There are two acceptable methods of saying the Franciscan Crown Rosary:

Method One

The first method merely follows the directives given by Our Lady for this devotion. That is, to say one Our Father and ten Hail Marys in honor of her Seven Joys:

The Annunciation
The Visitation
The Nativity of the Lord
The Adoration of the Magi
The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple
The Resurrection of the Lord
The Assumption and Coronation of the Blessed Virgin

In this method there are no introductory prayers. One begins the Crown at the centerpiece medal by announcing the First Joy followed by the recitation of one Our Father and ten Hail Marys.

The person praying the Crown follows this formula, described in the previous paragraph, for each Joy, arriving back at the centerpiece medal.

Then there is said two Hail Marys in honor of the seventy-two years tradition ascribes to the years Our Lady is said to have lived, followed by one Our Father and one Hail Mary for the intentions of the Holy Father.

There are no concluding prayers.

Method Two

The second method for saying the Franciscan Crown Rosary is to follow the pattern of the Dominican Rosary. Using this method, one would begin with the introductory prayers:

Apostles' Creed
Our Father
Hail Mary (3 times)
Glory Be

The Crown would be continued with:

The announcement of the Joy
Our Father
Hail Mary (10 times)
Glory Be

One would continue in this manner for each Joy until arriving back at the centerpiece medal.

The Crown would be concluded with two Hail Marys in honor of the seventy-two years tradition ascribes to Our Lady's life, followed by one Our Father and one Hail Mary for the intentions of the Holy Father. Lastly, the Hail Holy Queen would be said to conclude the Crown.

It should be noted that the Crown need not be said all at once but that one can distribute the decades throughout the day provided the entire Crown is said by day's end. In this manner, the Crown can be said, as with the Liturgy of the Hours, to sanctify the different periods of the day.

Also, it is not necessary to meditate upon each individual Joy, as one does with the Mysteries of the Dominican Rosary. Rather, all that is required is to say one Our Father and ten Hail Marys in honor of each of the Joys of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Franciscan Crown Rosary is, therefore, one of the easiest rosaries to pray and has been highly recommended, and indulgenced, by the Church as an efficacious means of paying homage to the Queen of Heaven.