The Rosary During Lent
Lent prepares for Easter through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. On Sundays during Lent, the Sorrowful Mysteries are suggested instead of the usual Glorious Mysteries; other weekdays follow the usual schedule with feast adaptations, and local custom may differ. These five decades contemplate Christ's Passion, from his prayer in Gethsemane to his death on the Cross.
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Prayer during Lent
Lent is the Church's season of preparation for Easter through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. In the Roman Rite it begins on Ash Wednesday and ends before the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday. The Sacred Paschal Triduum follows, leading through Christ's Passion and death to the celebration of his Resurrection.
Fasting and abstinence requirements depend on the Church's law and the norms applicable where you live. The diocese provides guidance for its faithful. The calendar gives the year's principal dates; your parish supplies its services and local observances.
Which mysteries should I pray in Lent?
One Lenten Sunday custom is to pray the Sorrowful Mysteries in place of the usual Glorious Mysteries. Local custom may differ. Ordinary Lenten weekdays follow the usual schedule: Joyful on Monday and Saturday, Sorrowful on Tuesday and Friday, Glorious on Wednesday, and Luminous on Thursday.
The Sorrowful Mysteries contemplate the Agony in the Garden, Scourging, Crowning with Thorns, Carrying of the Cross, and Crucifixion. The Gospel readings for these decades recount the final hours before Christ's death. Reading a passage before the prayers helps recall the event being contemplated.
Staying with Christ in his Passion
In the Agony in the Garden, Jesus brings his anguish before the Father. This mystery can accompany prayer when obedience is difficult or the future seems frightening.
Joining prayer to repentance and mercy
Lenten prayer is closely joined to the way we live. An examination of conscience and sacramental confession help us recognize sin and seek reconciliation. The Rosary can help us prepare for confession.
Holy Week and the approach to Easter
Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday. The parish liturgies proclaim the Passion and lead toward the Triduum; the Rosary can accompany them without being inserted in place of their readings and prayers.