WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE ROSARY? A dominican monk told me that it
is wrong to believe that Saint Dominic received the
revelation of the Rosary by an appearance of the Holy
Virgin. I would like to know the origin
of the rosary which we recite these days. When did
we begin to recite it? Did it start in Canada? Do you know of the little rosary
of Saint Anne de Beaupre? It has three sections of
five beads. *** I have assembled three questions on the rosary. In the great religions, the rosary, or its equivalent, establishes an easy and concrete bond with that which is holy. It is found in Hinduism; also in Buddhism where we see a mala or type of rosary on the wrist of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of people of Tibet; also in Islam where the Muslims recite the holy names of Allah on their sebhaa. There are several types of rosary: the rosary of the Seven Sorrows, the rosary of Saint Bridget, the rosary of Saint Anne, etc., but I want to talk mostly about the most common rosary. Many opuscules favour the pious recitation of the rosary. Pius XII said that the rosary was “the summary of all the Gospel”. John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II, among many popes, praised the rosary. The rosary lets us proclaim the Creed, recite the Our Father, the Glory be to the Father, the Hail Mary. Since the 15th century, as the result of Dominican Alain de la Roche’s influence (around 1470), the vocal recitation of the rosary is accompanied by meditation. We contemplate, during the recitation of the rosary, the principal events of our salvation: the joyful , sorrowful and glorious mysteries of the life of Jesus and the life of Mary. During the recitation of the rosary, that is to say the rosary of fifteen decades, we relive all which the Lord Jesus has done for us; near him, we find his Mother. During the recitation of the rosary, our thoughts turn towards our Mother in heaven. We ask her to intercede for us, “now and at the hour of our death”. She leads us to Jesus. What is the origin of the rosary? It didn’t just happen all of a sudden, the result of an apparition, not even to Saint Dominic who made good use of the rosary. It comes from the Middle Ages, mainly between the 9th and the 13th centuries, but no precise date can be attached to it. Christians were already reciting the first part of the Hail Mary, using the inspired words addressed to Mary by the angel of the Annunciation and by Saint Elizabeth. The second part came from the Church. Christians hailed Mary: Ave, Salve... This was the age of chivalry, of the invocations to Our Lady. Gradually, the custom of reciting 150 Hail Marys was established, just like the monks reciting 150 psalms. The Hail Marys were divided into decades; each decade started with the Our Father and, later, it ended with the Glory be to the Father. The recitation of the rosary became the breviary of people illiterate and devoted. To help in counting the Hail Marys, rosaries were manufactured with string. With devotion, Christians presented to Mary this circlet of flowers (‘chaplet’), this garden of roses (‘rosary’). The obscurity of the origin of the rosary is not very important, but we know the importance which the Church places in it and the richness it contains. In the time of Saint Pius V, at the end of the 16th century, the recitation of the rosary was widespread; one can attribute to it the victory of Lepanto, in 1571, over the Muslims. The great writer, Charles Péguy, wrote: “What I love in the rosary, says God, it is that it is simple and that it is humble, just like my Son, just like my Mother”. Since 1875, many are the pilgrims and friends of Saint Anne who pray the little rosary of Saint Anne. We recite it, beginning with the sign of the cross. Then we say “Jesus, Mary, Anne, pray for us!” The rosary is divided into three parts. Each part consists of the Our Father, five Hail Marys and a Glory be to the Father. The first part is said in honour of Jesus, the Grandson of Saint Anne; the second part is recited in honour of Mary, the daughter of Saint Anne; the third part is said in honour of Saint Anne herself. After each part, we repeat: “Jesus, Mary, Anne, pray for us!” This little chaplet, a source of blessings, honours Jesus, Mary and good Saint Anne. |