Rosaries

Five nations rosary Delivered in an elegant box in the shape of heart, this attractive rosary symbolize the five Nations...

Partitioned rosary Partitioned rosary...

Wooden rosary of olive tree Wooden rosary made of olive tree, on cord...

Ten beads and box Rose ten beads delivered in a pretty small box...

In the catholic religion, it is at the beginning a cap, or a crown of flowers, forming a small hat. Indeed, during the Middle Age, the usage was to make crown of roses on the statues of the Virgin Mary, each rose symbolizing a prayer. This object can be represented in various forms (cross, collar...), in various materials (wood, mother-of-pearl). A rosary chain is composed of five series of ten grains (each grain materializing for example one "Ave Maria...") each series of ten grains is followed by a separate grain (materializing for example one "Pater Noster..."). It can also be a small collar or bracelet made up of a cross and ten bowls, it is then called ten beads.

In addition to the object, the rosary is the protocol which consists in requesting five series of prayers. It is what one calls the traditional or traditional roasary. But there are also many others, known as devotion rosaries, resulting or not from appearances and revelations, which are recited for some of them with a special chain. The rosary (or the chain) is not limited to the recitation of the prayers but also the meditation. The rosary is a simple prayer, of which goal is to introduce one to the contemplation of the mysteries of the life of Christ.

The traditional rosary

The complete recitation of the traditional rosary is as follows:
Beforehand, one starts by making the sign of cross, possibly accompanied with a "In the name of the Father...".
On the cross, one recites the creed or "I believe...".
On the first coarse grain at the top of the cross, one recites the prayer to the Lord or "Pater Noster".
On the three following grains, one recites one ave Maria or "Hail you Mary...".
On the following coarse grain, one recites a gloria patri or "Glory with the Father...", possibly accompanied with one prayer to the Lord.
The end of the ten beads can possibly be accompanied with one gloria patri as well as prayer taught by Marie with the children by Fatima or "Ô my Jesus...".
On the coarse grains separating each ten, one recites a prayer to the Lord.
On the medal finishing the chain, one recites with the choice the Regina salvo or the litanies of Lorette.
One can complete the recitation of the rosary by the sign of cross and possibly an invocation to Marie.
It happens that certain communities add or modify this procedure but it is recognized like more curent.
The rosary of Marie consists in reciting the chain three or four times, while meditating, at the end or at the beginning of the ten beads, on a mystery suitable for the faith, the life of Christ and of Marie. One counts twenty mysteries, gathered by groups of five. Each group is contemplated one particular day of the week. The merry, glorious and painful mysteries were fixed by Pope Pius V in 1569. In 2002, Pope John Paul II proposes with the prayer a new group of mysteries: luminous mysteries.

The rosary of Joseph, is rarer. It comprises only fifteen mysteries to be contemplated and those are different from those of Marie.
The current mysteries are not the only ones. Some other mysteries can be topics of meditations. Each verse of the Gospel can be contemplated: there existed up to 200 mysteries at the Middle Age Thus, the setting in the tomb, the cure of Lazare, the Blisses... can be episodes of the life of Jesus favourable to the reflexion by the prayer. Pope Pius XII had habit to say that the rosary is "a summary of all the Gospel".


Rosaries of devotion

Rosaries of devotion are rather numerous. Among the most current, one counts the chain of Archangel Michelmas. This last results from an appearance of Saint Michael in Antonia of Astoniac during which the Archangel meant Antonia he wanted to be honoured by nine greetings corresponding to the nine choruses of the angels (symbolized by nine groups of three grains, each separated by a coarse grain), each greeting being made up of a lord' s Prayer and three aves. This litany is inspired owing to the fact that in its fight against forces of Evil, Saint Michael expected to be helped by the nine choruses of the angels to gain the victory against Evil, and also by Virgin Mary, called the Queen of the Angels. According to the Archangel, whoever would request this rosary with faith and devotion before receiving the Holy Communion would be surrounded (to accompany it to the altar) by an angel of each chorus. This devotion, approved by the Church since 1851, is enriched by many indulgences. In addition to the plenary indulgences to be gained in the ordinary conditions, one hundred days of indulgence can be obtained for each day spent carrying this chain on oneself, or for each day one kisses the medal of the Saints Angels. It also guarantees assistance during lifetime and even after death. This chain has 39 grains, four grains are gathered on the medal.


Another chain resulting from an appearance is the chain of the divine mercy, born of the many revelations which Christ made to sister Faustine Kowalska, which was requested to be the apostle of mercy. According to this appearance, Christ would have promised that whoever would recite this chain with assiduity, faith and devotion, would obtain graces when passing beyond. It is an object of devotion to the mercy.
A well-known devotion rosary is the rosary of the seven pains of Mary. Physically, this chain counts 59 grains, or in other cases, 49 grains, separated by seven medals, to which three grains are added. The seven groups of seven grains represent the pains of Virgin Mary which must be the object of prayer and meditation.
Lastly, one can also quote the rosary of the five wounds. It has its origin from the will of the Passionists fathers to concentrate their worship on the five wounds of crucified Jesus, that he offered in order to cure the wounds of the hearts. It was approved by Pius VII in 1822.


It thus appears that the rosary is not only one instrument of declaimation and contemplation, which would not only serve to avoid any distraction during the prayer. It is also a source of meditation which directs the latter towards the mysteries of life of Jesus and the hardships he endured.
With the variety and the oldness of its uses, the rosary is one of the most current worship instruments to testify one's faith and its devotion. Pope John Paul II,very attached himself to the rosary, had promoted the year of the rosary between October 2002 and October 2003. The month of october being, since the end of the XIXth century and the appearance of the Virgin to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, traditionally the month of the rosary.
No doubt that during the Lourdes 2008 jubilee, chains and rosaries will be in the center of all the prayers.

See also (in French) : Encyclopédie du Chapelet :: Histoire de Bernadette Soubirous :: Lourdes 2008 :: La profession de foi :: La première communion