The Sunday Mail
Fr Ignatius Padya, SJ
PERHAPS one of the most common and beautiful devotions practiced by Catholics all over the world is the recitation of the rosary.
Many people identify Catholics when they see them wearing this rosary or when they see Catholics reciting prayers as they touch one bead after the other. Within the Catholic calendar October is recognised as the month of the rosary, and so Catholics take time to pray using the rosary seeking the intercession of Mary the mother of Jesus.
It is unfortunate that this beautiful devotional prayer has also been a source of some contention and confusion among our Protestant brothers and sisters.
I have personally been challenged by friends over the rosary. The accusations are mainly on what my friends term “over emphasis” of the place and role of Mary in the Catholic faith.
Others would say praying the rosary is idolatry and is unChristian as they are of the opinion that the rosary prayers have nothing to do with God or Jesus but just a mere praise prayer to Mary the mother of Jesus, who does not deserve such a treat.
Others would say that the rosary has no scriptural basis and hence anything unscriptural should not be used by Christians. It is unfortunate that such conclusions as these are made without much research into the reasons why Catholics use the rosary as a form of prayer.
Without going into a theological debate let us look at the history of this prayer, its nature or format and why Catholics use it as a prayer.
Origins
The origins of the rosary in the form we pray it today come from an early Christian tradition of repetitive prayer that took concrete form during the time of St Domini (AD 1221) who – according to tradition – received a vision to recite this prayer from Mary to pray for peace.
The prayer continued and continues to be used by Christians when they are praying for particular needs. Another tradition of the rosary goes back to the early Christian monks who practised what is called the Divine Office (prayers whereby they would recite all 150 psalms through the course of the day).
They then came up with a set of prayers that had the ‘Our Father, the Hail Mary’ and other prayers for the lay people. The faithful would recite between 50 and 100 Our Fathers using a set of prayer beads similar in concept to our modern day rosary beads.
This is the beginning of the rosary which continued to be developed into what it is today. The use of beads that many non-Catholics tend to criticise by calling superstitious has a history going back into early Christianity and even before.
Many cultures throughout history (including pre-Christian and non-Christian cultures) have used a form of prayer beads; and many still use them.
The English word “bead” is actually etymologically linked to “bede,” an Old English noun meaning “prayer”.
In their original Christian context, the beads were first called “Paternosters” to reflect the prayer that was said with them. It is thought that the shift in use of these beads to say Hail Marys (or Ave Marias) began in the 12th century.
They eventually became known as “rosaries” from the Latin term “rosary”, which means “garland of roses” – and the recognition of the rose as a symbol of Mary. These rosary beads provide a physical method of keeping count of the number of Hail Marys said as the mysteries are contemplated.
Over time, the rosary in the form we have it today — including Our Fathers, Glory Be’s, and meditative “mysteries” for each decade, was formed. Now we have this beautiful devotion to aide us in our prayer and meditation.
The rosary is mainly a set of prayers that are put together around a set of what is termed Mysteries. One set of a rosary has five steps forming this one mystery and in-between each mystery we have the prayers like Our Father, and ten Hail Mary prayers ending with a prayer called Glory Be.
The Mysteries of the Rosary are meditations on episodes in the life and death of Jesus from the Annunciation to the Ascension and beyond, known as the Joyful Mysteries, the Sorrowful Mysteries, the Glorious Mysteries and the Luminous mysteries.
Each of these mysteries contemplates five stages of Christ’s life. Thus the rosary is a contemplation of the life of Christ. When Catholics pray the rosary what they are simply doing is that they are meditating on Jesus Christ in union with Mary his mother.
They move from one mystery to the other reflecting on how Christ lived his life, learning from him and praying that they may follow in his footsteps in their own lives.
Sorrowful Mysteries
1. The Agony in the Garden; Fruit of the Mystery: Sorrow for Sin, Uniformity with the Will of God
2. The Scourging at the Pillar; Fruit of the Mystery: Mortification, Purity
3. The Crowning with Thorns; Fruit of the Mystery: Contempt of the World, Courage
4. The Carrying of the Cross; Fruit of the Mystery: Patience
5. The Crucifixion and Death of our Lord; Fruit of the Mystery: Perseverance, Salvation, Forgiveness,
All the mysteries of the rosary come from the Bible.
One would be correct in saying that praying the rosary is another way of reading the Bible and following the life of Christ. And what a beautiful way to do it by participating in His life and adding one’s prayers to it! Catholics thus believe that when they meditate on Christ through the rosary they draw their attention to the desires of God and they are made more aware of the life of Jesus whom they desire to imitate.
If it is a question of whether the rosary prayer has roots in scripture, an honest answer is yes. All the mysteries and the prayers of the rosary have biblical roots.
The Hail Mary prayer that many criticise as unChristian is in fact a prayer made of words from different parts of the Bible in the New Testament: {Hail Mary, full of grace the Lord is with you (Luke 1:28), blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus (Luke 1:41-42), Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death (John 2:1-5)}.
So when you see a Catholic praying the rosary prayer, realise that he or she is meditating on Christ’s life.
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