World Mission Rosary

Join the diocesan-wide Mission Rosary Group and help missionaries around the world through your gift of prayer.

World Mission Rosary MapThere are no fees or requirements to join the Mission Rosary Group other than your personal commitment to prayer. You will join hundreds of other parishioners in praying for the spiritual needs of missionaries around the world. You and the Mission Rosary Group members will be asking Our Lady of the Rosary to intercede for them as they labor among God’s people with dedication and generosity.

What is the World Mission Rosary?

The World Mission Rosary was envisioned by Archbishop Fulton John Sheen in 1951, when he was national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. He made the request on a radio show, asking that his listeners “Embrace the world in prayer.”  

Colors of the World Mission Rosary

  • Green symbolizes the forests and grasslands of Africa
  • Blue is the oceans surrounding the islands of the Pacific
  • White symbolizes Europe, home of the Holy Father, shepherd of the world
  • Red recalls the fire of faith that brought the first missionaries to the America
    Yellow is for the morning light of the East, symbolizing Asia and the Middle East

How do I pray the World Mission Rosary?

To pray the World Mission Rosary, reflect on each area of the world according to the particular color bead at the time you announce each mystery.

How do I obtain World Mission Rosary beads?

While you don't need special rosary beads to pray for our missionaries, if you would like to have World Mission Rosary beads, along with a pamphlet with the prayers & mysteries, write to:

Ms. Sally Page
510 Ocean Ave.
Portland, ME 04103

There is an optional donation of $3.00, plus $2.00 for shipping & handling. Checks should be made payable to Missionary Childhood Association.

How do I pray the Rosary?

  • Hold the crucifix of your rosary beads, make the sign of the cross and pray the Apostles' Creed.
  • On the first large bead, pray the Our Father once.
  • One each of the next three, small beads, pray one Hail Mary. Then, say one Glory Be
  • On the next large bead, announce the first mystery and reflect on it.  Then, pray the Our Father. (You will find the mysteries of the Mission Rosary below)
  • On each of the next ten small beads, pray a Hail Mary. Conclude with a Glory Be.
  • On the next large bead, announce the second mystery, and reflect on it. Pray the Our Father
  • Continue in the same way until you have completed all the beads of the rosary and reflected on each of the five mysteries.
  • After the mysteries are completed, pray the Hail Holy Queen.

The Mission Mysteries

Joyful Mysteries (Monday & Saturday)

The Annunciation
May the Good News of a Savior, first announced to Mary, be proclaimed to all the world.

The Visitation
That missionaries who travel long roads bearing Christ to those in need may be strengthened in faith and holiness.

The Birth of Jesus
For children of the Missions, especially those who are poor and homeless, that they may know the love of Jesus.

The Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple
That Catholic families of the Missions, by the example of their lives, may show the love of Christ to their neighbors.

The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple
That all people in the Missions who live in sorrow may find peace and hope in the Gospel message.

Sorrowful Mysteries (Tuesday & Friday)

The Agony in the Garden
That all those filled with faith living in the Missions may feel the presence of the Lord in their lives.

The Scourging at the Pillar
That children in the Missions who hunger and thirst may be fed and comforted through our sharing.

The Crowning with Thorns
For refugees and homeless children in the Missions, may they find hope in Christ's promise of eternal happiness.

The Carrying of the Cross
For the Church in the United States, that by our prayers and sacrifices for the Missions, we may help bear the burdens of our brothers and sisters worldwide.

The Crucifixion
That those who hunger and thirst for justice in the Missions may work peacefully and successfully toward their goal.

Glorious Mysteries (Sunday & Wednesday)

The Resurrection
For the Church worldwide, that our faith in the Risen Christ may draw others to him.

The Ascension
That Christ, who lived as a man and returned to the Father, will grant to all people knowledge of the Way to eternal life.

The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles
For our Holy Father, that the Holy Spirit will grant him wisdom, fortitude, and holiness as he guides the Church in the path of Christ.

The Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven
That Mary, who gave the human body of Christ to the world, may inspire us who form the Body of Christ on earth to proclaim his message to all peoples.

The Crowning of Our Lady Queen of Heaven
That through the intercession of Mary, Queen of the Missions, young men and women will offer their lives to God as priests and religious in service of their neighbors.

Luminous Mysteries (Thursday)

The Baptism in the Jordan
In a hospital in Hong Kong, a sister spoke to a young cancer patient, an orphan, about God, our loving Father, and about heaven, our eternal home. Baptized, the child made the journey to God clothed in Christ because a sister had shared with him the fruits of her own baptism.

The Wedding at Cana
Saint Teresa of Calcutta once brought rice to a hungry family only to find the next day the food was gone. A neighboring family also had no food, receiving from the first family not only the sustenance but also the witness of Christian love.

The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God & Call to Conversion
In East Africa, a Catholic family, hearing of a village far from their own where people had never heard of Christ, moved there. Day by day, they would tell - and show - the people what it means to be a follower of Christ.

The Transfiguration
To catch even a glimpse of the glory that awaits us in Christ is a gift beyond compare for millions of people whose lives are a daily struggle. Such a glimpse was caught in Liberia, West Africa. When people by the hundreds fled from their homes in the midst of civil war, their pastor said, "They left all their belongings behind, but they brought with them one valuable possession - their faith."

The Institution of the Eucharist
World Mission Sunday, celebrated each year on the next-to-last Sunday in October, reminds us that we who eat Christ's body and drink his blood are sent to continue his mission to the world.