Our Lady’s Rosary of the Seven Rays is an esoteric prayer practice based on the Franciscan Crown Rosary. This Rosary consists of seven decades of Ave Marias, which celebrate the Seven Joys of Mary: the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi, the Finding of Jesus in the Temple, the Resurrection, and the Assumption and Coronation of Our Lady. The seven decades are prayed once, with additional preparatory and final prayers.
Where did the Rosary of the Seven Rays come from? According to the famous Roman Catholic Franciscan historian, Fr. Luke Wadding, our Heavenly Mother, the Holy Lady Mary, appeared to a young novice of the Franciscan Order in 1422 and gave this lad specific instructions on which of the Joyous Mysteries were most important to Her. After She instructed the novice in how to say this Rosary, Mary vanished, and the novice began immediately to say the new Rosary. As he did so, his superior in the monastery was passing by and was astonished to observe an angel weaving a “wreath of roses.” These the angel placed on the head of the novice when the Rosary was finished. When the novice explained to his astonished superior what had happened, the superior made it known to the brothers of the monastery, and the “Franciscan Crown” became established.
The Ave Maria used in Our Lady’s Rosary of the Seven Rays is in the original form given by Mary in her 1422 appearance: “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Amen.”
The Rosary group at St. Michael the Protector Church meets at 1:00 pm one Sunday each month to pray the Our Lady’s Rosary of the Seven Rays. All are welcome to join us, and we have sets of rosary beads available free for your use in our group or at home. Our sets of beads have all been blessed.
For home use, a text of the Seven Ray Rosary may be downloaded here. (Booklet form here.)
It is very important always to have an intention when beginning to pray the Rosary (whether spoken, chanted, or sung). It is also very important that rosary beads are blessed before being used. Contact any Liberal Catholic priest to have your beads blessed.
The Franciscan Crown Rosary was revived for use in The Liberal Catholic Church by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Lloyd Worley, of the Church of St. Albert, in Greeley, Colorado. To order the booklet Our Lady’s Rosary of the Seven Rays: Yogic Method in the Esoteric Christian Tradition (not an official publication of The Liberal Catholic Church), or to order beads appropriate for use with the Seven Ray Rosary, contact:
The Family of Our Lady’s Rosary of the Seven Rays
c/o the Rt. Rev. Lloyd Worley
Church of St. Albertus Magnus
430 Tenth Street
Greeley, CO 80631
The Ladies’ Guild of the Church of St. Francis in Villa Park, Illinois, also hand-assembles rosaries. To order from them, contact the Church of St. Francis.
There is a sung version of the Liberal Catholic practice of Our Lady’s Rosary of the Seven Rays. At St. Michael the Protector Church, we regularly pray this Rosary; contact us for times. We have a special Christmas Rosary every December, with additional readings and followed by refreshments. The Christmas Rosary will appear on the church schedule.
To listen to or download the sung Rosary, click here. Be aware that this is an extremely large file (42 Mb) and it will begin loading as soon as you click on the page!