The World Mission Rosary: five decades in five colours
A devotion of his own

The World Mission Rosary

Five decades in five colours, one for each continent. Pray it, and by the end you will have carried the whole world to Our Lady.

A watercolour world map bordered by the coloured rosary beads and a crucifix
Green for Africa, blue for the Pacific, white for Europe, red for the Americas, yellow for Asia.

A Rosary That Holds the World

In February 1951, a few months after taking charge of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in the United States, Fulton Sheen went on the air and asked his listeners to do something unusual.

He asked them to stop praying for themselves.

Not permanently, and not entirely. But he had noticed something about the way most people pray, which is that our intentions tend to shrink to the size of our own lives. His remedy was characteristically simple. He designed a rosary with five decades in five different colours, one for each of the five continents, and he announced it on The Catholic Hour, the radio programme he had been presenting for twenty years.

His reason fits in a single line: we must pray, and not for ourselves, but for the world.

It was not a novelty. It was a map. A person who finishes the World Mission Rosary has, without hurrying and without leaving the chair, carried every continent to Our Lady.

Sheen hoped it would do two things at once. He wanted Catholics to hold the missions in their prayer, and he wanted them to support the missions in fact. He never treated those as separable.

A statue of Our Lady holding a rosary, before a lit candle
Five colours, five continents, one circle around the world, placed in her hands.

The Five Colours

Each decade carries a colour, and each colour carries a place.

Green: Africa

For its forests and its grasslands.

Blue: The Islands of the Pacific

For the ocean that surrounds them.

White: Europe

For the Holy Father, shepherd of the whole Church, who wears white.

Red: The Americas

For the fire of faith that the first missionaries carried there.

Yellow: Asia

For the morning light of the East.

Pray them in that order, or in any order you like. What matters is that by the end you have been everywhere.

How to Pray It

The World Mission Rosary is an ordinary rosary. Nothing about the prayers changes. Only the intention does.

1. Make the Sign of the Cross and pray the Apostles' Creed.

2. Pray one Our Father, three Hail Marys and one Glory Be.

3. For each of the five decades, announce the mystery, name the continent whose colour you have reached, and offer that decade for it. Then pray one Our Father, ten Hail Marys and one Glory Be.

4. Close with the Hail Holy Queen.

The mysteries follow the ordinary week: Joyful on Monday and Saturday, Sorrowful on Tuesday and Friday, Glorious on Wednesday and Sunday, Luminous on Thursday.

A small note on the Luminous mysteries. Sheen designed this rosary in 1951, half a century before Saint John Paul II proposed the Mysteries of Light in 2002. They are prayed on the same five coloured decades, and the missionary intention is unchanged.

A woman kneeling in prayer before a statue of Our Lady, among lit candles
Pray one decade for each continent, and by the end you have been everywhere.

The Prayers

The Apostles' Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; 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 there he will 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 life everlasting. Amen.

The Our Father

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 Hail Mary

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

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.

The Fatima Prayer

Often added after the Glory Be.

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

The Hail Holy Queen

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.

Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God. R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Before You Begin

Sheen's idea was never that you should feel the weight of five continents at once. It was that prayer, like charity, grows by being aimed somewhere.

So pick up the green beads and think of a particular forest, a particular family, a particular priest in a particular parish in Africa. Then move on. By the end you will have gone round the world, and you will have done it on your knees.

The coloured rosary with a heart medal of Our Lady and an olive-wood crucifix on linen

One Prayer, the Whole World

When Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen introduced the World Mission Rosary, he envisioned something far greater than a personal devotion: a prayer that could unite the whole world in faith. Each decade of this Rosary is dedicated to a different continent, so that praying it becomes a way of encircling the globe in hope and love, carrying every people and culture before God.

The Mysteries, with Mission Intentions

The intentions below are suggestions. Use them, or replace them with whatever the world has put on your heart this week.

The Joyful Mysteries

Monday and Saturday

1. The Annunciation

For those who have still never heard the name of Jesus, that the news first brought to Mary may at last reach them.

The Annunciation, by Henry Ossawa Tanner
The Annunciation, Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1898 (United States).

2. The Visitation

For missionaries on long roads and in difficult places, that they may carry Christ as Mary carried him, in haste and without fear.

The Visitation, by Domenico Ghirlandaio
The Visitation, Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1491 (Italy).

3. The Nativity

For children born into poverty, war and displacement, that they may find in Christ the home the world has not given them.

The Nativity, Mughal court painting, India
Adoration of the Child, Mughal court painting, ca. 1720–1725 (India).

4. The Presentation

For families in mission lands, that their ordinary daily fidelity may preach more loudly than any sermon.

The Presentation in the Temple, Armenian Gospel book
The Presentation in the Temple, Armenian Gospel book, 1475 (Armenia).

5. The Finding in the Temple

For everyone who has drifted from the faith they were given, that they may be sought until they are found.

Christ among the doctors, Netherlandish book of hours
Christ among the Doctors, Enkhuizen Book of Hours, 15th century (Netherlands).

The Sorrowful Mysteries

Tuesday and Friday

1. The Agony in the Garden

For Christians who will pray tonight in fear, that they may know the Lord is kneeling beside them.

The Agony in the Garden, Coptic Gospel book, Egypt
Jesus Prays in Gethsemane, Ilyas Basim Khuri Bazzi Rahib, 1684 (Egypt).

2. The Scourging at the Pillar

For the hungry, that what we go without may become bread for them.

Christ at the column, colonial Quito school, Ecuador
Christ at the Column, follower of Miguel de Santiago, ca. 1740–1760 (Ecuador).

3. The Crowning with Thorns

For refugees, for the imprisoned, and for all who have run out of hope, that hope may be given back.

Ecce Homo, by Antonello da Messina
Christ Crowned with Thorns, Antonello da Messina, ca. 1470–1475 (Italy).

4. The Carrying of the Cross

For the Church in the wealthy nations, that we may take a real share of the weight our brothers and sisters are carrying.

Christ carrying the cross, by El Greco
Christ Carrying the Cross, El Greco, ca. 1577–1587 (Spain).

5. The Crucifixion

For all who hunger and thirst for justice, that they may find it, and find it without bloodshed.

The Crucifixion, by T'oros Roslin, Armenia
The Crucifixion, T’oros Roslin, 1262 (Armenia).

The Glorious Mysteries

Wednesday and Sunday

1. The Resurrection

For the whole Church, that our joy in the risen Christ may be visible enough to draw others to him.

The Resurrection, by Pietro Perugino
The Resurrection, Pietro Perugino, ca. 1499 (Italy).

2. The Ascension

For the dying, and for those who sit with them, that they may be given the knowledge of the way home.

The Ascension, Ethiopian Gospel book, Gunda Gunde
The Ascension, Gunda Gunde Gospel book, 16th century (Ethiopia).

3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit

For the Holy Father, that he may be given wisdom, courage and holiness as he leads the Church.

Pentecost, from the Rabbula Gospels, Syria
Pentecost, Rabbula Gospels, 586 (Syria).

4. The Assumption

For all who carry Christ into the world, that Mary, who carried him first, may form them.

The Assumption of the Virgin, by Pieter Aertsen
The Assumption of the Virgin, Pieter Aertsen, 16th century (Netherlands).

5. The Coronation of Our Lady

For vocations to the priesthood and the religious life, especially in mission territories where the harvest is great and the labourers few.

The Virgin of the Silver Mountain of Potosi, Bolivia
The Virgin of the Silver Mountain of Potosí, 18th century (Bolivia).

The Luminous Mysteries

Thursday

1. The Baptism in the Jordan

For catechumens across the world preparing for baptism, and for those who teach them.

The Baptism of Christ, Cusco school, Peru
The Baptism of Christ, anonymous, Cusco school, 18th century (Peru).

2. The Wedding at Cana

For marriages under strain, and for the poor who share what little they have with the poorer.

The Wedding at Cana, mosaic, Monreale, Sicily
The Marriage at Cana, mosaic of Monreale, 12th century (Italy).

3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom

For every village and every city where the Gospel has not yet been preached, and for those willing to go there.

Christ blessing the children, by Lucas Cranach the Younger
Christ Blessing the Children, Lucas Cranach the Younger, ca. 1545–1550 (Germany).

4. The Transfiguration

For Christians who have lost everything except their faith, that they may be given a glimpse of the glory ahead of them.

The Transfiguration, Novgorod school icon
The Transfiguration, Novgorod school icon, 15th century (Russia).

5. The Institution of the Eucharist

For World Mission Sunday, kept each year on the second-to-last Sunday of October, and for all who are sent out from the altar to continue the mission of Christ.

The Last Supper, by Marcos Zapata, Cusco
The Last Supper, Marcos Zapata, ca. 1753 (Peru).

Offered for private devotion. These prayers are traditional texts of the Church. The World Mission Rosary is the creation of Archbishop Sheen for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.

Illustrating the Mysteries

Each decade of this rosary belongs to a different continent, so we have looked for the mysteries themselves in the art of different continents. The images on this page come from Ethiopia and Egypt, from Armenia, Syria and Mughal India, from Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, and from Italy, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Russia. Some were painted on wood, some carved in ivory, some set in mosaic, some drawn on parchment by a monk who never expected anyone outside his own monastery to see them.

Placed side by side they say something the words alone cannot. A Coptic scribe in 1684 and a Cusco painter seventy years later were telling the same story, each in the only visual language he had, and neither is a translation of the other. The Church has always looked like this.

That is the whole point of praying for the world one decade at a time. We are not sending prayers out to strangers. We are praying with a family we have not met.

A note on artistic expression

These works reflect the vision and the culture of the artists who made them, across many centuries and many places. They are offered as devotional art, not as historical reconstruction and not as doctrinal statement. Where a Nativity is set in a Mughal palace, or a Last Supper is laid with Andean food, the artist is doing what the Church has always allowed: receiving the Gospel in his own country, and handing it back in his own hands.

Every work shown on this page is in the public domain.