed, the Rosary is Customarily concluded with the Hail Holy Queen, and the Sign of the Cross.

History:
The Franciscan historian Luke Wadding (1588-1657) dates the origin of the Franciscan Crown to the year 1422. He tells the story of a young novice in the Franciscan Order who, previously accustomed to express his devotion to the Blessed Virgin by adorning her statue with a wreath of fresh flowers, was prevented from continuing this practice in the novitiate. In distress, he considered leaving the Order. But the Blessed Virgin appeared to him and instructed him to recite a rosary of seven decades in honor of her seven joys; thus, he might weave a “crown” more pleasing to her than flowers on her statue.

From that time the practice of reciting the “crown of the seven joys“ became general in the order. Thus it became known as the Franciscan Crown—or the Seraphic Rosary.
 
How to Pray The Franciscan Crown
1. Using beads for the Franciscan Crown (seven decades), announce the First Mystery and pray the Our Father on the single bead just before the medallion.
 
2. Pray one Hail Mary for each of the ten beads. (It seems most fitting to proceed around the beads in a clockwise direction.)
 
3. On the single bead between the decades, announce the next Mystery and then pray the Our Father. Continue as in Step 2 for the remaining Mysteries.
 
4. After the last Mystery, pray one Hail Mary each on the fourth and third beads from the Cross to complete 72 years of Mary’s Joy.
 
5. Pray the Our Father and the Glory to the Father (Gloria Patri) for the intention of the Holy Father on the 2nd bead from the Cross.
 
6. Pray a Hail Mary on the single bead closest to the Cross.
 
The Seven Joys of Mary
1. The Annunciation
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
 
But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:26–38
 
 2. The Visitation
During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” . . . Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home. (Luke 1:39–45, 56)

3. The Nativity
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
 
While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:1–7)
 
 4. The Adoration by the Magi
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”
 
. . . And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother.
 
They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2:1–2, 9b–11)

 5. The Finding of Our Lord in the Temple
Each year his parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.
 
After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers.
 
When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. (Luke 2:41–51)
 
 6. The Resurrection
But at daybreak on the first day of the week they took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb; but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
 
While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments appeared to them.
 
They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. They said to them, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day.” And they remembered his words. (Luke 24:1–8)
 
 7. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin into Heaven and Her Coronation as Queen of Heaven
Hence the revered Mother of God, from all eternity joined in a hidden way with Jesus Christ in one and the same decree of predestination, immaculate in her conception, a most perfect virgin in her divine motherhood, the noble associate of the divine Redeemer who has won a complete triumph over sin and its consequences, finally obtained, as the supreme culmination of her privileges, that she should be preserved free from the corruption of the tomb and that, like her own Son, having overcome death, she might be taken up body and soul to the glory of heaven where, as Queen, she sits in splendor at the right hand of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages.
 
And so we may hope that those who meditate upon the glorious example Mary offers us may be more and more convinced of the value of a human life entirely devoted to carrying out the heavenly Father’s will and to bringing good to others. Thus, while the illusory teachings of materialism and the corruption of morals that follows from these teachings threaten to extinguish the light of virtue and to ruin the lives of men by exciting discord among them, in this magnificent way all may see clearly to what a lofty goal our bodies and souls are destined.

1.   Fr. Bob Barron in his dynamic documentary on the Catholic Faith talks about how the repetivie nature of the rosary helps calm down our "monkey minds."  He explains that often our minds are like monkeys jumping from one thing to another as a monkey jumps from one branch to another.  By slowing down and doing something repetively it helps calm us down so that we can be more aware of God speaking to us.
 
2.  Praying the rosary also helps us in times of temptations by creating a temporal distance between a moment of temptation and the actual sins.  Many of our sins especially sexual sins are impulsive and reactionary to different stimuli. If when we are feeling tempted we took the time to pray the rosary it would allow us to focus and remind us what really is important in our life. 

3.  Praying the rosary also helps to reorrient ourselves.  One of the orginal meetings of the word "sin" was actually a military term.  When an archer missed his target he "sinned" and the "sin" was measured by how far away from the bullseye was where his arrow actually landed.  The greater distance away from the bullseye the greater the sin.  In a similar way the more our actions are like that of Christ the closer we are to the bullseye in our moral life and thus less sin.  By praying the rosary it helps reorients us to the mysteries of faith and what Jesus would do in a particular situation. 

4.  Praying the rosary is also quoting Scripture.  The first part of the Hail Mary is the greeting the angel Gabriel gave to the Blessed Virigin Mary in the Gospel of Luke.  The Our Father is found in both the Gospel of Mathew and Luke.  Finally all of Scripture is about praising the Blessed Trinity.

5.  Praying the rosary reminds us that God is our Father and that He has not abandoned us.  He rather has an awesome plan for each one of us.  God is not against us but rather He is totally for us. 

6.  Praying the rosary reminds us that we are sinners and thus we do not always make the right decisions.  Reminding ourselves that are sinners reminds us that we are in need of God's grace and thus praying "pray for us sinners now and at the hour of death" is in many ways the beginning of true wisdom. 

7.  Praying the rosary is praying a simple and true method of prayer that has led many others to heaven.  Mother Teresa carried a rosary with her at all times.  She encouraged others to pray with her.  For she saw in Mary the model of the perfect disciple and a loving mother who loved all her children. 

8.  Praying the Rosary reminds us of the mysteries of faith.  It reminds us that God did not send His Son into the world to condemn us but rather to save us (see John 3:16).  We can sometimes feel for one reason or another that God is out to get us so it is always important for us to be reminded just how much God loves us by meditation on the different mysteries of the rosary. 

9. Praying the Rosary is an expensive way to grow closer to God.  Even if you do not have a rosary one can simply use his or her fingers to keep track of the prayers.  10 fingers - 10 Hail Marys in a decade. 

10.  Praying the Rosary invokes Mary's motherly care.  Praying the rosary points out to us that Jesus in His divinity chose Mary to be his mother and in his humanity He was obedient to her.  Upon the cross Jesus gave Mary to us to be our Mother.