Rosary of the Seven Joys

of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Resurrected Christ Appearing to His Mother, Book of Hours, Matins, c. 1450-1475, Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery, MS W 289, fol. 34

The Franciscan Crown

The Rosary of the Seven Joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary is also known as the Franciscan Crown, the Franciscan Rosary, the Seraphic Rosary, or the Rosary of the Seven Joys of Our Lady.

The Rosary consists of seven decades in commemoration of the seven joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

1. The Annunciation - the Immaculate Virgin Mary joyfully conceived Jesus by the Holy Ghost.

2. The Visitation - the Immaculate Virgin Mary joyfully carried Jesus when she visited St. Elizabeth.

3. The Nativity - the Immaculate Virgin Mary joyfully brought Jesus into the world.

4. The Adoration of the Magi - the Immaculate Virgin Mary joyfully showed Jesus to the adoration of the Magi.

5. The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple - the Immaculate Virgin Mary joyfully found Jesus in the Temple.

6. The Resurrection of Our Lord - the Immaculate Virgin Mary joyfully beheld Jesus after His resurrection.

7. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin and her Coronation in Heaven - the Immaculate Virgin Mary was joyfully received by Jesus into heaven, and crowned Queen of heaven and earth.

The Franciscan historian, Father Luke Wadding (1588-1657) dates the origin of the Franciscan Crown to the year 1422, when a young man named James, deeply devoted to Our Lady, took the habit of St Francis. Before joining the Order, he had, among other practices, been accustomed daily to make a chaplet of flowers, and with it to crown a statue of the Blessed Virgin. Having in his novitiate no longer an opportunity of making this crown for his Most Beloved Queen, he, in his simplicity, thought that She would withdraw Her affection from him; this temptation of the devil disturbed his vocation, and he resolved to abandon the cloister. But first he knelt before the statue of Our Lady to say a prayer.

The merciful Mother appeared to him, and gently rebuking him, strengthened him in his vocation by telling him, "Remain here, and do not grieve because you can no longer weave a wreath of flowers for Me. I will teach you how you can daily weave a crown of roses that will not wither and will be more pleasing to Me and more meritorious for yourself." She taught him to say a rosary or "crown" composed of seventy-two Ave Marias and a Pater after each decade of Ave Marias, and to meditate at each decade upon the seven joys She had experienced during the seventy-two years of Her exile upon the earth.

The novice immediately commenced reciting the new crown or rosary, and derived therefrom many spiritual and temporal graces. One day the Director of Novices saw him praying the crown and an angel with him who was weaving a crown of roses, placing a lily of gold between each of the ten roses. When the novice had finished praying, the angel placed the crown upon him. The Director asked Friar James what this vision meant. After hearing the explanation, he told the other friars and soon this devotion spread throughout the Franciscan family. St. Bernardine of Siena used to say that it was by the Crown of the Seven Joys that he had obtained all the graces which Heaven had heaped upon him.

How to Pray the Franciscan Crown

The Franciscan Rosary of the Seven Joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary is composed of seven decades, each of one Our Father and ten Hail Marys as in the traditional Rosary. It is common practice to add the Glory Be at the end of each decade.

At the end of the seven decades, in honour of the 72 years that the Blessed Virgin Mary is said to have lived on earth, two Hail Marys are added. Then a further Our Father and Hail Mary are prayed for the intentions of the Holy Father.

After the Franciscan Crown one may conclude with a versicle and responsory, and with the Collect of the Immaculate Conception:

V. In Thy Conception, O Virgin, Thou wast immaculate.

R. Pray for us to the Father, Whose Son Thou didst bear.

Let us pray.

O God, Who by the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, didst prepare a worthy dwelling place for Thy Son; we beseech Thee, that, as by the foreseen death of the same Thy Son, Thou didst preserve Her from every stain, so mayest Thou grant us also, through Her intercession, to come to Thee with pure hearts. Through the same Christ Our Lord. R. Amen.

Adoration of the Kings, Gerard David, c. 1515-1523

There is also a Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

This Webpage first posted on

The Feast Day of the Seven Joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary,

27 August 2024.

Immaculate Queen of Peace, pray for us.

Immaculata Regina Pacis, ora pro nobis.