"Our Father"

The "Our Father" is the prayer that Jesus himself taught us

"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".

The Rosary

When you begin to pray the Rosary, it may be that everything is too much for you at first. Do not be deterred. If this is the case, then pray only a part of it, for example only one so-called decade. The important thing is to begin to walk the path to God in prayer.

The main prayers of the rosary are the "Our Father“, ‘‘Hail Mary" and "Glory be to the Father".

A rosary consists of a total of 5 decades. Each decade consists of an "Our Father" at the beginning, followed by ten "Hail Marys",  and finally a "Glory be to the Father...".

The text for the "Hail Mary" reads:

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.

The Glory be to the Father:

"Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be world without end. Amen"

Usually the following Fatima prayer is added:

"O, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy."

As one says each decade, we think about an episode in the lives of Jesus and Mary.  These episodes are called ‘‘Mysteries‘‘. There are five Joyful Mysteries, five Mysteries of Light, five Sorrowful Mysteries and five Glorious Mysteries to reflect on.

The Joyful Mysteries

•  The annunciation
•  The visitation
•  The birth of Jesus
•  The presentation
•  The finding of Jesus in the Temple

The Mysteries of Light

•  Christ’s baptism in the Jordan
•  Christ’s self-revelation at the marriage at Cana
•  Christ’s proclammation of the kingdom of God with His call to conversion
•  Christ’s transfiguration
•  Christ’s institution of the eucharist

The Glorious Mysteries

• The resurection
• The ascension
• The descent of the Holy Spirit
• The assumption
• The coronation

The Sorrowful Mysteries

•  The agony in the garden
•  The scourging at the pillar
•  The crowning with thorns
•  The carrying of the cross
•  The crucifixion

How to pray the rosary:

Begin the rosary with the sign of the cross. Pray the Appostles Creed holding the crucifix and continue on the straight piece of the rosary with one Our Father, three Hail Marys and a Glory be to the Father. Then, to start the first decade, pray one Our Father. Moving on to the circular piece of the rosary, continue with ten Hail Marys and finish the first decade with one Glory Be andthe Fatima Prayer.

About fasting

Fasting is a very special form of prayer.

We are always the recipients of God's gifts and stand before Him empty-handed. We ourselves do not have much to give him. Words of petition or thanksgiving are often uttered very lightly and without commitment. We have, in fact, few opportunities to give our petitions or our thanks that weight which would sometimes seem to us to be appropriate in the case of great requests. In earlier generations it was even more ingrained in the consciousness that one was most likely to prove to God the seriousness of a request by behaviour involving some overcoming. For example, people undertook pilgrimages of petition or thanksgiving in order to use these often arduous events to show God how important a particular request was to someone, or that a providence or God's help was not taken for granted. A pilgrimage was often seen as an appropriate way of giving thanks for God's work. There are innumerable testimonies that in connection with such pilgrimages often unbelievable guidance and providence of God were connected and still are in the present.

The same applies to fasting. Fasting is a much weightier sign than prayer to show God the seriousness of a request and to ask Him for support in that request.

Through such a sacrifice we have one of the few opportunities to give something of ourselves to God. Such a sacrifice is a strong sign from us to God that he will not overlook.