The Rosary

October is traditionally the month of the Most Holy Rosary, and so, as a result, it seemed appropriate to speak on the Rosary, its history and a little bit about its origins. 

The Rosary is both a spiritual weapon and a crown of roses, a means for sanctification, and a means of peace. With it we meditate upon the mysteries of Christ's life, and come to understand those mysteries through Mary, the Mother of God. Just as Christ was born through Her, so too do we honor Christ through Her. We find within each mystery a part of ourselves, walking, as it were, with Christ and His mother from birth to death to new life, the Resurrection. From it, we come closer to the mystery of the virtues themselves, and find that by meditating upon those who lived the virtues perfectly we too strive for the same.

The history of the Rosary itself is not exactly clearly laid out for us, and, as with any devotion, there is both historical fact and countless stories that have arisen from saints, pious people and events that may or may not be true. Both of these, I believe, are needed for us to really appreciate what the Rosary has truly become.

One of the most famous stories concerns St. Dominic. It is believed that one day he had a vision of Mary, holding within her hands a beaded chain upon which she encouraged the prayers of the Rosary as we have it today, and while this is a very beautiful story, it is actually believed that the Rosary pre-dated St. Dominic. This does not mean, of course, he did not have a vision, rather, it is believed, that it was he who encouraged wider use as a means of prayer, praying it constantly as he did, and preaching about it any opportunity he had.

The Rosary is actually believed to have developed as a result of the monasteries, because in the monasteries the monks would pray the Psalms, 150 altogether. However, many monks as well as townspeople were unable to read, but wanted to be in solidarity in prayer with the monks, and so developed a means of praying 150 “Our Fathers” which later, given the rise in devotion to Mary, added the “Hail Mary” as well. This is why sometimes the Rosary is called “Mary’s Psalter.” However, what would happen is given the amount of prayers, it would be hard to keep track, so they developed a sort of abacus in order to keep count, originally it was stones but later developed into beads on a string.

The Rosary as we have it today was standardized by Pope Pius V, only for other prayers to be later added on, for example the “O my Jesus…” after the “Glory Be” which was the result of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, and the St. Michael prayer as a result of Pope Leo XIII’s vision for the protection of the Church. There is no real clear reason for the “Hail Holy Queen” and the “Memorare” to have been added, but gained popularity from St. Bernard and probably thought it would be yet another way to honor our queen mother.

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