Unfortunately, despite its beauty, it is also one of the items most misunderstood or most controversial to most non-Catholics. What is the rosary and why has it become as such?
Let’s try to see.
digging the roots
Although one of the most prominent methods of prayer, the rosary’s history is quite vague. Tradition usually points to Mary handing it to St. Dominic. History, however, shows that people were reciting the rosary even before he was born. It can’t be denied though that he and his order had a big part in spreading the devotion.
The rosary probably developed through centuries. Early monks in the East had the habit of counting beads for all of the 150 psalms they recite. However, simple, somewhat illiterate, Christians made use of uncomplicated prayers in adapting the practice. This was commonly called the poor man’s Psalter.
Initially, these men prayed Paternosters (Our Fathers), and eventually made Hail Mary--recited in fifteen rounds of ten--as their usual choice sometime 12th century. They then resolved to have standard meditations for this practice. In the 16th century, Pope St. Pius V established the form we commonly use in our time. In 2002, Blessed John Paul the Great added the five mysteries of light which focused on Jesus public ministry.
essentially bookish
Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, “The rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known; it is the book of the simple, which initiates them into mysteries and knowledge more satisfying than the education of other men.” This is because the rosary is truly a biblical form of prayer. After all, its prayers come mainly from Scripture. Below are the prayers that comprise the rosary.
The original form of the Apostle’s creed dates back as early as 125 AD. It was not exactly composed by the Apostles themselves, but it expresses fully their teachings.
The Our Father came from the mouth of Jesus Himself. It appears both in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.
The rst part of the Hail Mary entirely comes from the Gospel of Luke, during the Annunciation and Mary’s visit to Elizabeth. The second part is not straight from Scripture, but its thoughts are entirely biblical.
The Bible describes Christians as holy, and Mary was denitely a Christian. She was the first to receive the Word of the Lord. She is the Mother of Jesus, which makes her the mother of God. (This doesn’t mean she’s older than God, okay?) Moreover, asking her to pray for us is also biblical. In 1 Tim 1:1f, St. Paul instructs all of us to pray for each other.
The next prayers are the Glory Be, which simply gives all the glory back to God, and the Hail Holy Queen, which simply recognizes how Mary points all of us to her Son, Jesus Christ.
giving it all you’ve got
The rosary has endured the test of time because it raises our minds and bodies beyond the humdrums of our lives. Its actions frees us from distractions by capturing our wholeness--body and spirit--into deep meditation.
When we pray the rosary, our minds are not merely on the words of the prayer but on the mysteries. The mantra--or prayers that are said in a single or double breath of air--together with our hands on the beads help focus our attention to prayer.
This is the key to the rosary’s value. Our prayers, are not focused on the words we utter, but rather they are the tools that engage us to a new encounter with God. This is also the reason why most people who often pray the rosary don’t say it with a somewhat "slow" approach.
a different result every time
Vain repetition is bad, but not all repetitions are vain. As we have seen, the rosary is by all means not vain repetition. Each time we pray the rosary, we are given a fresh opportunity of experiencing our God.
there’s a revolution!
In the 1500s, the Moslem Turks were wreaking havoc on Eastern Europe. With the coasts of Italy under attack, control of the Mediterranean was now at stake.
By 1571, Pope St. Pius V organized a fleet under the half-brother of Spain’s king at that time. According to Fr. William Saunders, “while preparations were underway, the Holy Father asked all of the faithful to say the rosary and implore our Blessed Mother’s prayers, under the title Our Lady of Victory, that our Lord would grant victory to the Christians.
“Although outnumbered, on October 7, 1571, the Moslems were defeated at the Battle of Lepanto. The following year, Pope St. Pius V established the Feast of the Holy Rosary on October 7, where the faithful would not only remember this victory, but also give thanks to the Lord for all of His benefits and remember the powerful intercession of our Blessed Mother.”
In our time, we, too, are in a battle where the rosary continues to play a vital role. In abortion clinics, peaceful rallies, it is the rosary in our hands that helped us endure in faith. But more than that, our heavenly mother calls us to arm ourselves with the rosary to pray for peace and forgiveness of sins.
So go on... pray the rosary!
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