THE ROSARY
THE MEANING OF THE HOLY ROSARY
The word Rosary means ‘Crown of Roses’ so each time one says the Holy
Rosary, one places One Hundred and
Fifty-three (153) white roses and Sixteen (16) red roses upon the heads of Jesus and Mary. Being heavenly flowers it never fades away forever. 
NOTE:
Making or dissuading anyone from reciting the Holy
Rosary or joining the Rosary Confraternity is to be an enemy of soul. Because The
Rosary is a sure means of curing oneself of sin and embracing a Christian life.
Saint Bonaventure said that ‘whoever neglected the
Blessed Virgin Mary would perish in
his/her sins and would be damned and he who neglects her will die in his sins’.
If such is the penalty for neglecting the Blessed
Virgin Mary, then how can you
imagine the serious punishment in store for those who actually turn others away
from their devotions?
THE
HOLY ROSARY
The Holy Rosary is made up of two things Mental
Prayer and Vocal Prayer.
The Mental Prayer consists of the meditation on the
chief mysteries of the life, death and glory of Jesus Christ and his blessed mother Mary.
The Vocal Prayer consists of saying the fifteen
decades of the Hail Mary, each
decade headed by an Our Father, while at the same time Meditating and Contemplating
on the Fifteen Principal Virtues which Jesus
and Mary practiced in the Fifteen
Mysteries of the Holy Rosary.
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 time.
But it was only in the year 1214, however that the Mother
Church received the Rosary in its present form and according to the method/style
we use today.
THE
HAIL MARY
The Most Blessed Trinity revealed the first part of
the Hail Mary which Catholics all
over the world say today. The later part was added by Saint Elizabeth (the
cousin of Mary), who was inspired by
the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Mother church laid down the concluding part of the
Hail Mary in the year 430 when the
church condemned the Nestorian heresy at the council of Ephesus and defined the
Blessed Virgin Mary as truly the
mother of God.
At this time, the church ordered us to pray to our
Lady under this Glorious Title by saying “Holy Mary mother of God,
pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death”.
THE
OUR FATHER
The
Our Father has great value above all because of its Author who is neither a Man
nor an Angel but the King of Angels and man. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The
Our Father contains all the duties we owe to God, the act of all the virtues
and the petitions for all our Spiritual and Corporal needs and by saying it we
lift Our Soul from Earth to Heaven and unite it with God.
Saint
John Chrysostom says that ‘we
cannot be our master’s disciples unless we pray as He did and in the way that He
showed us’. Moreover God the Father listens more willingly to the Prayers
that we have learned from His Son rather than those of our own making which
have all Our Human Limitations.
Saint
Augustine says that ‘when ever
we say the Our Father devotedly our Venial Sins are forgiven’.
The
Just man falls seven times a day and in the Our Father, he finds seven
petitions that will help him to avoid downfalls and will protect him from his
enemies.
THE CREED
The
‘I Believe in God’ is marvelously effective as a means of sanctifying Our Souls
and of putting devil to rout. Because these Three Words contain the acts of the
Three Theological Virtues; Faith, Hope and Charity.
It
was by saying “I Believe in God” that the Saints overcame temptations,
especially those against Faith, Hope and Charity.
These
words were the Last words of Saint Peter when He was given a hard blow by the
sword on His head and where He was about to die, He managed to trace these
words on the ground with His fingers before He finally died.
The Rosary
The word
rosary comes from Latin and means a garland of roses, the rose being one of the
flowers used to symbolize the Virgin Mary. If you were to ask what object is
most emblematic of Catholics, people would probably say, "The rosary, of course."
We’re familiar with the images: the silently moving lips of the old woman
fingering her beads; the oversized rosary hanging from the waist of the wimpled
nun; more recently, the merely decorative rosary hanging from the rearview
mirror.
After Vatican
II the rosary fell into relative disuse. The same is true for Marian devotions
as a whole. But in recent years the rosary has made a comeback, and not just
among Catholics. Many Protestants now say the rosary, recognizing it as a truly
biblical form of prayer—after all, the prayers that comprise it come mainly
from the Bible.
The
rosary is a devotion in honor of the Virgin Mary. It consists of a set number
of specific prayers. First are the introductory prayers: one Apostles’ Creed (Credo),
one Our Father (the Pater Noster or the Lord’s Prayer), three
Hail Mary’s (Ave’s), one Glory Be (Gloria Patri).
The Apostles’ Creed
The
Apostles’ Creed is so called not because it was composed by the apostles
themselves, but because it expresses their teachings. The original form of the
creed came into use around A.D. 125, and the present form dates from the 400s.
It reads this way:
"I
believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus
Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of
the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was
buried. He descended into hell. The third day he arose again from the dead. He
ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. From thence
he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the
resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen."
Traditional
Protestants are able to recite the Apostles’ Creed without qualms, meaning
every line of it, though to some lines they must give meanings different from
those given by Catholics, who composed the creed. For instance, we refer to
"the holy Catholic Church," meaning a particular, identifiable Church
on earth. Protestants typically re-interpret this to refer to an
"invisible church" consisting of all "true believers" in
Jesus.
Protestants,
when they say the prayer, refer to the (lower-cased) "holy catholic
church," using "catholic" merely in the sense of
"universal," not implying any connection with the (upper-case)
Catholic Church, which is based in Rome. (This is despite the fact that the
term "Catholic" was already used to refer to a particular, visible
Church by the second century and had already lost its broader meaning of
"universal").
Despite
these differences Protestants embrace the Apostles’ Creed without reluctance,
seeing it as embodying basic Christian truths as they understand them.
The Lord’s Prayer
The next
prayer in the rosary—Our Father or the Pater Noster (from its
opening words in Latin), also known as the Lord’s Prayer—is even more
acceptable to Protestants because Jesus himself taught it to his
disciples.
It is
given in the Bible in two slightly different versions (Matt. 6:9-13; Luke
11:2-4). The one given in Matthew is the one we say. (We won’t reproduce it
here. All Christians should have it memorized.)
The Hail Mary
The next
prayer in the rosary, and the prayer which is really at the center of the devotion,
is the Hail Mary. Since the Hail Mary is a prayer to Mary, many Protestants
assume it’s unbiblical. Quite the contrary, actually. Let’s look at it.
The
prayer begins, "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee."
This is nothing other than the greeting the angel Gabriel gave Mary in Luke
1:28 (Confraternity Version). The next part reads this way:
"Blessed
art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." This
was exactly what Mary’s cousin Elizabeth said to her in Luke 1:42. The only
thing that has been added to these two verses are the names "Jesus"
and "Mary," to make clear who is being referred to. So the first part
of the Hail Mary is entirely biblical.
The
second part of the Hail Mary is not taken straight from Scripture, but it is
entirely biblical in the thoughts it expresses. It reads:
"Holy
Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen."
Let’s
look at the first words. Some Protestants do object to saying "Holy
Mary" because they claim Mary was a sinner like the rest of us. But Mary
was a Christian (the first Christian, actually, the first to accept Jesus; cf.
Luke 1:45), and the Bible describes Christians in general as holy. In fact,
they are called saints, which means "holy ones" (Eph. 1:1, Phil. 1:1,
Col. 1:2). Furthermore, as the mother of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Second
Person of the Blessed Trinity, Mary was certainly a very holy woman.
Some
Protestants object to the title "Mother of God," but suffice it to
say that the title doesn’t mean Mary is older than God; it means the person who
was born of her was a divine person, not a human person. (Jesus is one person,
the divine, but has two natures, the divine and the human; it is incorrect to
say he is a human person.) The denial that Mary had God in her womb is a heresy
known as Nestorianism (which claims that Jesus was two persons, one divine and
one human), which has been condemned since the early 400s and which the
Reformers and Protestant Bible scholars have always rejected.
Another Mediator?
The most
problematic line for non-Catholics is usually the last: "pray for us
sinners now and at the hour of our death." Many non-Catholics think such a
request denies the teaching of 1 Timothy 2:5: "For there is one God, and
there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." But in
the preceding four verses (1 Tim. 2:1-4), Paul instructs Christians to pray for
each other, meaning it cannot interfere with Christ’s mediatorship: "I
urge that prayers, supplications, petitions, and thanksgivings be made for
everyone. . . . This is good, and pleasing to God our Savior."
We know
this exhortation to pray for others applies to the saints in heaven who, as
Revelation 5:8 reveals, intercede for us by offering our prayers to God:
"The twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp,
and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the
saints.
The Glory Be
The
fourth prayer found in the rosary is the Glory Be, sometimes called the Gloria or Gloria
Patri. The last two names are taken from the opening words of the Latin
version of the prayer, which in English reads:
"Glory
be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen." The Gloria is
a brief hymn of praise in which all Christians can join. It has been used since
the fourth century (though its present form is from the seventh) and
traditionally has been recited at the end of each Psalm in the Divine
Office.
The Closing Prayer
We’ve
covered the opening prayers of the rosary. In fact, we’ve covered all the
prayers of the rosary except the very last one, which is usually the Hail Queen
(Salve Regina), sometimes called the Hail Holy Queen. It’s the most
commonly recited prayer in praise of Mary, after the Hail Mary itself, and was
composed at the end of the eleventh century. It generally reads like this
(there are several variants):
"Hail
holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope! To thee do
we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs,
mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn, then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile show unto us the
blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin
Mary."
So those
are the prayers of the rosary. Between the introductory prayers and the
concluding prayer is the meat of the rosary: the decades. Each decade—there are
fifteen in a full rosary (which takes about forty-five minutes to say)—is
composed of ten Hail Marys. Each decade is bracketed between an Our Father and
a Glory Be, so each decade actually has twelve prayers.
Each
decade is devoted to a mystery regarding the life of Jesus or his mother. Here
the word mystery refers to a truth of the faith, not to something
incomprehensible, as in the line, "It’s a mystery to me!" The fifteen
mysteries are divided into three groups of five: the Joyful, the Sorrowful, the
Glorious. When people speak of "saying the rosary" they usually mean
saying any set of five (which takes about fifteen minutes) rather than the
recitation of all fifteen mysteries. Let’s look at the mysteries.
Meditation the Key
First we
must understand that they are meditations. When Catholics recite the twelve
prayers that form a decade of the rosary, they meditate on the mystery
associated with that decade. If they merely recite the prayers, whether vocally
or silently, they’re missing the essence of the rosary. It isn’t just a
recitation of prayers, but a meditation on the grace of God. Critics, not
knowing about the meditation part, imagine the rosary must be boring, uselessly
repetitious, meaningless, and their criticism carries weight if you reduce the
rosary to a formula. Christ forbade meaningless repetition (Matt. 6:7), but the
Bible itself prescribes some prayers that involve repetition. Look at Psalms
136, which is a litany (a prayer with a recurring refrain) meant to be sung in
the Jewish Temple. In the psalm the refrain is "His mercy endures
forever." Sometimes in Psalms 136 the refrain starts before a sentence is
finished, meaning it is more repetitious than the rosary, though this prayer was
written directly under the inspiration of God.
It is the
meditation on the mysteries that gives the rosary its staying power. The Joyful
Mysteries are these: the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38), the Visitation (Luke
1:40-56), the Nativity (Luke 2:6-20), the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
(Luke 2:21-39), and the Finding of the child Jesus in the Temple (Luke
2:41-51).
Then come
the Sorrowful Mysteries: the Agony in the Garden (Matt. 26:36-46), the
Scourging (Matt. 27:26), the Crowning with Thorns (Matt. 27:29), the Carrying
of the Cross (John 19:17), and the Crucifixion (Luke 23:33-46).
The final
Mysteries are the Glorious: the Resurrection (Luke 24:1-12), the Ascension
(Luke 24:50-51), the Descent of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4), the Assumption of
Mary into heaven (Rev. 12), and her Coronation (cf. Rev. 12:1).
With the
exception of the last two, each mystery is explicitly scriptural. True, the
Assumption and Coronation of Mary are not explicitly stated in the Bible, but
they are not contrary to it, so there is no reason to reject them out of hand.
Given the scriptural basis of most of the mysteries, it’s little wonder that
many Protestants, once they understand the meditations that are the essence of
the rosary, happily take it up as a devotion. We’ve looked at the prayers found
in the rosary and the mysteries around which it is formed. Now let’s see how it
was formed historically.
The Secret of Paternoster Row
It’s
commonly said that St. Dominic, the founder of the Order of Preachers (the
Dominicans), instituted the rosary. Not so. Certain parts of the rosary
predated Dominic; others arose only after his death.
Centuries
before Dominic, monks had begun to recite all 150 psalms on a regular basis. As
time went on, it was felt that the lay brothers, known as the conversi,
should have some form of prayer of their own. They were distinct from the choir
monks, and a chief distinction was that they were illiterate. Since they
couldn’t read the psalms, they couldn’t recite them with the monks. They needed
an easily remembered prayer.
The
prayer first chosen was the Our Father, and, depending on circumstances, it was
said either fifty or a hundred times. These conversi used
rosaries to keep count, and the rosaries were known then as Paternosters ("Our
Fathers").
In England
there arose a craftsmen’s guild of some importance, the members of which made
these rosaries. In London you can find a street, named Paternoster Row, which
preserves the memory of the area where these craftsmen worked.
The
rosaries that originally were used to count Our Fathers came to be used, during
the twelfth century, to count Hail Marys—or, more properly, the first half of
what we now call the Hail Mary. (The second half was added some time
later.)
Both
Catholics and non-Catholics, as they learn more about the rosary and make more
frequent use of it, come to see how its meditations bring to mind the sweet
fragrance not only of the Mother of God, but of Christ himself.
A GOOD METHOD TO SAY YOUR HOLY
ROSARY
When you have asked the
Holy Spirit to help you pray well, put yourself for a moment in the presence of
God and offer up the decades in the way that I am going to show you later.
Before beginning a decade,
pause for a moment or two- depending upon how much time you have-and
contemplate the mystery that you are about to honour in that decade. Always be
sure to ask of Almighty God, by this mystery and through the intercession of
the Blessed Mother, one of the virtues that shines forth most in this mystery
or one of which you which you stand in
particular need.
Take great care to
avoid the two pit falls that most people fall into during the Rosary. The first
is the danger of not asking for any graces at all, so that if some people were
asked their Rosary intention, they would not know what to say. So, whenever you
say your Rosary, be sure to ask for some special grace. Ask God’s help in
cultivating one of the great Christian virtues or in overcoming one of your
sins.
The second big fault a
lot of people make when saying the Holy Rosary is to have no intention other
than that of getting it over as quickly as possible! This is because so many of
us look upon the Rosary as a burden which is always heavier when we have
promised to say it regularly or have been tied to say it as a penance more or less against our
will.
STORIES OF THE HOLY ROSARY
1. Saint
Mary Magdalene was privileged to learn at the feet of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
One day when She asked God to show Her a sure way of advancing in His love and
of arriving at the Height of Perfection. God sent Archangel Michael to tell her
on His behalf that ‘There
is No other means than Meditating on the Mysteries of My Son’s Sorrowful
Passion’.
So
Archangel Michael placed a Cross at the Front of Her cave and told Her to Pray before
it, and to remember what She had seen taken place before Her very eyes the Passion
of Jesus Christ.
Blessed
Alan says that a “Nun who always
had great devotions to he Holy Rosary appeared after death to one of Her sisters
in religion and said to her. “If I were allowed to go back into My Body to have
the chance of saying just one single Hail Mary-
Even if I said it quickly and without great favour- I would gladly go through
the sufferings I had during My Last illness all over again, in order to gain
the Merits of this Prayer.
2. One
day Saint Gertrude had a vision of Our Lord Jesus Christ Counting Gold Coins. She summoned the Courage to ask Him
what He was doing. Jesus answered her
saying “ I Am
Counting the Hail Marys that You have said; This is the Money with which You can Pay your
Way to Heaven.
MORE
ABOUT THE ROSARY
1. Tradition teaches us that the Feast of the Holy Rosary had its beginning when the Albigensian heresy was destroying the country of Toulouse. Shortly after September 12, 1213, St. Dominic turned to the Blessed Virgin Mary for the triumph of Catholic arms. As St. Dominic was kneeling before the Sacred Altar in the Church of St. Jacques, Our Lady appeared to him and instructed him to preach the Rosary among the people as a cure for heresy and sin.
2. In thanksgiving to Our Lady for the miraculous victory that followed, it is asserted that the crusaders erected a chapel in the Church of St. Jacques and dedicated it to Our Lady of the Rosary. Based on this tradition, it appears that the devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary had its origin in those days.
3. Over and above the defeat of the Albigensian heretics at the battle of Muret in 1213, it is believed that the grace of God frequently shined upon the world through the intercession of Our Lady of the Rosary.
4. Further research has proven that the Rosary was in existence prior to the days of St. Dominic. In those earlier days, its existence was patterned on the Book of Psalms. Originally, possibly as far back as the eight century, the Lord's Prayer was recited 150 times by religious communities. Those who were devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary replaced the Lord's Prayer with the first part of today's Hail Mary, reciting 150 Hail Mary's on beads strung on a cord.
5. During the fifteen century, the Rosary was divided into three Chaplets of 50 Hail Marys each, at which time five mysteries were added to each Chaplet. By the sixteen century, the fifteen mysteries had become accepted by all as the proper way of reciting the Rosary. During that period of time, the second half of the Hail Mary was added and the "Glory be to the Father" was used to close each decade of the Rosary. In 1569, Pope Pius V officially approved the Rosary as it was known throughout the world.
6. Keeping all this in mind, it was not until Our Lady of Fatima appeared to the three children on May 13, 1917 that she revealed herself to be Our Lady of the Rosary. Recognizing the apparitions of Fatima as being worthy of belief, on October 13, 1930, the bishop of Fatima authorized devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary at Fatima.
7. The "Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary" is closely associated with the titles of "Our Lady of Fatima" and the "Immaculate Heart of Mary." In summary, it began as a most beautiful spiritual prayer in recognition of the salutation of the angel of God to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
8. Then, it progressed to meditating upon the lives of Jesus and Mary, each mystery requiring reflection upon a biblical passage or an inspired truths that the Church has proclaimed as a Dogma of faith. Such truths consists of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary into Heaven.
9. While reflecting upon the mysteries continues to be the norm of the faithful, now, based on the apparition of Our Lady of the Rosary in Fatima, additional emphasis has been placed on repentance, praying for sinners and doing penance. Through this spiritual devotion, the Holy Rosary, Our Lady assures the world that evil shall be overcomed and that there will be a time of peace.
10. The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary echoes the words of Job that are found in the Book of Job. "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted." It has now become obvious to the world that the Lord God has eternal plans for the Blessed Virgin Mary and that He has commissioned her as the Second Eve to assist her Son in the salvation of mankind by bringing sinners to Jesus.
11. In the Book of Job, we read that "The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning." Equally, it can be said about the Virgin Mary. The Lord has indeed blessed the latter days of Mary more than her beginning. Progressively, over a period of possibly one thousand years, the fullness of the devotion to the Holy Rosary was not fully revealed to the world until 1917 when Our Lady stated, I am "Our Lady of the Rosary." If we are to measure the countless progressive honors that the Blessed Virgin Mary has received since She has departed from this world, can we begin to imagine what honors awaits Her in the days to come?
ABOUT
THIS VESSEL ROSARY
So what exactly
is this Rosary thing that Catholics do? Isn't it just
repetitious prayer babbling the Hail Mary?
Isn't vain repetition banned by the Bible?
The Truth is
that if you say your Rosary daily(LINK),
and meditate on its mysteries, it will bring down many graces from heaven to
you. It will strengthen you to overcome temptation, and to Grow Holy. It will
lead you straight to heaven, and away from the devil. Saying the Rosary is
pondering the Life of Jesus Christ
with Mary, as She did in Luke
2:19. Are 15 or 20 minutes a day worth that to you? How many people do
you know that say the Rosary daily are Lustful, Angry, Slothful, etc.?
Habitual sin will no longer be a part of your life.
The Rosary is more than
just repeating the words of Gabriel ("Hail Full
of Grace, the Lord is with Thee") and Elizabeth ("Blessed
art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb
Jesus") from scripture. It is also about meditating
on the 20 "mysteries".
Mysteries? What are these mysteries? They are broken down into four
sets of mysteries, all taken from the bible:
The Joyful Mysteries are as follows:
1. The Annunciation of the Birth of
Jesus to Mary
2. The Visitation of Mary to
Elizabeth
3. The Birth of Jesus
4. The Presentation of Jesus in the
Temple
5. The Finding of Jesus in the
Temple
The Luminous Mysteries are as follows:
1. The Baptism of Jesus
2. The Wedding Feast at Cana
3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom
4. The Transfiguration of Jesus
5. The Institution of the Eucharist
The Sorrowful Mysteries are as follows:
1. The Agony of Jesus in the Garden
of Gesthemane
2. The Scourging of Jesus at the
Pillar
3. The Crowning of Thorns
4. The Carrying of the Cross
5. The Crucifixion of Jesus
The Glorious Mysteries are as follows:
1. The Resurrection of Jesus
2. The Ascension of Jesus into
Heaven
3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit at
Pentecost
4. The Assumption of Mary
5. The Coronation of Mary
And Psalm 45:6, clearly talks about the Coronation of the Queen:
"Your divine throne endures forever and ever. Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity; you love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows; your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad; daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir. Hear, O daughter, consider, and incline your ear; forget your people and your father's house; and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him; the people of Tyre will sue your favor with gifts, the richest of the people with all kinds of wealth. The princess is decked in her chamber with gold-woven robes; in many-colored robes she is led to the king, with her virgin companions, her escort, in her train. With joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king. Instead of your fathers shall be your sons; you will make them princes in all the earth. I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations; therefore the peoples will praise you forever and ever."
(**NOTE - This last verse from Psalm 45 is a clear reference to Luke 1:48 concerning the Blessed Virgin Mary: for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed!)
The Bible says in James 5:20 that " whosoever brings back a sinner
from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a
multitude of sins." So by praying the rosary for
sinners, we not only save them, but ourselves as well.
To multiply the
blessings of the rosary, it is very beneficial to join the Rosary Confraternity.
By joining, you get the blessings from all of the rosaries said by all of the
members, rather than just yours.
MEDITATIONS OF THE HOLY ROSARY
Each
meditation on each mystery consists of saying one Our Father, 10 Hail Mary's (while meditating on the
mystery), the Glory Be to the Father Prayer, and the Fatima Prayer ("Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell,
and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy).
At the end of the Rosary, the Hail Holy Queen prayer is usually said.
THE MEDITATION ON THESE EVENTS IS THE KEY TO THE ROSARY(LINK). Mindlessly
repeating the Hail Mary prayer
without the meditation on these mysteries would be vain repetition, but when
the vocal prayer (the body of the Rosary), is combined with the mental
meditation of the 20 mysteries (the soul of the Rosary), then it is actually
praying the gospel of Jesus Christ!
The physical Rosary beads are nothing more than prayer counters to help us
remember when it is time to switch over to the next mystery.
If one is truly meditating, then trying to
remember the number of Hail Mary's
would be tough. By fingering the beads, it merely assists us with the
count. While it is tough to try to meditate on the mysteries at the same
time one is saying the Hail Mary,
the key to properly saying the Rosary is to concentrate less on the Hail Mary, and more on the mysteries.
Putting one's self back in time mentally and trying to visualize actually being
at the scene of the mystery is a good technique to use. And be sure to get
your rosary blessed by a priest. The blessing on the Rosary increases the
spirituality of your prayers, forever.
FATIMA
STORY
THE APPEARANCE OF BLESSED
VIRGIN MARY AT FATIMA to three shepherd children in 1917, as "Our Lady
of the Rosary". While this is a private revelation, it has been
approved by the Church as being true. While it is not binding on the faithful
as dogma, Mary did ask each one of
us to say the Rosary daily for peace and for the sinners on earth, who will go
to hell if no one prays for them. By making it a habit to say the rosary daily,
we not only are obeying the Blessed Mother's request, we are saving sinners
from Hell
THE ROSARY
Mary
is the Mother of the Holy Rosary that was why the holy book of Song of Songs
4:4 says “Your neck is like the tower of David,
round and smooth with a necklace like a thousand shields hung around it.”
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The Rosary is more than just repeating the words of Gabriel ("Hail Full of Grace, the Lord is with Thee") and Elizabeth ("Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus") from scripture. It is also about meditating on the 20 "mysteries". Mysteries? What are these mysteries? They are broken down into four sets of mysteries, all taken from the bible:
1. The Annunciation of the Birth of Jesus to MaryThe Luminous Mysteries are as follows: 1. The Baptism of JesusThe Sorrowful Mysteries are as follows: 1. The Agony of Jesus in the Garden of GesthemaneThe Glorious Mysteries are as follows: 1. The Resurrection of Jesus
While the first 18
mysteries can be directly taken from the Bible, the last 2 mysteries,
the Assumption of Mary and the Coronation of Mary, can be deduced from
scripture. Taking a close look at Revelation Chapter 12, scripture
talks about a woman, not a disembodied spirit, in heaven with a crown
on her head. Paul says that a crown AWAITS us all in heaven (2 Timothy
4:8), so this woman already has hers. Since this woman is the woman who
gave birth to the Savior, the woman has to be Mary.
And Psalm 45:6ff clearly talks about the coronation of the Queen:
The Bible says in James 5:20 that " whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins." So by praying the rosary for sinners, we not only save them, but ourselves as well.
To multiply the blessings of the rosary, it is very beneficial to join the Rosary Confraternity. By joining, you get the blessings from all of the rosaries said by all of the members, rather than just yours.
To learn about the history and origins of the rosary, click here .
How to Say the Rosary
Each
meditation on each mystery consists of saying one Our Father, 10 Hail
Mary's (while meditating on the mystery), the Glory Be to the Father
Prayer, and the Fatima Prayer ("Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save
us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially
those in most need of thy mercy). At the end of the rosary, the Hail
Holy Queen prayer is usually said.The meditation on these events is the key to the Rosary. Mindlessly
repeating the Hail Mary prayer without the meditation on these
mysteries would be vain repitition, but when the vocal prayer (the body
of the rosary), is combined with the mental meditation of the 20
mysteries (the soul of the rosary), then it is actually praying the
gospel of Jesus Christ ! The physical rosary beads are nothing
more than prayer counters to help us remember when it is time to switch
over to the next mystery. If one is truly meditating, then trying to
remember the number of Hail Mary's would be tough. By fingering the
beads, it merely assists us with the count. While it is tough to try to
meditate on the mysteries at the same time one is saying the Hail Mary,
the key to properly saying the rosary is to concentrate less on the Hail Mary, and more on the mysteries. Putting
one's self back in time mentally and trying to visualize actually being
at the scene of the mystery is a good technique to use. And
be sure to get your rosary blessed by a priest. The blessing on the
rosary increases the spirituality of your prayers, forever.
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Jimmy Akin - Catholic Apologist and all- around good guy, discusses "vain repetition."
FAQ's about the Rosary
♥ Why do Catholics elevate Mary to a goddess?
Catholics
don’t believe that Mary is a goddess. She has no power of her own.
She acknowledges in Luke 1:47 that God is her Savior. However,
Catholics do believe Mary when she said in Luke 1:46 that her “soul
magnifies the Lord.” Mary’s soul is still very much alive, and is still
magnifying the Lord, which is a very good and holy thing. Mary was
chosen by God the Father to be the living tabernacle, the Holy of
Holies, to contain the Word Made Flesh, Jesus. Jesus himself was
obedient to her (Luke 2:51). If it's good enough for Jesus to be
obedient to Mary, then it's good enough for his servants also. No
servant is greater than his Master (John 13:16). Jesus said that you
shall know a tree by its fruit, (Luke 6:44) and Jesus is the fruit of
Mary's womb ( Luke 1:42), which means that Mary, while not divine, was
certainly created and remained pure and holy, because a rotten tree
cannot bear good fruit.
♥ Isn’t saying the Hail Mary prayer worshiping Mary?
The definition of the verb "to pray"
means "to ask," not “to worship”. People who say the Hail Mary do not
worship Mary, any more than Gabriel did when he told Mary – “Hail full
of grace” (Luke 1:28), and Elizabeth did when she said “Blessed art thou
among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus”, Luke 1:42).
♥ Isn’t repetitious prayer considered to be sinful, according to the Bible?
No.
Revelation 4:8 makes that very clear. Vain prayer to false pagan gods,
and not praying from the heart, is what is forbidden in Matthew 6:7.
Telling Mary you love her and asking for her help and intercession is
what is commanded by Paul in 1 Timothy 2:1 as being good and acceptable
in the sight of God. It is no different than professing love for your
spouse over and over again. And speaking of the fallacy of God hearing you through many words, has anyone ever listened to protestant prayers before meals, for healing, and for other things? Sometimes they go on and on and on and on....
♥ Isn’t it forbidden by the bible to conjure up dead people?
Yes,
it is forbidden in Deuteronomy 18:10, as are all occultic practices.
Saul did this to Samuel in 1 Samuel 28. However, no one who says the
Hail Mary is trying to conjure her up to obtain secret information like
Saul did. Jesus Himself talked to the very "dead" Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration of Christ (Matthew 17:2-3), so it is NOT a sin to talk to those who have gone before us, because Jesus never committed a sin and talked to dead people. And,
according to Jesus in Matthew 22:32, God is not the God of the dead,
but of the living, so that means that people in heaven like Mary aren't
dead, but alive in Christ. People who pray to Mary are only asking for
her to pray to Jesus WITH them. Mary is not “between” us and God, but is rather “alongside” of us in her prayers. Mary was not only the first Christian; she was also the first Evangelist.
♥ Isn’t Mary dead? How can she possibly hear our prayers?
No,
all souls ever created are alive somewhere. Only atheists believe that
dead people are no longer alive. Dead in the body is not dead in the
soul. Jesus tells us in Matthew 22:32 that “God is not the God of the
dead, but of the LIVING.” In Luke 20:36, the Bible says that saints in heaven are EQUAL to the angels, and we all know angels can hear and intercede for us and are God's messengers as well. In Revelation 12, St. John says that he sees Mary in Heaven. In Revelation 12:17, St.
John says that we are Mary’s children (spiritually, like he was, in
John 19:27), if we obey the Commandments and bear testimony to Jesus.
According to 2 Peter 1:4, people in heaven become partakers in the
divine nature, and that would include hearing prayers. 1 Corinthians
6:17 says that those who are united to Christ become one spirit with Him, and NO ONE was more united to Christ than Mary, who was His living Holy Tabernacle for 9 months here on earth, and who Gabriel said IS "FULL OF GRACE" and "THE LORD IS WITH YOU!" This is why Mary was chosen by Jesus to be his entry point onto the earth; in other words, Mary was not full of grace because she bore Jesus for 9 months. Rather, she bore Jesus for 9 months because she was already full of grace, and therefore there is no room for sin in her body or soul!
♥ Why should I pray to Mary when I can go straight to Jesus in my prayers?
You
can go straight to Jesus in prayer, and you should. God bless you for
doing that. But James also says in James 5: 16 that the “prayer of a
righteous man has great power in its effects”. No one on earth can be
as righteous as anyone in heaven, and the Blessed Virgin Mary is
certainly in heaven. Also keep in mind that our prayers are
presented to God by the saints and angels in the form of incense
(Revelation 5:8 and 8:3). And saints can pray for us day and night,
even when we are asleep and can't pray for ourselves. The devil never
sleeps, and neither do the saints in heaven.
♥ Isn’t Jesus, not Mary, the one Mediator between God and man?
Yes,
and that mediation of salvation was accomplished on the cross, and is
ongoing today. Jesus is our Mediator between God the Father and Man.
Paul says that Jesus is the one mediator of the New Covenant, not
prayer (Hebrews 9:14-15). Mary leads us to Jesus, who will then lead us
to God Our Father. Mary’s role in intercessory prayer is no different
than when one intercedes in prayer for their loved ones. In other
words, saints in heaven share in Christ's mediation, just like your kids
share your life with you.
Quotes on the Rosary from the Saints
"The rosary is the scourge of the devil"
Pope Adrian VI
"The
Rosary is the best therapy for these distraught, unhappy, fearful, and
frustrated souls, precisely because it involves the simultaneous use of
three powers: the physical, the vocal, and the spiritual, and in that
order."
Archbishop Fulton Sheen
"The rosary is a treasure of graces"
Pope Paul V
"The Rosary is THE WEAPON."
St. Padre Pio
Pope Leo XIII wrote 9 encyclicals on the rosary.
Pope John XXIII spoke 38 times about Our Lady and the Rosary. He prayed 15 decades daily.
"The rosary is the most powerful weapon to touch the Heart of Jesus, Our Redeemer, who loves His Mother."
St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort
"One day through the Rosary and the Scapular I will save the world."
Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Dominic
"Say the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world."
Our.Lady.of.Fatima, 1917
"The greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary." .
St. Francis de Sales
"If
you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I assure you that in spite
of the gravity of your sins, you shall receive a never-fading crown of
glory. Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one
foot in Hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers
do who practice black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate
as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your
life and save your soul, if and mark well what I say -- if you say the
Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing
the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon of your sins."
St. Louis de Montfort
"Those who say the Rosary daily and wear the Brown Scapular and who do a little more, will go straight to Heaven."
St. Alphonsus Ligouri"Among
all the devotions approved by the Church none has been favored by so
many miracles as the devotion of the most Holy Rosary. "
Pope Pius IX "If there were one million families praying the Rosary every day, the entire world would be saved."
Pope St. Pius X"There
is no surer means of calling down God's blessing upon the family than
the daily recitation of the Rosary."
Pope Pius XII "We put great confidence in the Holy Rosary for the healing of evils which afflict our times."
Pope Pius XII"The Rosary is a school for learning true Christian perfection."
Pope John XXIII"No
one can live continually in sin and continue to say the Rosary. Either
he will give up the sin or he will give up the Rosary"
Bishop Patrick Boyle"Those
who say the Rosary frequently and fervently will gradually grow in
grace and holiness and will enjoy the special protection of Our Lady and
the abiding friendship of God."
Bishop Hugh Boyle "The Family that prays together, stays together."
Father Patrick Peyton "If
families give Our Lady fifteen minutes a day by reciting the Rosary, I
assure them that their homes will become, by God's grace, peaceful
places.
Father Patrick Peyton
"If
our age in its pride laughs at and rejects Our Lady's Rosary, a
countless legion of the most saintly men of every age and of every
condition have not only held it most dear and have most piously recited
it but have also used it at all times as a most powerful weapon to
overcome the devil, to preserve the purity of their lives, to acquire
virtue more zealously, in a word, to promote peace among men."
Pope Pius XI
"When
you pray Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now....., the
Blessed Mother comes instantly to your side to pray with you. And she
does not come alone. She brings angels with her. And not just one or two
for she is the Queen of Angels, so choirs of angels come with her. And
she and Jesus are joined at the heart and cannot be separated so she
brings Jesus with her. And Jesus cannot be separated from the Trinity so
He brings the Father and the Holy Spirit with Him. And
where the Holy Trinity is all of creation is and you are surrounded by
such beauty and light as you cannot imagine in this life. Your Mother
comes as Our Lady of Grace with her hands out-stretched. Rays of light
emit from her hands piercing your body, healing you and filling you with
graces. This
is your inheritance which was poured out from the heart of Jesus on the
Cross, when the centurion pierced His Heart with the spear, into the
only pure vessel ready to receive such graces at that time,Your Mother.
Now as you pray the Rosary, or even just recite one Hail Mary, you
receive your portion of these graces."He also said at this time, "Anyone
who goes to Mary and prays the Rosary cannot be touched by Satan." Is
it any wonder that anyone who prays the Rosary from the heart is so
blessed and protected and powerful in their prayers for others?"
Father Gabriel Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican
The
Rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the
greatest drama of love the world has ever known; it is the book of the
simple, which initiates them into mysteries and knowledge more
satisfying than the education of other men; it is the book of the aged,
whose eyes close upon the shadow of this world, and open on the
substance of the next. The power of the Rosary is beyond description."
Archbishop Fulton Sheen
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