Q: Is there a chaplet, rosary or some other devotion to the seven joys of Mary?

A: The most typical Rosary expression of Mary's joys are the joyous mysteries. The original number of joys were five, and not seven! At one time it became fifteen joys. However, what you are looking for is the Franciscan Crown or the rosary of the seven joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is composed of seven decades (one Our Father and ten Hail Marys each). At the end two Hail Marys are added and it is concluded with the Our Father and Hail Mary (said for the intention of the Pope in order to gain indulgence. The seventy-two Hail Marys also commemorate the seventy-two years the Mother of Jesus is supposed to have lived on earth. The following joyous mysteries are remembered:

1) The Immaculate Virgin joyfully conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit.

2) She joyfully carried Jesus when she went to visit Elizabeth.

3) The Immaculate Virgin brought Jesus joyfully into the world.

4) The Mother of God joyfully exhibited Jesus to the adoration of the Magi.

5) The Immaculate Virgin Mary joyfully found Jesus in the Temple.

6) The Immaculate Virgin Mary joyfully beheld Jesus after his Resurrection.

7) The Immaculate Virgin Mary was joyfully received by Jesus into heaven, and crowned Queen of heaven and earth.

This chaplet is attributed to Bernardine of Siena (1444). It has a typically Franciscan flavor, is also called garland of delights or chaplet of the seventy-two Hail Marys. There are many other aspects to the devotion of Mary's joys (see: Gaude, Dei Genitrix; the meditation on the fifteen joys by Stephen of Fallai, 1225-50; chaplet of the 12 stars containing five terrestrial and seven celestial joys.)

Above image: The Nativity
Pietro Perugino
Galleria Nazionale dell' Umbria, Perugia

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