Praying the Rosary.

Though many Catholics now say the Rosary every day of the year, the month of May is still regarded as especially devoted to the Blessed Virgin and the Rosary. Professor Marguerite Bourbeau Kussmaul gives us a detailed accounting of its origins and its nature. Editor

"Since the Holy Rosary is composed, principally and in substance, of the Prayer of Christ and the Angelic Salutation; that is, the Our Father and the Hail Mary, it was without doubt the first prayer and the first devotion of the faithful and has been in use all through the centuries, from the time of the Apostles and disciples down to the present."

Thus begins St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort's chapter on the origins of the Holy Rosary, in his wonderful little book called The Secret of the Rosary. He goes on to say:

"But it was only in the year 1214, however, that Holy Mother Church received the Rosary in its present form and according to the method we use today. It was given to the Church by Saint Dominic who had received it from the Blessed Virgin as a powerful means of converting the Albigensians and other sinners."

These words written over 275 years ago express what most of us know of the origin of the Rosary. But how did the Rosary evolve from the time of the Apostles and disciples to the time of St. Dominic? When was the meditation on the mysteries introduced? When did the custom of counting on beads begin? What is the origin of the name given to the Rosary? These are the questions I propose to address in this article.

Early Church

From the beginning of Christianity, St. Paul's recommendation to pray without ceasing, which we find in the first Letter to the Thessalonians (5:17), raised the question of how this could be applied in the Christian's everyday life. On the spirit of prayer, St. Maximus Confessor (d. 662) says: "We pray without ceasing if we keep our spirit in great fear of God, adhere to God with longing, remain always anchored in hope in him, trusting in all we do and in all that happens to us."

At an early date, the value of repetition was recognized. St. John Cassian (ca. 360-430/435) took the second verse of Psalm 69 [70] and used it as an invocation: "O God make speed to save me: O Lord make haste to help me." Some readers may recognize this invocation from reading the Roman Breviary, where it is recited as the opening prayer of the main hours of the day. It found its way into the Breviary, which is derived from the monastic traditions, through St. Benedict.

The Jesus prayer 

Taking up the use of repetition, the Eastern Orthodox tradition developed a prayer called the Prayer of Jesus, a very short prayer which says: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner". This invocation could be repeated up to a thousand times a day. In the introduction to the book The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology, Timothy Ware stresses the influence and popularity of this Prayer. He writes:

"In one spiritual authority after another, the Jesus Prayer is specially recommended as a 'quick way' to unceasing prayer, as the best and easiest means for concentrating the attention and establishing the mind in the heart."

He also mentions that it is common to employ a rosary in the recitation of the Jesus Prayer, but that "it differs in structure from that used in the West: normally it is a knotted cord of wool or other material, so that unlike a string of beads it makes no noise" (p. 27).

The use of the Jesus Prayer is attested in the twelfth century in the monasteries of Mount Athos in Greece, but there is evidence that it was already present in its fully developed form in the sixth century. In the nineteenth century, this prayer had become very important in Russian spirituality. It is through Russia that it came to be known in the West, more specifically through a book called The Story of a Russian Pilgrim, first published in Russia in 1870 and circulating in the West by 1925. The unknown author describes his pilgrimage to various Russian sanctuaries to benefit from the teachings of holy monks and hermits. He also describes the marvelous and miraculous effects of repeating the Jesus Prayer in his own life. Once known in the West, the Jesus Prayer enjoyed waves of popularity, one of them in the seventies and eighties. At that time Rainer Scherschel wrote his book Der Rosenkranz: das Jesusgebet des Westens (The Rosary: the Jesus Prayer of the West) in order to show that the West has its own J esus Prayer in the Rosary.

Angelic salutation

This brings us to the consideration of the Rosary itself. It began simply by repeating the first part of the Hail Mary, which is itself constituted of two parts: the Angel's words to Mary at the Annunciation, and her cousin Elizabeth's words to her at the Visitation. Thomas Aquinas points out that the Angelic Salutation is actually made up of three parts, the third being the name of Mary, which was added later on by the Church, as was the name of Jesus. This was a result of a special devotion to the name of Jesus which developed in the West, starting with St. Anselm of Canterbury in the eleventh century, carrying through the twelfth and thirteenth centuries with St. Bernard of Clairvaux and Blessed Henry Suso. The name of Jesus was added to the Angelic Salutation at the end ("and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus") in the thirteenth century.

The recitation of the Hail Mary as I have described it in its original form (that is, without the names of Mary and Jesus) is attested since the seventh century. It was repeated 150 times, 150 being the number of the Psalms. This explains why the Rosary is also known under the name of Mary's Psalter. Later, the repetition of the Our Father was introduced. We know that, as early as the twelfth century, the custom of combining the Angelic Salutation and the Our Father was established. At first, the Hail Mary and the Our Father were in equal numbers, and then the Our Father was used to punctuate the Hail Mary; that is, to separate decades of the Hail Mary.

From the beginning, the devotion of the Rosary was meant for lay people. Monks and priests read the 150 psalms, but the lay people, in general, did not know how to read and if they did know how to read, they did not have the time. St. Louis de Montfort makes this point, saying:

"Since simple and uneducated people are not able to say the Psalms of David, the Rosary is held to be just as fruitful to them as David's Psalter is for others." He goes on to say: "But the Rosary can be considered to be even more valuable than the latter for three reasons:

1. Firstly, because the Angelic Psalter bears a nobler fruit, that of the Word Incarnate, whereas David's Psalter only prophesies His coming;

2. Secondly, just as the real thing is more important than its prefiguration and as the body is more than its shadow, in the same way the Psalter of Our Lady is greater than David's Psalter which did no more than prefigure it;

3. And thirdly, because Our Lady's Psalter (or the Rosary made up of the Our Father and Hail Mary) is the direct work of the Most Blessed Trinity and was not made through a human instrument.

These considerations, even though they might be debated, explain, I think at least in part, why the Rosary, in the course of time, has become a devotion not only of the lay people but also of priests and religious.

St. Dominic

The custom of counting on beads has its origin in the eleventh century and evolves through the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In a relief of the thirteenth century, dedicated to giving thanks for the victory over the Albigenses (a Neo-Manichean sect that flourished in southern France at that time), we see the Holy Virgin, Simon de Montfort, and Saint Dominic with a Rosary in his hands. It is clear, therefore, that Saint Dominic was using a Rosary to count 50 Hail Marys.

A long tradition has attributed the Rosary as we know it to Saint Dominic. Saint Louis de Montfort confirms that tradition, which has been upheld by the popes in different encyclicals through the centuries, until Paul VI, who, for the sake of exactitude, ceased to allude to it. However, there is no doubt that Saint Dominic contributed greatly to the development of the Rosary, praying it himself, recommending it to others. Saint Louis emphasizes the role of Saint Dominic in this respect:

"Inspired by the Holy Ghost, instructed by the Blessed Virgin as well as by his own experience, Saint Dominic preached the Holy Rosary for the rest of his life. He preached it by his example as well as by his sermons, in cities, and in country places, to people of high station and low, before scholars and the uneducated, to Catholics and to heretics."

Rosarium 

The name itself, Rosary, is derived from the Latin 'rosarium', garden of roses. The Rosary properly speaking consists of 15 decades of Hail Mary's; however, it is often used in English to designate 5 decades only. In French, the distinction is made clearer by the use of the word 'chapelet' in the latter case. In English, the word 'chaplet' does exist, but it is not used as commonly. It is derived from the French 'chapelet', which itself is derived from the Latin 'capellus', which means 'small hat'. The small hat here was a wreath of roses, Mary's flower since the High Middle Ages. The poet Dante makes wonderful use of this symbolism in the Divine Comedy, where Mary is described as "the Rose wherein the Divine Word became Flesh", and where heaven itself is represented as a white rose, which germinated and blossomed in the love rekindled in Mary's womb; that is, in the conception of Christ.

The rose as symbol of love and the idea of a wreath of roses for Mary stem from the poetry of courtly love. Courtly love had its origin in the eleventh and twelfth centuries and it has influenced the expression of Marian devotion ever since Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, often called the troubadour of Mary. The poetry of courtly love frequently alludes to the custom that the lover presents a crown of roses to his lady. In the same way, he who recites the rosary makes a crown of roses for Our Lady. Saint Thomas Aquinas points out, in his Commentary on the Angelic Salutation, that the name 'Mary' in the Syriac language means 'Lady'.

Meditating on the mysteries

So far I have spoken of the origins of the Rosary, considering its first component; that is, the distinguishing of 15 decades of Angelic Salutations by inserting the Lord's Prayer. Let us now turn our attention to the second component, the meditation on the mysteries of our salvation in each decade. This is what Saint Louis de Montfort calls the soul of the Rosary and what sets it apart from all other devotions:

"The word 'mysteries' here refers to the main events of the life of Mary and Jesus. Saint Louis explains that "a mystery is a sacred thing which is difficult to understand". He goes on to say: "The works of Our Lord and of His Blessed Mother can be rightly called mysteries because they are so full of wonders and all kinds of perfections and deep and sublime truths which the Holy Spirit reveals to the humble and simple souls who honor these mysteries."

Rainer Scherschel states that in the first half of the fifteenth century, two Carthusian monks from Treves, Dominic of Prussia, and Adolf of Essen, were teaching and encouraging the inclusion of the meditation on the mysteries while reciting the Rosary. There were 50 mysteries for 50 Angelic Salutations. However, in a paragraph added after the completion of his manuscript, he specifies that a hundred years earlier, some Cistercian nuns near Treves were already practising a form of chaplet in which the life of Christ was divided up among the decades. To the name of Jesus, at the end of each Angelic Salutation, was added a short clause ('clausule' in French). For example, at the end of the first Hail Mary, the following would be added: "who was conceived by the Holy Spirit at the Annunciation of the angel". In Germany, this is still the usual way of meditating upon the mysteries.

However, this form was later changed to the form that is now generally known and practised. The number of mysteries was reduced from 50 to 15, and each mystery was meditated upon over a full decade. The 15 mysteries were divided up in 3 groups of 5: the Joyful mysteries, the Sorrowful mysteries and the Glorious mysteries. Saint Louis gives 5 reasons for this division in 3 parts (notice the symbolism of the numbers 3 and 5):

1) To honour the three Persons of the Most Blessed Trinity.

2) To honor the life, death and glory of Jesus Christ.

3) To imitate the Church Triumphant, to help the members of the Church Militant, and to lessen the pains of the Church Suffering.

4) To imitate the three groups in which the psalms are divided:

a) The first being for the purgative life,

b) the second for the illuminative life,

c) and the third for the unitive life.

5) And, finally, to give us graces in abundance during our lifetime, peace at death, and glory in eternity.

It has also become customary to meditate upon a group of mysteries on certain days of the week, unless one says the complete Rosary in a single day: the Joyful Mysteries on Mondays and Thursdays, the Sorrowful Mysteries on Tuesdays and Fridays, the Glorious Mysteries on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and the mysteries proper to the season on Sundays.

Among the later developments of the Rosary, we find the inclusion of the 'Glory be' at the end of each decade (I suspect under the influence of the recitation of the psalms); the second part of the 'Hail Mary' ("Holy Mary, Mother of God..."); and the preamble, consisting of the Creed, the 'Our Father', three 'Hail Marys' (in honour of the Blessed Trinity), and a 'Glory be'.

The latest addition to the Rosary dates back to 1917: it is the inclusion of a prayer at the end of each decade given by Our Lady to the three children of Fatima:

O my Jesus, pardon us and save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who most need thy mercy. Amen.

St. Therese Roddy, CSJ writes: Imagine what might happen if every Catholic in North America would pray a Rosary on the same day for the cessation of abortion! We have an example of the power of praying the Rosary from October of 1573, when Europe was saved from the invasion of the mighty Turkish army. Europe was saved by the praying of the Rosary by all Christians on a certain day and time.

Let us all unite in praying the Rosary on May 13 if possible between noon and 3:00 p.m. for this increasing urgent intention.

Marguerite Bourbeau Kussmaul is Associate Professor at the University of King's College, Halifax, N.S.