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Seven Sorrows Rosary Counter

Short answer

A Seven Sorrows rosary counter keeps your place in the Servite chaplet: seven sorrows of Mary, each one Our Father and seven Hail Marys, plus three Hail Marys for her tears. This one follows your card, with the three at the end as in the Raccolta or at the start as in Kibeho booklets.

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Opening · on the medalThe Raccolta’s form · 61 prayersAct of contritionSign of the Cross, then an act of contrition
Opening0 of 1
Sorrows0 of 7
This week0 of 7 days

Tuesdays and Fridays are the days the Kibeho accounts ask for

Chaplets prayed
0
Chaplets today
0
Sorrows in all
0
Hail Marys
0
Last chaplet
—
Average chaplet
—
Match your card

Space, Enter or + moves on one prayer, so you can pray with your eyes closed; Ctrl+Z goes back one. Keys do nothing while a field has focus, and a held key moves on once. Changing a setting mid-chaplet keeps your place.

Tap once per prayer, or press Space with your eyes closed. The screen names each sorrow and its Scripture, keeps your place if the phone locks, and lights the day of the week when a chaplet is done.

The Seven Sorrows rosary, also the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows or Servite rosary, is a Catholic devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows: seven groups of seven Hail Marys, one for each sorrow of Mary from the prophecy of Simeon to the burial of Jesus, spread by the Servite Order and revived after the apparitions at Kibeho.

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Key facts

Seven Sorrows rosary counter at a glance
DetailAnswer
PriceFree, no sign-up, no ads
What one tap doesMoves on one prayer: an Our Father, a Hail Mary, the opening or closing
FormsThe Raccolta, a Kibeho booklet, EWTN or Marie de Nazareth, or your own
The three for the tearsAt the end, as in the Raccolta, or at the start, as in Kibeho booklets
Prayers in one chaplet7 Our Fathers and 52 Hail Marys: 61 taps in the Raccolta form, 59 to 72 in all
On screenThe sorrow, its Scripture, the prayer, the bead, and today's day
DaysTuesdays and Fridays, 15 September and the Friday of Sorrows, named on the day
TotalsChaplets prayed, chaplets today, sorrows, Hail Marys, and a week row
KeyboardSpace, Enter or + moves on; Ctrl+Z goes back
Where your place is keptThis browser only. Nothing is sent anywhere

How to use the Seven Sorrows rosary counter

Match the form to your card once, then tap a prayer at a time.

  1. Match your card

    Open Match your card and pick the form; the Raccolta’s is the default. Change any single choice if your card differs.

  2. Place the three Hail Marys

    Set the three for Our Lady’s tears at the end, after the seventh sorrow, or at the start, as Kibeho booklets have them.

  3. Begin with the opening

    Make the Sign of the Cross, say the act of contrition and tap Next prayer, or press Space, Enter or +.

  4. Tap after each prayer

    Each sorrow is an Our Father and seven Hail Marys; the board names the sorrow and its Scripture as you reach it.

  5. Go back after a slip

    Undo or Ctrl+Z steps back one prayer, as often as needed, and also brings back a reset made by mistake.

  6. Finish with the closing

    The three Hail Marys and the closing prayer; the last tap counts the chaplet and lights today in the week row.

Who uses a Seven Sorrows rosary counter

Anyone praying the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows who wants the place kept, with or without beads.

  • Tuesdays and Fridays

    The days the Kibeho accounts ask for, named on the board, with the week row showing which you kept.

  • 15 September

    Our Lady of Sorrows, and the Friday of Sorrows before Palm Sunday, named on the day.

  • Praying without beads

    Travelling, in hospital or at work: the phone keeps the count the 59 beads would.

  • Matching a prayer card

    Set the tears, the opening and the closing to the card in hand, so the board and the card agree.

  • A sorrow a day

    Pray one sorrow and come back tomorrow; the place is kept in this browser between visits.

  • Leading a group

    The sorrow, its Scripture and the prayer on one screen, for whoever leads.

  • Praying with eyes closed

    Space or Enter moves on from anywhere on the page, and vibration marks each sorrow.

  • Learning the sorrows

    Each sorrow is announced in turn with its Gospel passage, so the order is learned by praying it.

The three Hail Marys for the tears: at the start or the end?

This counter keeps your place and counts the prayers. It does not judge private revelation, or whether a promise or an indulgence applies to anyone; that is set out below. What it does do is follow the form printed on your card, because the forms in circulation do not agree.

Every form has the same core: seven sorrows, each one Our Father and seven Hail Marys, and three more Hail Marys in honour of Our Lady’s tears. They part company over where those three go and what surrounds them. The Raccolta, the collection of indulgenced prayers in which the Church printed the chaplet, says them at the end: after the seventh sorrow, “say three Ave Maria in veneration of the tears which Mary shed in her sorrows” (1857). The booklets that spread the chaplet after the apparitions at Kibeho, in Rwanda, say them at the start, on the three beads by the medal. Five forms read for this page:

Five printed forms of the Seven Sorrows rosary, compared: what comes before the sorrows, after each one, and at the end
FormBefore the first sorrowAfter each sorrow’s seven Hail MarysThe three Hail Marys for the tearsClosing
The Raccolta, 1857 and 1910 (the Servite chaplet)An act of contrition (1857)NothingAt the end“Pray for us, Virgin most sorrowful”, and the prayer “Grant, we beseech Thee”
Kibeho booklets (immaculee.com; Mark Miravalle’s text)Sign of the Cross, an introductory prayer, an act of contritionAn invocation, said before and after each sorrowAt the start, after the act of contritionA prayer to Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs, and “Mary, who was conceived without sin and who suffered for us, pray for us” three times
EWTNAn act of contrition, optionalNothingAt the endAn Our Father, a Hail Mary and a Glory Be for the Holy Father, then “Virgin most sorrowful, pray for us” three times
Marie de Nazareth encyclopedia, Kibeho pageNothing“Pray for us, O most sorrowful Virgin” and its responseAt the endOne Our Father on the medal
WikipediaOptional prayers“Some” add an invocation or a Glory BePrayed after the seventh sorrow, on beads placed before the firstA closing prayer

Two things follow. First, the Kibeho sources do not agree with each other: the booklets begin with the three Hail Marys, while the Marie de Nazareth page, which describes the Kibeho chaplet, ends with them. The National Catholic Register gives the booklet order and adds that “another variation puts the three Hail Marys at the end”; it does not say that the end is the older place, which the Raccolta shows it is. Second, Wikipedia’s note that the three beads hang before the first sorrow but are prayed after the seventh explains the confusion: on a circle of beads, the end and the start are next to each other.

The counter’s Form setting sets all four choices to match one of the first four rows; each choice can then be changed on its own, and the form reads As set below. The Kibeho booklet’s invocation around each sorrow and its meditations are read, not counted, so they take no tap. Changing any setting mid-chaplet keeps your place: on the fourth sorrow you stay on the fourth sorrow. Sources: The Raccolta, tr. Ambrose St John (1857), pp. 209 to 213; Burns & Oates edition (1910), no. 230; both read on archive.org; EWTN; immaculee.com; Wikipedia, Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows; all read 2026-10-17.

How many Hail Marys and beads: 52 and 59

“How many Hail Marys in the Seven Sorrows rosary” has two right answers. The sorrows themselves are 49, seven groups of seven; with the three for the tears it is 52, which every form above says. EWTN’s closing adds one more for the Holy Father, so 53. The beads follow the prayers: 49 in seven groups, an Our Father bead or a medal before each group, and the three by the main medal, which is 59 beads, or, as the Marie de Nazareth page puts it, “52 beads and 7 medals”. The counter takes one tap a prayer, so its taps are the prayers:

Prayers in the Seven Sorrows rosary, by form, beside a five-decade rosary
FormOur FathersHail MarysOther prayersTaps on this counter
The Raccolta752261
Kibeho booklet752463
EWTN853364
Marie de Nazareth852767
A five-decade rosary, for comparison6531372

“Other prayers” are what each form says besides the Our Fathers and Hail Marys: the act of contrition and the closing in the Raccolta; the introductory prayer, the act of contrition, the concluding prayer and the triple invocation in the booklet; the act of contrition, a Glory Be and the triple invocation in EWTN’s; and a versicle after every sorrow on the Marie de Nazareth page. A Glory Be after each sorrow, which some add, makes seven more taps. The rosary row is explained on the rosary counter.

So in Hail Marys the Seven Sorrows rosary is the length of a five-decade rosary, 52 against 53; what makes it longer in practice is the meditation, since the Raccolta asks that each sorrow be named and thought on. None of the sources read gives a time for it, so the counter times yours, leaving out any pause over five minutes, and averages your last ten. Wikipedia notes that the seven sorrows may also be prayed one a day across a week; the counter keeps your place between visits, so a sorrow a day works, and the week row lights the day the chaplet was begun on when it is finished.

The seven sorrows, in order

The seven sorrows of Mary, as the counter announces them, with the Scripture for each
SorrowWhat is rememberedScripture
1The prophecy of Simeon: “a sword shall pierce through thy own soul”Luke 2:34-35
2The flight into EgyptMatthew 2:13-14
3The loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple, three daysLuke 2:43-45
4Mary meets Jesus on the way to CalvaryBy tradition; Luke 23:27 names the women who followed
5Jesus dies on the cross, Mary standing by itJohn 19:25-30
6Jesus is taken down from the crossMatthew 27:57-59
7Jesus is laid in the tombJohn 19:40-42

The list is the same in every form read. The Raccolta of 1857 words the sixth sorrow as seeing “the lance cleave the Sacred Breast of Jesus” and then receiving his body, which is the same moment told from the cross.

Which days: Tuesdays, Fridays, 15 September and the Friday of Sorrows

The chaplet can be prayed on any day. Three sets of days come up, and they come from different places. The Church’s calendar has 15 September, Our Lady of Sorrows, the day after the Exaltation of the Cross: the Servites were granted a feast of the Seven Sorrows in 1668, Pius VII put it in the General Roman Calendar in 1814 on the third Sunday of September, and Pius X fixed it on the 15th in 1913. The second is the Friday of Sorrows, the Friday before Palm Sunday, which Benedict XIII extended to the whole Latin Church on 22 April 1727; it was reduced to a commemoration in 1960 and taken out of the General Roman Calendar in 1969 as a duplicate of the September feast, but the 2002 Roman Missal gives an alternative collect for that Friday, the 1962 Missal keeps it, and Malta, Spain, the Philippines and much of Latin America still mark it. It moves with Easter, so the counter computes it:

The Friday of Sorrows and Our Lady of Sorrows, 2027 to 2030
YearFriday of SorrowsEaster SundayOur Lady of Sorrows
2027Friday 19 March28 MarchWednesday 15 September
2028Friday 7 April16 AprilFriday 15 September
2029Friday 23 March1 AprilSaturday 15 September
2030Friday 12 April21 AprilSunday 15 September

The Friday of Sorrows is nine days before Easter Sunday, a week before Good Friday; in 2026 it was 27 March. In 2027 it falls on 19 March, which is also St Joseph’s day. The third set is Tuesdays and Fridays. Mark Miravalle’s introduction to the Kibeho text asks for the chaplet “especially on Tuesdays and Fridays, as specifically requested by Our Lady”, and the National Catholic Register quotes a Marian Father to the same effect; that request comes from the visionaries’ accounts, not from the bishop’s declaration. Fridays have an older place too: the 1910 Raccolta grants its larger partial indulgence for the chaplet said “anywhere on Fridays, or during Lent, or on the feast and during the octave of the Seven Dolours”.

The line under the strings names whichever of these today is, Our Lady of Kibeho (28 November, the anniversary of the first apparition) included, and otherwise the next Tuesday or Friday. The week row has seven dots, Monday first, and lights a day when a chaplet begun on it is finished, so a week of Tuesdays and Fridays shows as two lit dots. A chaplet begun at 11:50 pm on a Tuesday and finished after midnight is Tuesday’s.

Kibeho: what was approved in 2001, and what was not

Many pages say the Church approved the Seven Sorrows rosary at Kibeho. What was approved, and when, is narrower and worth getting right. Mary was reported to appear at Kibeho, in southern Rwanda, from 28 November 1981, first to Alphonsine Mumureke; Marie Claire Mukangango said that on 6 March 1982 Our Lady taught her this chaplet and asked her to spread it. Marie Claire disappeared in the massacres of 1994.

Kibeho and the Seven Sorrows rosary: what the Church’s documents say, and what comes from the visionaries
PointWhat the record shows
Public devotionAuthorised by Bishop Augustin Misago of Gikongoro on 15 August 1988
The apparitionsDeclared authentic by Bishop Misago on 29 June 2001; the Holy See released the declaration on 2 July 2001
Which visionaries“Only the three initial testimonies”: Alphonsine Mumureke, Nathalie Mukamazimpaka and Marie Claire Mukangango
Which periodFrom 28 November 1981, with 1982 and 1983 “a decisive period”
The chapletNot mentioned in the declaration as L’Osservatore Romano printed it (English weekly edition, 11 July 2001, p. 8)
Tuesdays and FridaysFrom the visionaries’ accounts, as given by Mark Miravalle and Immaculée Ilibagiza; not in the declaration
The chaplet’s ageIndulgenced by Benedict XIII in 1724, more than two and a half centuries before Kibeho

So the apparitions to the three first visionaries are approved, and the chaplet they spread is an old and long-approved devotion, but the declaration does not itself approve a form of the chaplet, a day for it or a promise attached to it. The Marie de Nazareth encyclopedia cites the bishop’s own book on the apparitions (1991) for the same reading: the chaplet was not a new revelation but a reminder of a devotion of the 14th and 15th centuries, spread by the Servites, that had fallen out of use.

The Servites, the Order of Servants of Mary founded in Florence in the 13th century, are the chaplet’s first home, which is why it is also called the Servite rosary. The Raccolta of 1857 says they used “a Chaplet or Rosary of Seven Divisions” and spread it, and that Benedict XIII, “in order to induce more of the faithful to adopt it”, granted it indulgences by his brief Redemptoris; the 1910 edition dates the brief 26 September 1724, and Clement XII confirmed and enlarged the grants on 12 December 1734. Sources: EWTN, Judgement on the apparitions of Kibeho; Wikipedia, Our Lady of Kibeho; the Raccolta editions above; all read 2026-10-17.

Indulgences and promises: what the counter cannot tell you

The counter records which button was pressed. Nothing on this page can tell you whether an indulgence or a promise applies to anyone; that is a question for a priest. What the page can do is set the old grants beside what the Church has decided since, because holy cards still quote them as if they stood.

The indulgences for the Seven Sorrows chaplet in the 1910 Raccolta, and what changed in 1967 and 1968
The Raccolta, 1910, no. 230Since 1967 and 1968
Seven years and seven quarantines for the whole chaplet; 100 or 200 days for each Our Father and Hail MaryIndulgences are no longer measured in days or years (Indulgentiarum Doctrina, 1967, norm 4); a partial indulgence is simply “partial”
200 years, after confession, praying for the Pope’s intentionThe same; the 1857 Raccolta already noted that some summaries printed “200 days” where the bull reads years
Plenary once a month, and once a year for saying it four times a weekThe 1968 Enchiridion Indulgentiarum replaced the earlier grants and does not name this chaplet
Only on beads blessed by a Servite Father, or a priest with the faculty; some grants only if each sorrow is named and meditated onThe Enchiridion has a general grant for using a properly blessed object of devotion

Promises are a separate matter. Pages commonly print seven graces said to have been promised to St Bridget of Sweden for seven Hail Marys a day in honour of the sorrows, four promises of Jesus that St Alphonsus Liguori reports, and, from Kibeho, that the chaplet prayed with a repentant heart brings the “strength to repent”. All three are private revelation, which binds no one, and none is in the 2001 declaration. None of this makes the chaplet less of a prayer; the counter keeps your place whichever card you were given. Sources: the Raccolta editions above; Wikipedia, Indulgentiarum Doctrina; the National Catholic Register for the promises; all read 2026-10-17.

Online counter vs a clicker, an app, paper and a spreadsheet

Every counting method trades something away. This is what each one actually costs you.

Seven Sorrows rosary counter compared with the alternatives
FeatureThis online counterHandheld clickerCounter phone appPen and paperSpreadsheet
CostFree$5–$15Free with ads, or paidCost of paperSubscription
Anything to installNoBuy the deviceApp store downloadNoYes, or a web login
Several counts at onceUnlimitedOne per deviceUsually limitedYes, messyYes
Fix a miscountUndo and redoStart overSometimesCross it outEdit the cell
Counts by more than oneAny step sizeOne at a timeSometimesManual mathsYes
Below zeroYesNoRarelyYesYes
Keeps the count if you close itSaves automaticallyUntil you reset the dialYesIf you keep the paperYes
Works with no signalYes, after first loadYesYesYesOften not
Keyboard and shortcutsFullNoneNoneNonePartial
Sends your data anywhereNeverNeverOften, for accounts and adsNeverYes, to the cloud

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Frequently asked questions

How do you pray the Seven Sorrows rosary?

Make the Sign of the Cross and an act of contrition. Then for each of the seven sorrows, from the prophecy of Simeon to the burial of Jesus, announce it and pray one Our Father and seven Hail Marys while thinking on it. Add three Hail Marys in honour of Our Lady’s tears and a closing prayer. That is the Raccolta’s form; Kibeho booklets say the three Hail Marys first.

Do the three Hail Marys for Mary's tears go at the beginning or the end?

Both are printed. The Raccolta, which carried the Servite chaplet from the 19th century, says them at the end, after the seventh sorrow; so do EWTN and the Marie de Nazareth page on Kibeho. The Kibeho booklets by Immaculée Ilibagiza and Mark Miravalle say them at the start. On a circle of beads the two places are side by side, which is how both arose.

How many Hail Marys are in the Seven Sorrows rosary?

Fifty-two: seven groups of seven, one for each sorrow, and three more in honour of Our Lady’s tears. The sorrows alone are 49. EWTN’s form adds one Hail Mary for the Holy Father, making 53, which is the same as a five-decade rosary. There are seven Our Fathers, one before each sorrow, or eight with EWTN’s closing.

How many beads are on a Seven Sorrows rosary?

Usually 59: seven groups of seven Hail Mary beads, a bead or a medal for the Our Father before each group, and three beads by the main medal for the tears. Some are made with 52 beads and seven medals instead, a small medal of each sorrow taking the Our Father bead’s place. Wikipedia notes that the beads are conventionally black.

What days should you pray the Seven Sorrows rosary?

Any day. Accounts of the Kibeho apparitions ask for it especially on Tuesdays and Fridays. The Church’s days for the sorrows are 15 September, Our Lady of Sorrows, and in many countries the Friday of Sorrows, a week before Good Friday. The 1910 Raccolta also gave Fridays, Lent and the feast’s octave a larger indulgence for the chaplet.

What is the difference between the Seven Sorrows rosary and the rosary?

The rosary has five decades of ten Hail Marys and meditates on the mysteries of Christ’s life; the Seven Sorrows rosary has seven groups of seven and meditates on Mary’s sorrows, from the prophecy of Simeon to the burial. It has no Creed and no Fatima Prayer. In Hail Marys they are about the same length, 52 against 53.

Did the Church approve the Seven Sorrows rosary at Kibeho?

The bishop of Gikongoro declared the first three visionaries’ apparitions authentic on 29 June 2001, but the declaration as printed does not mention the chaplet. The chaplet needed no new approval: Benedict XIII granted it indulgences in 1724 and the Raccolta printed it. The Tuesday and Friday request comes from the visionaries’ accounts, not the declaration.

Is the Seven Sorrows rosary the same as the Servite rosary?

Yes. The Servites, the Order of Servants of Mary founded in Florence in the 13th century, spread it, which is why it is also called the Servite rosary or Servite chaplet, and the Rosary of the Seven Dolours. The 1910 Raccolta required its beads to be blessed by a Servite Father or another priest with the faculty. The Kibeho rosary is the same devotion in a later form.

Can you pray the Seven Sorrows rosary without beads?

Yes. The Raccolta asked for blessed beads only to gain its indulgences, and those grants were replaced in 1968; the prayers need no beads. Counting on your fingers works, and so does a counter: one tap a prayer, a sorrow shown as eight dots, and the sorrow kept if you are interrupted or come back tomorrow.

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