Victor R. Claveau, MJ
In the dark ages of ninth century Ireland, the Monks recited or chanted the 150 Psalms of David day-after-day as a community prayer or “Praise to the Lord”. The local peasants outside the monastery wanted to join in with their brothers in Christ in this praise, but they could neither read nor write, so they would instead recite the Lord’s Prayer or the greeting of the Angel Gabriel when he announced to Mary that she was chosen to be the Mother of the Son of God. (We call this the “Hail Mary”.) (Luke Chap. 1 & 2). St Peter Damian (d. 1072) was the first to mention this form of prayer. Soon the Angelic Salutation replaced the 50 Our Fathers.
As peasants moved away from the monastery, they wished to continue this practice and so would stop what they were doing at that time of the day and kneel in prayer and say 50or 150 Our Fathers or Hail Marys and count these prayers by small stones in a pouch or by knots on a string. In this way, they were joining in a “community of prayer” no matter where they were.
Some medieval theologians considered the 150 Psalms to be veiled mysteries about the life, development, death, and resurrection of Jesus. They began to compose “Psalters of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” 150 praises in honor of Jesus. Soon psalters devoted to 150 praises of Mary were composed. When a psalter of 150 praises in Mary’s honor numbered 50 instead of 150, (50 = bouquet or rosarium and thus the name Rosary).
In about the 12th century a meditation on the life of Christ was incorporated into every rosary. So that in actuality each time we say a Rosary, we re-live a part of the lives of Mary and Christ.
In about 1365, the salutations were grouped into decades and an Our Father was put before each decade. This combined the Our Father and the Angelic Salutation for the first time.
In 1409, Special thoughts, meditations, were attached to each Hail Mary bead.
In 1470, the Dominican Order spread the form of the “new rosary” throughout Western Christendom.
1400-1500, The thoughts or meditations on the 150 Hail Mary beads took the form of woodcuts (graphic pictures). This exhausted the practice easily because of the volume of pictures. Picture rosaries were shortened to one picture/thought for each Our Father as it is today.
In the early 1900’s a movement was begun attempting to return to a form of the medieval rosary – one thought for every Hail Mary.
The present devotion, differing from the medieval version, is composed almost entirely of direct quotations from the Bible. It is appropriately called “the Scriptural Rosary”. A detailed explanation of this devotion can be obtained from Christianica Center, 6 N. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL. 60602.
The rosary is made up of twenty decades (ten beads), divided into five Joyful, five Sorrowful, five Glorious, and five Luminous mysteries, which make up a complete meditation on the life of Jesus and the life of His mother, as follows:
The Joyful Mysteries (The early life of Jesus): 1. The Annunciation. 2. The Visitation. 3. The Birth of Jesus. 4. The Presentation of the Infant Jesus at the Temple by His Blessed Mother and St. Joseph. 5. The Finding of the Youthful Jesus in the Temple.
The Sorrowful Mysteries (The public Life of Jesus): 1. Our Lord’s Agony in the Garden. 2. The Scourging of Our Lord at the Pillar. 3. The Crowning of Our Lord with Thorns. 4. The Carrying of the Cross by Our Lord. 5. The Crucifixion.
The Glorious Mysteries (Beginning with and following the Resurrection of Jesus): 1. The Resurrection. 2. The Ascension of our Lord into Heaven. 3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit. 4. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. 5. The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin as Queen of Heaven.
Luminous mysteries 1. The Baptism of Jesus. 2. The Miracle at Cana. 3. Proclamation of the Kingdom of God. 4. The Transfiguration. 5. Institution of the Eucharist.
The Rosary is the queen of Catholic devotions. It is the spiritual solace of Catholics. It is a compendium of Christian doctrine. It embraces both mental and oral prayer. The devout practice of this devotion preserves and enlivens faith; leads through Mary to Jesus; unfolds to the minds of Mary’s children the treasures the truth and grace hidden in the life of her soul. The devotion is so extensive within the Catholic Church that over 150 papal briefs have been issued in favor of this devotion. Pope urban VIII called the Rosary “the multiplier of Christians”. Gregory XIV called it “the destruction of sin and the procurer of the grace and glory of God”. Paul; V called it “the treasury of Grace”. Julius III called it the “tree of life”.