| Introduction
Through centuries Popes and saints have
highly recommended the Rosary, as the greatest prayer in the Church after
the Mass and Liturgy of the Hours.
The purpose of the Rosary is to help keep
in memory certain principal events or mysteries in the history of our salvation,
and to thank and praise God for them.
In the Roman Catholic religion, the Rosary
is one of the most beautiful and sacred prayers. The Rosary is a devotion
to God through a devotion to Mary. The Rosary consists of a series of prayers.
The Rosary offers hope even though there are pains and sorrows in the world.
The Rosary is the recitation of five decades
of the Our Father, ten Hail Mary's, and a Glory Be. The person mediates
on the saving mysteries of our Lord's life and the Blessed Mother. The
mysteries include: Joyful
Mysteries, Sorrowful
Mysteries, Glorious
Mysteries, and Luminous
Mysteries.
The Rosary beads are used to keep track
of prayers being recited. The Rosary reminds us of what Jesus lived through
and did for us. By praying the Rosary, people obtain a deeper appreciation
of these events in His life.
Brief History
The origin of the Rosary is not clear.
During the earliest days of the Church, Catholics used prayer beads and
the repetitive prayers. There is evidence that beads were used to assist
prayers in the Middle Ages.
During the fifteenth century, the Rosary
structure formed. Fifty Hail Mary's were recited and were linked with verses
of psalms. The prayer was called rosarim meaning rose garden. Later, the
name became the Rosary. Rosary means a crown of roses, a spiritual bouquet
given to the Blessed Mother.
Saint Dominick, who founded the Order of
Friars Preachers (Dominicans) in 1215, is the person that designed the
structure of the Rosary. He was moved by a vision of our Blessed Mother.
Tradition says that the Blessed Mother herself asked for the practice as
an antidote for heresy and sin. The Rosary became popular in the 1500's.
There were many wars, and people turned to the Rosary for comfort. On October
7, 1572, Pope St. Pius V established the Feast of the Holy Rosary.
The 20 Mysteries
There are twenty mysteries reflected upon
in the Rosary, and these are divided into
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Joyful
Mysteries are said on Monday and Saturday |
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The Annunciation
The Visitation
The Nativity
The Presentation in the Temple
The Finding in the Temple |
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Sorrowful
Mysteries are said on Tuesday and Friday |
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The Agony in the Garden
The Scourging at the Pillar
The Crowning with Thorns
The Carrying of the Cross
The Crucifixion |
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Glorious
Mysteries are said on Wednesday and Sunday |
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The Resurrection
The Ascension
The Coming of the Holy Spirit
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary |
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Luminous
Mysteries are said on Thursday |
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The Baptism of Jesus
The Wedding Feast of Cana
Jesus' Proclamation of the Kingdom
The Transfiguration
The First Eucharist |
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| St.
Dominick (1170-1221) said: |
"A
man who governs his passions is master of his world.
We must either command them
or be enslaved by them.
It is better to be a hammer
than an anvil." |
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