PRAYER: The Rosary of the Holy Spirit

The Rosary of the Holy Spirit was composed in 1892 by a Franciscan Capuchin missionary of the English province in order to give the faithful an easy means of honoring the Holy Ghost. It was approved by Pope Leo XIII in 1902. It is intended to be in regard to the Holy Spirit what the Dominican Rosary is in regard to the Blessed Virgin.

At the cross: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Next bead: Our Father

Next three beads:

First: Prayer to the Holy Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit, fill my heart with your holy gift, the gift of love.  Fill my mind with your holy gift, the gift of discernment.  Fill my eyes that I may see your works in me and all around me.  Fill my ears that I may hear your works in the world and in the lives of others.  Fill my hands that they may do the work of love without thinking.  Fill my feet that they may carry me in faith and knowledge.  Fill my soul with the gift of light, that it may shine with love eternal.  Amen.

Second: Act of Contrition
O my God, I am sorry I sinned against you, because you are so good, and by the help of your grace I will not sin again.  Amen.

Third: Come, Holy Spirit, Creator
Come, Holy Spirit, Creator come,
From your bright heavenly throne!
Come, take possession of our souls,
And make them all your own.

You who are called the Paraclete,
Best gift of God above,
The living spring, the living fire,
Sweet unction, and true love!

You who are sevenfold in your grace,
Finger of God’s right hand,
His promise, teaching little ones
To speak and understand!

O guide our minds with your blessed light,
With love our hearts inflame,
And with your strength which never decays
Confirm our mortal frame.

Far from us drive our hellish foe
True peace unto us bring,
And through all perils guide us safe
Beneath your sacred wing.

Through you may we the Father know,
Through you the eternal Son
And you the Spirit of them both
Thrice-blessed three in one.

All glory to the Father be,
And to the risen Son;
The same to you, O Paraclete,
While endless ages run.

Send forth your spirit, and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the Earth.

Next bead: Prayer
O God, who instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same spirit to be truly wise and ever to rejoice in his consolation.  Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.

Before the decades:  Our Father

On the small beads of the decade: Glory Be

First mystery: By the Holy Ghost is Jesus conceived of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Meditation: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the Power of the Most High shall overshadow thee; and therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. (Luke, I, 35)

The Practice: Diligently implore the aid of the Divine Spirit to imitate the virtues of Jesus Christ, who is the model of virtues, so that you may be made conformable to the image of the Son of God.

Second mystery: The Spirit of the Lord rested upon Jesus when he was baptized.
The Meditation: Jesus, being baptized, forthwith came out of the water: and lo! the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him. (Matthew, III, 16)

The Practice: Hold in the highest esteem the priceless gift of sanctifying grace, infused into your soul by the Holy Spirit when you were baptized.  Keep the promises to which you then pledged yourself.  Increase, by constant practice, faith, hope, and charity.  Live always in a manner befitting a child of God and a member of his true Church, so that you may obtain hereafter the inheritance of Heaven.

Third Mystery: By the Spirit is Jesus led into the desert to be tempted by the Devil.
The Meditation: Jesus, being full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the desert for the space of forty days; and was tempted by the devil. (Luke, IV, 1-2)

The Practice: Be ever grateful for the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit bestowed upon you in confirmation: for the spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and fortitude, of knowledge and piety, and of the fear of the lord.  Be guided by him always, so that, in all the trials and temptations of this life, you may act as becomes a Christian.

Fourth Mystery: The Holy Spirit in the Church.
The Meditation: Suddenly there came a sound from Heaven as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting…and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak…the wonderful works of God. (Acts, II, 2, 4, 11.)

The Practice: Thank God for having made you a child of his church which is ever animated and directed by the Divine Spirit, sent into this world for that purpose of the day of Pentecost.  Uphold her doctrines, seek her interests, defend her rights.

Fifth Mystery: The Holy Spirit in the soul of the just man and just woman.
The Meditations:
(1) Know you not that you members are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Who is in you? (I Cor., VI, 19.)
(2) Extinguish not the Spirit. (I Thess., V, 19.)
(3) And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. (Eph., IV, 30.)

The Practice: Be ever mindful of the Holy Spirit who is within you, and carefully cultivate purity of soul and body.  Faithfully obey his divine inspirations so that you may bring forth the fruits of the Spirit — charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, long-suffering, mildness, faith, modesty, continence, and chastity.

Conclude with the

(1) The Apostle’s Creed

(2) Veni, Creator Spiritus,
Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest,
and in our hearts take up thy rest;
come with Thy grace and heav’nly aid,
To fill the hearts which thou hast made.

O Comforter, to thee we cry,
Thou heav’nly gift of God most high,
Thou fount of life, and fire of love,
and sweet anointing from above.

O finger of the hand divine,
the sevenfold gifts of grace are thine;
true promise of the Father thou,
who dost the tongue with power endow.

Thy light to every sense impart,
and shed thy love in every heart;
thine own unfailing might supply
to strengthen our infirmity.

Drive far away our ghostly foe,
and thine abiding peace bestow;
if thou be our preventing guide,
no evil can our steps betide.

Praise we the Father and the Son
and Holy Spirit with them One;
and may the Son on us bestow
the gifts that from the Spirit flow.