Join us on October 3, 2025, at 10:30 am to honor Our Blessed Mother on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary with a live recitation of the rosary. All are welcome to attend in person at Graymoor or via Facebook. This year, Fr. James Puglisi, SA, will be reciting the Franciscan Crown Rosary.

Click here to explore resources and videos offered by the Friars about praying the Rosary, including the Franciscan Crown.

More About the Franciscan Crown

The Franciscan Crown (also called the Franciscan Rosary or the Rosary of the Seven Joys)

is a long-established Marian devotion within the Franciscan family. It developed in late

medieval Italy and became widely adopted by members of the Friars Minor, Poor Clares,

and other communities influenced by Franciscan spirituality.

WHAT IT IS

• Structure: Seven decades of Hail Marys, each decade focused on one of the Seven Joys

of Mary, followed by two additional Hail Marys (72 prayers in total).

• Seven Joys: Annunciation; Visitation; Nativity; Adoration of the Magi; Finding of the

Child Jesus in the Temple; Resurrection appearance to Mary; Assumption/Coronation.

HISTORICAL NOTES

• Origins: Rooted in Franciscan devotional practice from the 15th
century onward; a popular founding legend tells of a novice in Assisi instructed by Mary to pray seven
decades in place of offering garlands of roses.

• Development: The devotion spread through Franciscan preaching and confraternities
and received papal indulgences that increased its use across the Order and in lay
confraternities.

ROLE IN THE FRIARS OF THE ATONEMENT

From the foundation of the Friars of the Atonement, devotion to Our Lady of the
Atonement included the daily recitation of the Franciscan Crown. Our founder, Servant
of God, Fr. Paul Wattson, SA was particularly devoted to this practice and promoted it as
part of the community’s regular prayer life, making the Crown a practical, sustained
element of the friars’ Marian devotion.

ROLE IN FRANCISCAN PRACTICE

• Usage: Prayed privately and in community, often on Marian feast days, during
October, or as part of daily Marian devotion.

• Character: Reflects Franciscan emphases on simplicity, affective devotion, and
meditative attention to Christ through Mary rather than elaborate theological exposition.

PRACTICAL NOTE

• The Franciscan Crown is a historically grounded Marian practice closely associated
with Franciscan communities. It remains in regular use today by friars, sisters, and
laypeople who continue the tradition of daily, contemplative prayer exemplified by the
Friars of the Atonement