Franciscan Symbols

Franciscan Crown or Seraphic Rosary

The Franciscan Crown is a rosary consisting of seven decades of prayer and reflection in commemoration of the seven joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Luke Wadding, ofm (1588 – 1657) records the story of a Franciscan novice who, in 1422, had been received into the Order of Friars Minor. Before entering religious life, he had been accustomed to place a wreath of fresh and beautiful flowers at a statue of the Blessed Virgin as a mark of his piety and devotion. Since he was not able to continue this practice in the novitiate he had decided to leave the order. The Blessed Virgin appeared to him and prevented him from carrying out his purpose: she instructed him how, by reciting daily a rosary of seven decades in honour of her seven joys, he could weave a crown that would be more pleasing to her than the material wreath of flowers he used to place at her statue.

The seven joys nominated by the Blessed Virgin are:

The Annunciation, The Visitation, The Nativity, The Adoration of the Magi, The Finding of Jesus in the Temple, The Resurrection, Mary’s Assumption into Heaven and The Crowning of Mary as Queen of Heaven.
From that time the practice of reciting a rosary of seven decades in honour of the seven joys became general in the order.

When praying the Franciscan Crown, one can keep count on standard Dominican beads, just going an extra two decades, but Franciscans use a 7-decade Rosary made especially for praying the Franciscan Crown. It is customary to recite one Pater, Ave and Gloria for the Pope’s intentions at the beginning and two extra Hail Marys at the end to make up 72 – the number of years it is believed that Mary lived.

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