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Traditional Catholic devotion

The Franciscan Crown

Also called the Rosary of the Seven Joys or the Seraphic Rosary

The Franciscan Crown is a seven-decade Marian rosary in honor of the Seven Joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Old Franciscan manuals do not all give the same opening and conclusion. This guide uses one complete method from the 1869 Manual of the Third Order of St. Francis of Assisi rather than combining parts from different editions.

At a glance

Joys

7

Decades

7

Hail Marys in the Crown

72

Final intention

1 Our Father and 1 Hail Mary

Source choice: This guide follows the 1869 Franciscan manual from beginning to end. A 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia account gives a different opening and places each Joy within the first Hail Mary of its decade. It also does not list a Glory Be after each decade. Those historical variations are not mixed into this version.

Prayer order

How to pray it

  1. Pray the opening versicles

    Pray “O God, come to my assistance,” with its response, and then pray one Glory Be.

  2. Pray the seven decades

    Announce each Joy. For each one, pray one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, and one Glory Be.

  3. Complete the seventy-two Hail Marys

    After the seventh decade, pray two additional Hail Marys. This brings the Crown itself to seventy-two Hail Marys.

  4. Pray for the Sovereign Pontiff

    Pray one Our Father and one Hail Mary for the Sovereign Pontiff.

  5. Pray the conclusion

    Finish with the versicle and response about the Immaculate Conception, followed by the closing prayer printed below.

Meditation guide

The Seven Joys of Our Lady

Announce one Joy before each decade. These titles follow the 1869 Franciscan manual.

  1. The Annunciation and Divine Maternity

    Rejoice with Mary at the message of the angel and the Incarnation of the Son of God.

  2. The Visitation

    Rejoice with Mary as she visits St. Elizabeth and carries Christ into her home.

  3. The Birth of Jesus

    Rejoice with Mary at Bethlehem and adore the Infant Christ.

  4. The Adoration of the Magi

    Rejoice as the nations come to worship the newborn King.

  5. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple

    Rejoice with Mary and St. Joseph when they find Jesus after three days of searching.

  6. The Resurrection of Her Divine Son

    Rejoice in Christ’s victory over death and the joy it brings to His Blessed Mother.

  7. The Assumption of Our Lady

    Rejoice that Mary is taken into Heaven, body and soul.

Pray from this page

Prayer texts

Use the opening and closing texts from the 1869 manual together with the traditional common prayers below.

Opening versicles

V. O God, come to my assistance.

R. O Lord, make haste to help me.

Pray one Glory Be.

Closing versicle and prayer

V. In thy Conception, O Virgin Mary, thou wast immaculate.

R. Pray for us to the Father, whose Son thou didst bring forth.

O God, who didst prepare for Thy Son a worthy habitation, by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we beseech Thee that, as Thou didst preserve her from every stain of sin, through the merits of the preordained atonement of Jesus Christ, so Thou wouldst grant that we also may come without spot to Thee. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lord's Prayer

Open prayer page

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Source: With God: A Book of Prayers and Reflections (1911), Francis Xavier Lasance, page 153.

The Hail Mary

Open prayer page

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Source: With God: A Book of Prayers and Reflections (1911), Francis Xavier Lasance, page 153.

Glory Be to the Father

Open prayer page

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Source: With God: A Book of Prayers and Reflections (1911), Francis Xavier Lasance, page 790.

Historical record

History and sources

The Franciscan Crown grew within the Franciscan family as a meditation on the joys of the Mother of God. By the nineteenth century, Franciscan manuals gave established forms for members of the Third Order.

The 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia gives another customary opening, places each Joy after the name of Jesus in the first Hail Mary of its decade, does not list a Glory Be after each decade, and names the final Joy as the Assumption and Coronation. This page keeps the internally consistent 1869 form.

About older indulgence grants

Older editions record indulgences that belonged to their period. The Church revised indulgence discipline in 1967, so this guide does not present those older grants as current.

Continue exploring

Other traditional Rosaries and Chaplets

Brigittine Rosary

Six divisions of one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, and the Apostles’ Creed, with a final Our Father and three Hail Marys.

Open the guide

Seven Sorrows Rosary

Seven groups of seven Hail Marys while meditating on the principal sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Open the guide

Passionist Chaplet of the Five Wounds

Five groups of five Glory Bes in honor of the Five Wounds of Christ, with one Hail Mary after each group.

Open the guide

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