Sing the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary with children

Back in Advent, Dan and I sang The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came as part of our Evening Prayer. It struck me how perfect this hymn was for teaching children about the Annunciation. I conceived the idea (yes, that’s a pun) of teaching children the meaning of the mysteries of the Rosary through song. Here it was I came up with for the Joyful Mysteries.

My primary goal in our Contemplative Homeschool is to teach our children how to grow in union with God. Christian meditation is a vital part of that process, teaching all of us to listen to God’s voice in the Scriptures, and to ponder His character in order to love Him better.

The Rosary provides a bridge between the vocal prayers we learn as children and more mature mental prayer. Through the Rosary, we meditate on the most important mysteries of our faith.

Many people have created ways to share the Rosary with children. In Singing the Rosary, I have the following goals:

leading children to see the Rosary as a means of meditation, so they are not just trying to concentrate on the words of the vocal prayers
teaching them in detail about each of the mysteries, so they have plenty to meditate on
limiting the number of prayer repetitions until they understand what the Rosary is for

I was well into adulthood before I heard a priest say that we were not supposed to think about the words of the Our Father, Hail Mary, etc. in the Rosary. My reaction was, Huh? I had been praying the Rosary virtually all my life, but had never learned to meditate on the mysteries. I want to make sure my kids don’t have the same experience.

Before Singing the Rosary with children, you may want to watch a video clip about each of the mysteries. Franco Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth provides an easy way to do this. You can watch five minutes of the story for each of the five joyful mysteries and discuss them afterwards. This will remind your children, in case they have forgotten, what each mystery is about.

I encourage you to use Kevin Vost’s book, Memorize the Faith to commit all twenty mysteries to memory in order.

It also helps to practice the hymns before praying them together.

I have created a PDF version of Singing the Rosary for your convenience. Here is the PDF of my original hymn, The Finding in the Temple.

Singing the Rosary

Leader: In the Name of the Father…

All: I believe in God, the Father the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth
And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary
Suffered under Pontius Pilate’ was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into @#!*% .
On the third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.
From thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
The holy Catholic Church,
The communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body,
And the life everlasting. Amen.

Leader: The first Joyful Mystery is the Annunciation.

Child 1: “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a Virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the Virgin’s name was Mary.”

All Sing: The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came

All (in unison): Our Father…

Hail Mary… (Only once)

Glory Be…

Leader: The second Joyful Mystery is the Visitation.

Child 2: “Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.”

All Sing: Holy is His Name

All (in unison): Our Father…

Hail Mary…

Glory Be…

Leader: The third Joyful Mystery is the Nativity.

Child 3: “And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”

All Sing: What Child is This?

All (in unison): Our Father…

Hail Mary…

Glory Be…

Leader: The fourth Joyful Mystery is the Presentation in the Temple.

Child 4: “And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.”

All Sing: Adorna, Sion, Thalamum. [You can sing this to the melody Creator Alme Siderum found here.]

or Canticle of Simeon by Alan J. Hommerding (found in some modern hymnals, under copyright).

All (in unison): Our Father…

Hail Mary…

Glory Be…

Leader: The fifth Joyful Mystery is the Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple

Child 5: “And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.”

All Sing: The Finding in the Temple (lyrics by Connie Rossini, to the melody of the verses of Joseph Dearest).

All (in unison): Our Father…

Hail Mary…

Glory Be…

Leader: Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,

All: That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Sign of the Cross.

Note: Please follow copyright laws concerning the hymns cited here, including mine! “The worker is worth his hire.” Copyright 2014 Connie Rossini. Permission is granted to copy this for individual family, homeschool, or classroom use. For all other uses, please contact me.

Connie Rossini