I have a question about the Culture of Life’s Advent guide excerpt about "The Basic Rosary." It says to start with the Sign of the Cross, then go to the fifth bead and start with the Our Father. I was never taught to say the Rosary that way; I don’t know anyone who does — not Mother Angelica either. What happened to the Apostles’ Creed, the Our Father and the three Hail Marys before the fifth-bead Our Father?
There are several correct ways to pray the Rosary.
The Rosary, officially, is the decade prayers (Our Father, 10 Hail Marys and Glory Be) and the meditation that should accompany them. Introductory prayers, scriptural meditations, intentions before decades, the Fatima prayer, closing prayers, etc. are fine to pray, but they are not a formal part of the Rosary.
The best summary of this is Pope John Paul II’s Rosarium Virginis Mariae.
Have you always wondered about some aspect of the faith? Or maybe you’d like to know some trivia about Pope Benedict. If you do, email us your question at editor@ewtn.com and look for the answer in an upcoming issue.