Roman Catholic Church. - 1. A form of devotion to the Virgin Mary, chiefly consisting of three sets of five decades each of the Hail Mary, each decade preceded by the Lord's Prayer and ending with a doxology. 2. One of these sets of decades. 3. A string of beads of 5 or 15 decades on which these prayers are counted.
Similar beads used by other religious groups.
The Rosary (its name comes from the Latin "rosarium," meaning "crown of roses), is an important and traditional devotion of the Roman Catholic Church, combining prayer and meditation in sequences of ten "Hail Marys," each sequence being called a decade. [1] (http://www.rosary-center.org/nrosary.htm) A complete Rosary involves the completion of fifteen decades. While the Rosary was said by many Roman Catholics in the past, its use has declined since Vatican II, alongside many traditional practices and devotions.
The Mysteries
A recitation of the Rosary was traditionally dedicated to one of three sets of "mysteries" to be said in sequence, one per night; the Joyful Mysteries, Sorrowful Mysteries and the Glorious Mysteries. In an unprecedented break with tradition, Pope John Paul II in his encyclical Rosarium Virginis Mariae (October 2002) introduced a fourth, optional set, called the Luminous Mysteries. Each set has within it five different themes to be meditated on, one for each decade of ten Hail Marys.
The Origins of the Rosary
The historical record indicates that similar bead-prayers date to the earliest times of the Church (indeed, similar prayer beads are found in many religions, and some have been found dating back to antiquity). A common practice was to prayer on "Pater Noster beads", where one would pray the "Our Father" according to the number of beads on the necklace. According to Tradition, in 1214 the Virgin Mary gave to St. Dominic the basic form of the Rosary as it is known today, with minor variations in the wording of the Hail Mary, such as the addition of the Name "Jesus" by St. Bernardine of Siena (1380-1444).
In her apparition at Fatima (1917), the Virgin Mary revealed that every time a Hail Mary is recited, it is as if a rose was offered Her, so a complete Rosary is like a crown of roses. (This idea of a Rosary being a crown predates Fatima by centuries, and was expressed on several occasions by mediaeval and later Catholics, notably St. Louis de Montfort in his promotional book Secrets of the Rosary.)
Types of Rosaries
Some national variations in terms of prayers used and structure occur in the form of the recitation of the Rosary.
Rosary Beads
A Rosary Beads usually contains 50 beads in groups of ten (the decades), with an additional large bead before each decade. Some beads have been known to have one hundred or one hundred and fifty are also known. These numbers were chosen to match the number of psalms, or a third or two-thirds of them. This was because in ancient times monks and clergy used to recite the entire psalter every day; the practice of saying one hundred and fifty Pater Nosters developed as an alternative for those who were illiterate or who could not afford a psalter. It was only in the Middle Ages, however, when prayer to Mary became common among Catholics, that the use of Ave Marias instead of Pater Nosters came about. The beads were traditionally made from the seeds of the Bead tree, but are now more usually made of artificial materials. A set of Rosary Beads is considered a sacramental.
Traditionally, 15 decades used to be said in total, a total increased to 20 with the addition in 2002 by Pope John Paul II of a fourth set of "Mysteries" (known as the "Luminous Mysteries" or "Mysteries of Light"). Some Catholics, particularly those who regard themselves as Traditional Catholics, continue to observe the more traditional form of the Rosary and do not include the "Luminous Mysteries" in their recitation of the Rosary.
Each decade of the Rosary traditionally corresponds to a mystery of Redemption, although the mysteries did not originate until the 15th or 16th century, and even then there was not universal agreement on what they were.
In a common form, the beads are true olive seeds; in past times there was a respectable trade in Rosaries made with olive seeds supposedly from the Garden of Gethsemane. Beads are sometimes made with sacred relics.
Non-Roman Catholics and the Rosary
Eastern Christians also use similar strings of beads to pray, although among the Orthodox their use is mainly restricted to monks and bishops, not being common among laity or secular clergy. Many Eastern Christians use a prayer rope instead; its use is much more prevalent, and it is typically associated with the Jesus Prayer.
Some Anglicans pray the Rosary, but another form of prayer beads is popular among Anglicans/ Episcopalians. Originally called Anglican prayer beads, this bead set is also known as "Christian prayer beads" because of the popularity it has found among Protestants generally. The term "Anglican Rosary" is sometimes also used.
Anglican bead sets contain 28 beads in groups of seven (the "weeks"), with an additional large bead before each. In total, there are thirty-three beads representing the years of Jesus' life on Earth. The most common prayer used is the Jesu
