Category: Prayers and Devotions

Method of saying the Franciscan Crown Rosary of the Seven Joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Franciscan Rosary, also known as the Seraphic Rosary, the Franciscan Crown Rosary or the Rosary of the Seven Joys of Our Lady, recalls the seven joyous events of Mary’s life.

The rosary consists of a loop of 7 sets, or decades, of beads. Each consists of 1 large Our Father bead (announce the mystery) and 10 smaller beads (Hail Mary beads).

In order to recite the FRANCISCAN CROWN properly, say one Our Father and ten Hail Marys in honor of each of the Seven Joys of the Blessed Virgin; namely:

1. The Annunciation (Luke 1:31-32)
2. The Visitation (Luke 1:42, 45)
3. The Nativity of Our Lord (Luke 2:6-7)
4. The Adoration of the Mag (Matthew 2:1-6)
5. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:46-47)
6. The Resurrection of Our Lord (Matthew 28:5-6)
7. The Assumption and Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Judith 13:18 and Revelation 12:1)

The bead closest to the rosary center is the starting point. On finishing the seventh decade, jump to the middle 2 beads and say two Hail Marys in honor of the seventy-two years Our Lady is said to have lived on earth. Then lastly say one Our Father and one Hail Mary for the intention of the Pope to gain the indulgences.

There are several customs for prayers on the cross at the end of the Franciscan Crown. Often a simple Sign of the Cross is made to finish out the prayers.

St. Francis of Assisi’s Prayer Before the Cross can also be used:

“We adore you, Most Holy Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all your churches throughout the world, and we bless You, because by Your holy cross you have redeemed the world.”

“I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance”
— (Psalm 42:5).

“The Lord bless thee, and keep thee.
The Lord shew His face to thee, and have mercy on thee.
The Lord turn His countenance to thee, and give thee peace.”
— Numbers 6:24-26 Douay-Rheims

Our Lady Instruction to a Franciscan Novice

“Recite one Our Father and ten Hail Marys in honor of the joy I experienced when the angel announced to me the Incarnation of the Son of God.

Repeat these same prayers in honor of the joy I felt on visiting my Cousin Elizabeth.

Say them again in honor of the supreme happiness that filled my heart on giving birth to Christ the Savior, without pain and without the loss of my virginity.

Recite the same prayers a fourth time in honor of the joy I felt when presenting my Divine Son to the adoration of the Magi.

Repeat them for the fifth time in honor of the joy that thrilled my soul when, after seeking Jesus with deep sorrow for three days, I found Him at last among the doctors in the Temple.

Sixthly, recite the one Our Father and the ten Hail Marys in honor of the joy I experienced on beholding thy Divine Son gloriously risen from the grave on Easter Sunday.

Finally, for the seventh time, repeat these prayers in honor of my own most glorious and joyful Assumption into heaven, when I was crowned Queen of heaven and earth.

If you recite these prayers as I have directed, rest assured, dear son, you will weave for me a most beautiful and acceptable crown and will merit for yourself innumerable graces.”

When Our Lady had disappeared, the over-joyed novice at once began to recite the prayers in honor of her Seven Joys, as she had directed. While he was deeply engrossed in this devotion, the novice master happened to pass by and, behold he saw an angel weaving a marvelous wreath of roses and after every tenth rose inserting a golden lily. When the wreath was finished, the angel placed it on the head of the praying novice. The master then demanded under holy obedience that the youth tell him the meaning of the vision. Joyfully, yet fearfully, the novice complied. The good priest was so impressed with what he had seen and heard, that he immediately made it known to his brethren.

Thus the practice of reciting the Crown of the Seven Joys of the Bl. Virgin soon spread over the entire Franciscan Order and became one of the favorite devotions of the friars. Later, it became customary to add two Hail Marys in honor of the seventy-two years that Our Lady is said to have lived on earth, and one Our Father and Hail Mary for the intention of the Pope to gain the indulgences.

INDULGENCES ATTACHED TO THE RECITATION
of theFranciscan Crown Rosary of the Seven Joys

To gain the various indulgences attached to the recitation of the FRANCISCAN CROWN, it is not necessary to meditate on the various mysteries, as is the case with the Dominican Rosary, but one needs merely to say the one Our Father and the ten Hail Marys in honor of each mystery commemorated. Moreover, the FRANCISCAN CROWN may be interrupted at will, as long as the entire rosary of seven decades is recited on one and the same day.

Thus the FRANCISCAN CROWN is the easiest rosary to say, and at the same time is enriched with more indulgences than any other rosary.

Members of the Three Orders of St. Francis, including the members of the Third Order Secular, gain a PLENARY INDULGENCE every time they recite the FRANCISCAN CROWN, without any other conditions and without the use of beads. This Plenary Indulgence can be applied to the Poor Souls. The faithful, who are not members of the Third Order, must have rosaries specially blessed for the purpose by a Franciscan or other priest having the faculty.

In the public recitation of the FRANCISCAN CROWN in the churches if the Three Orders of St. Francis, the faithful need not have a blessed rosary in order to gain the indulgences. In like manner, if two or more say this rosary in common (as for instance, at family prayers), it suffices that the leader holds a blessed rosary in his hand.

The indulgences which the faithful can gain by praying the FRANCISCAN CROWN are the most abundant granted to any rosary.

PLENARY INDULGENCES. The faithful can gain:

• A Plenary Indulgence for taking part in the PUBLIC RECITATION of the FRANCISCAN CROWN in any church of the Three Orders of St. Francis, just the same as the members of the Franciscan Orders. (N. B. This Plenary Indulgence supposes that one is in the state of grace.)
• A Plenary Indulgence if, after Confession and Communion, (no other conditions), they recite the FRANCISCAN CROWN on the following feasts:
  
  — Christmas (Dec. 25);
  — Epiphany (Jan. 6);
  — Sunday during the Octave of Epiphany;
  — Easter;
  — Immaculate Conception (Dec. 8);
  — Annunciation (Mar. 25);
  — Purification (Feb. 2);
  — Visitation (July 2);
  — Assumption (Aug. 15);
  — Feast of the Seven Joys of the Bl. Virgin (Aug. 22);
  — Nativity of the Bl. Virgin (Sept. 8).
  
  
• A Plenary Indulgence once a month on any day after Confession and Communion, if they say the FRANCISCAN CROWN every Saturday.
• A Plenary Indulgence in the hour of death on the usual conditions if one has the rosary in his possession and has prayed it frequently.

PARTIAL INDULGENCES. The faithful can gain a Partial Indulgence of:

• 70 years and 70 quarantines every time they say the FRANCISCAN CROWN on any day of the week except Saturday.
• 100 years every time they say it on any Saturday of the year.
• 200 years when they say it on the holydays of obligation
• 300 years when they say it on any feast of the Bl. Virgin not mentioned above for the plenary indulgences.
• 10 years for every good work they perform for the honor of God or for the love of their neighbor, provided they carry the rosary about on their person and often recite it.
• 10 years every time they say seven Hail Marys in honor of the Seven Joys of the Bl. Virgin, provided they carry the rosary about on their person and often recite it.

Franciscan herald, Cum Permissu Superiorum.

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