The History of the Rosary

By Bill Howard

© 2003 Texas Catholic

LAST OCTOBER, Pope John Paul II surprised the Catholic faithful by tweaking a tradition that is held dearly by many: He added mysteries to the rosary.

The five new "Mysteries of Light," or luminous mysteries, focus on the public life of Christ - his baptism, the wedding feast at Cana, his announcement of the kingdom of God, his transfiguration, and his institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. They fill in the blanks of the current cycle of 15 mysteries, which focus on the birth and death of Christ and the life of Mary, but do not address his public ministry.

John Paul II also declared a "Year of the Rosary" from October 2002-October 2003 in which he hopes everyone will put renewed emphasis on the rosary as a spiritual exercise that educates Catholics about the faith and helps them meditate and grow into a more intimate relationship with Christ.

"The rosary has accompanied me in moments of joy and in moments of difficulty. To it I have entrusted any number of concerns; in it, I have always found comfort," the pope wrote in his apostolic letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, released Oct. 16.

The rosary has become a primary image of the Catholic Church. The church has long promoted private and group prayer of the rosary. Rosaries are commonly said at wakes. You can find people praying them in front of abortion clinics or at youth retreats. In each diocese, you can find small teams of rosary makers.

Terry Ziegler of Catholic Arts & Gifts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area reported that rosary sales have increased since the release of Rosarium Virginis Mariae, particularly among people who have not prayed it in a while or are just learning about it.

The increase may also be due as much to rough economic times and a search for faith during the church's abuse crisis as the pope's introduction of new mysteries.

"People go back to the basics when times are bad," Ziegler said.

Over the past few decades, the rosary has been seen draped around the necks of music and movie stars, as well as around rearview mirrors of cars. Rosary costs range from free for a plastic or string rosary to a few dollars for rosaries made of rose petals and seeds to several hundred dollars for rosaries made from jewels and precious stones.

The roots of rosary history are hard to trace, but there is no doubt that it has become an important part of the Catholic tradition.

"The rosary, reclaimed in its full meaning, goes to the very heart of Christian life," the pope wrote. "It offers a familiar yet fruitful spiritual and educational opportunity for personal contemplation, the formation of the people of God and the new evangelization."

BY THE TIME the rosary, as we know it, became a regular part of Catholic prayer, prayer beads had long been a part of religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Muslim - even Christianity. There is evidence of prayer beads in ancient Egypt, too.

In the early church, Christians used prayer beads or knotted cords as a counting mechanism for long, repetitive prayers. Monks in the Middle Ages may have used them to count the 150 Psalms when they prayed. St. Rosalia, who died in 1160, was buried with a string of beads, known in those days as Paternosters (Our Fathers).

The name "rosary" comes from the word rosarium, which means "rose garden." By the time of St. Dominic in the 12th century, the rosary consisted of 150 beads, and the Our Father or Hail Mary was often recited on each bead as a substitute for the Psalms.

It is not known when the separated beads (known as the Our Father beads today) were added, but the rosary was eventually broken up into three sets of 50. At the time, the Hail Mary consisted of the first half of the prayer we know today: "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus."

St. Dominic is often credited with popularizing the use of the rosary. According to church tradition, Mary inspired St. Dominic to use it as a teaching aid to fight the Albigensian heresy, which, among its errors, denied that Christ could be both human and divine, because they believed the body was evil.

"St. Dominic took that which existed and added for every decade a certain meditation. He would pray a decade of 10 Hail Marys and then preach. He would pray and preach, pray and preach," said Dominican Father Paul A. Duffner, director of the Rosary Center in Portland, Ore., and of a large Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary.

"He didn't have the exact mysteries developed in his time, but he was the first to combine vocal and mental prayer," Father Duffner added. "It was especially helpful to so many people who didn't know how to read or didn't know Latin."

After St. Dominic's death, rosary sayers began to focus each group of beads on events in the lives of Jesus and Mary. To each set of 50 Hail Marys was attributed a set of mysteries - joyful, sorrowful or glorious - and an example of that mystery was attributed to each decade as a theme for meditation.

Since the 15th century, the Dominican rosary has held much of the same form that we practice today (see sidebar below left). The complete format of the vocal part of the prayer, which included adding the Glory Be to the end of each decade and adding the second half of the Hail Mary, is believed to have been in place by the end of the 15th century.

It was in that century also that the Franciscans devised another rosary practice featuring seven decades that focused on "the seven joys of the Blessed Virgin": the annunciation; the visitation; the birth of Jesus; the adoration of the Magi; the finding of Jesus in the Temple; the resurrection of the Lord; and the assumption of Mary and her coronation in heaven.

The Franciscan rosary, or "crown," dates back to 1422. It is said much like a Dominican rosary, beginning with the Apostles' Creed, the Our Father and three Hail Marys. At the end of the seventh decade, two Hail Marys are added to make the total number of Hail Marys 72 - the number of years they say Mary is believed to have lived on earth. Also, another Hail Mary and Our Father is sometimes added for the pope's intentions.

Pope St. Pius V, a Dominican friar, standardized the 15 mysteries of the Dominican rosary in 1569 and, in 1571, established a feast of the Holy Rosary to commemorate the Christians defeat of a more powerful Turkish Naval fleet in the Battle of Lepanto that October. The victory was credited to the Christians praying the rosary before the battle.

By the 16th century, the rosary prayer sequence included the Apostles Creed and became uniform around the world. In the 17th century, the rosary gained more popularity thanks to the efforts of St. Louis de Montfort, who wrote "The Secret of the Rosary," one of the earliest histories of and meditations on the tradition.

THE ROSARY SEQUENCE stayed the same until the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima in 1917. A prayer taught to the child visionaries then - "O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in greatest need" - began to be recited after the "Glory Be" and continues to be popular with some rosarysayers today.

Over the years, rosary beads have been used by Catholics as a counting mechanism for other popular prayers, such as the widely said Divine Mercy Chaplet established in 1935 by St. Faustina Kowalska.

St. Faustina wrote that one does not say the Our Father or Hail Marys for each decade, but rather certain prayers to Christ asking for a deeper understanding of his unlimited mercy. One begins with an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be. On the "Our Father" beads, one says "Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world." On the "Hail Mary" beads, one says "For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world." One concludes by saying three times "Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world."
Over the centuries, popes and saints have embraced the rosary as a powerful tool for praying and teaching. Pope Urban IV praised the merits of the rosary in the 1260s. Pope Leo XIII wrote extensively on the rosary in the late 1800s and stressed that families should pray it as a way to stay together. In 1938, Pope Pius XI granted a plenary indulgence for praying the rosary in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.

Pope John Paul II went one step further with Rosarium Virginis Mariae and, on the 24th anniversary of his election to the papacy, introduced the Mysteries of Light. According to Catholic News Service, John Paul II may have been inspired by Blessed George Preca, who in 1957 devised five new mysteries corresponding to events in Jesus' public life and called them "mysteries of light."

Father Duffner, who has spent more than 50 years promoting the rosary, admitted that even he was surprised at the addition of new mysteries.

"But I was happily surprised. There was nothing in the rosary about Jesus' public life, and this fills in the gap," he said.

Father Duffner said that the change may also be felt around each Dominican priest and nun's waist. They hang a full rosary of 15 decades from their habit.

"Do we have to add another five? I don't know," he mused.

Prayer beads are used in many religious traditions..

Dominican Rosary - A strand of beads used to meditate on the mysteries related to the lives of Jesus and Mary. Popularized by St. Dominic in the 12th century, this is the most common form of rosary prayed by Catholics. It is broken into five sets of 10 beads, and each "decade" is attributed an example of either the joyful, luminous, sorrowful, or glorious mysteries. After reciting the Creed, one Our Father, three Hail Marys and a Glory Be, each decade is begun with an Our Father, followed with 10 Hail Marys and concluded with a Glory Be. The Franciscans have their own rosary, or "crown" with seven decades.

Anglican Rosary - Created in the 1980s, it has four groups, or "weeks," of seven beads. Seven represents the number of days in the secular week, the number of days in creation, the number of seasons in the Anglican church year, and symbolizes completeness in the Bible. Four larger "cruciform" beads separate the weeks and symbolize the four seasons, the four points of the compass, the four Gospels and the four primary elements (earth, water, wind, and fire). A large bead above the cross is the "invitatory" bead, used as a call to prayer. The person praying often decides which prayers to use.

Chotki (Orthodox) - A woolen prayer rope, with 25, 33, 50, 100 or 103 knots, and a tassel. Traditional prayer used is the "Jesus Prayer," which reads "Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

Mala (Buddhism) - A string of 108 beads with a tassel. The 108 correspond to the number of earthly desires that a disciple must overcome. Mala is used to sharpen one's meditation skills. When you rotate the beads, you cannot use your index finger. The mala is done in rhythm with one's breath and the meditation. Its purpose is generally to help enhance goodness and diminish toxins in the body.

Mala (Hindus) - Like the Buddhists' mala. These are considered the oldest prayer beads in the world, dating back to before the time of Christ. The Buddhists' mala developed from the Hindu Mala. Mala means "rose" in Sanskrit.

Subha, or Tasbih (Muslim) - Means "to exalt" or "to praise God." Consists of 99 beads plus a leader bead and a tassel. The beads represent the 99 "names of God" mentioned in the Quran. The 100th name is not known to man. A 33-bead version is also available, which the user must cycle three times to reach 99.

Baha'i - a string of 95 beads. Starting at the beginning of the string, you slide a bead between your fingers and say "Allah'u' Abhá" ("God is most glorious") at each bead.

© 2003 Texas Catholic