world Mission Rosary
In February 1951, while serving as the National Director for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, Bishop Sheen designed the World Mission Rosary. “We must pray, and not for ourselves, but for the world,” the Bishop said, “To this end, I have designed the World Mission Rosary. Each of the five decades is of a different color to represent each of the five continents.” Bishop Sheen said that praying this Rosary would “aid the Holy Father and his Society for the Propagation of the Faith by supplying him with practical support, as well as prayers, for the poor mission territories of the world.”
Each color on the Rosary represents a different area where the Church continues its mission of evangelization:
Green: for the forests and grasslands of Africa.
Blue: for the ocean surrounding the Islands of the Pacific.
White: symbolizing Europe, the seat of the Holy Father, shepherd of the world..
Red: calling to mind the fire of faith that brought missionaries to the Americas.
Yellow: the morning light of the East, for Asia.
Joyful Mysteries (Monday and Saturday)
The Annunciation
That the Good News of a Savior, first announced to Mary, may be proclaimed to all the world.
The Visitation
That missionaries who travel long roads bearing Christ to those in need may be strengthened in faith and holiness.
The Birth of Jesus
For the children of the missions, especially those who are poor and homeless, that they may know the love of Jesus.
The Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple
That Catholic families of the missions, by the example of their lives, may show the love of Christ to their neighbors.
The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple
That all the people of the missions who live in sorrow may find in the Gospel message of Jesus new life and peace.
SORROWFUL Mysteries (Tuesday and Friday)
The Agony in the Garden
That all who persevere in faith in the missions may feel the presence of the Lord in their lives.
The Scourging at the Pillar
That all who suffer in body, especially the hungry millions in the missions, may be fed and comforted through our sharing.
The Crowning with Thorns
That all those who suffer from despair, especially the refugees of the missions, may find hope in Christ’s promise of eternal happiness for those who believe in Him.
The Carrying of the Cross
For the Church in the United States, that by our prayers and sacrifices for the missions, we may help bear the burdens of our brothers and sisters worldwide.
The Crucifixion
That those who hunger and thirst for justice in the missions may work peacefully and successfully toward their goal.
Glorious Mysteries (Sunday and Wednesday)
The Resurrection
For the Church worldwide, that our faith in the Risen Christ may draw others to Him.
The Ascension
That Christ, who lived as a man and returned to the Father, will grant to all people knowledge of the way to eternal life.
The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles
For our Holy Father, that the Holy Spirit will grant him wisdom, fortitude and holiness as he guides the Church in the path of Christ.
The Assumption of Our Lady
That Mary, who gave the human body of Christ to the world, may inspire us who form the Body of Christ on earth to proclaim His message to all peoples.
The Crowning of Our Lady Queen of Heaven
That through the intercession of Mary, Queen of the Missions, young men and women will offer their lives to God as priests and religious in service of their neighbors.
Luminous Mysteries (Thursday)
Moments from Jesus’ public ministry – with stories from the missions
The Baptism in the Jordan
In a hospital in Hong Kong, a Chinese Sister spoke to a young cancer patient about God, our loving Father, and about heaven, our eternal home. The boy, an orphan, told her: “I never had a father. I never had a home.” Baptized, the boy made the journey to God clothed in Christ because a Sister had shared with him the fruits of her own baptism.
The Wedding of Cana
Mother Teresa tells of bringing rice to a hungry family. The next day she discovered the food was gone. It seems that a neighboring family had no food either, so the first family shared what Mother Teresa had brought them. The neighbors, of a different faith, were witnesses to Christian love.
The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God and Call to Conversion
In East Africa, a Catholic family heard of a village far from their own where the people had never heard of Christ. In prayer, and in love, they decided to move to the distant village so that day by day they could tell –
and show – the people what it means to be a follower of Christ.
The Transfiguration
To catch even a glimpse of the glory that awaits us in Christ is a gift beyond compare for millions of people
whose lives are a daily struggle. Such a glimpse was caught in Liberia, West Africa. When people by the hundreds fled from their homes in the midst of civil war, their pastor said, “They left all their belongings behind, but they brought with them one valuable possession – their faith.”
The Institution of the Eucharist
World Mission Sunday, celebrated each year on the next-to-last Sunday in October, in the context of the Mass, reminds us that we who eat Christ’s Body and drink his Blood are sent to continue his mission to the world. “Supported by Mary, we will not hesitate to devote ourselves generously to taking the proclamation of the Good News to the ends of the earth,” said Pope John Paul II.