ROSARY CF TILE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY (Lat. rosarium, a chaplet of roses), the name given to a very popular form of prayer in the Roman Catholic church. The name rosary has been variously traced either to the title "Mystical Rose," one of the titles under which the Blessed Virgin is addressed in the litany of Loretto (q.v.), or to St. Rosalia's wreath of roses, well known in sacred art, or the beads being originally made commonly of rosewood. The origin of the devotion itself is popularly traced to St. Dominick (q.v.); but it is quite certain that its characteristic feature, the use of beads as a means of reckoning the number of repetitions of a certain prayer, is of far greater antiquity. See BEADS. Palladius tells of the abbot Paul, whose daily practice it was to repeat the Paternoster 300 times, that he used it number of small pebbles to secure a correct enumeration, dropping one of these into his lap at each repetition. Later, a string of beads, round the neck, and called beltidnm, was substituted. As the same use of beads exists among the Mohammedans, some have traced the Roman Catholic practice to a Mohammedan origin; but it appears quite certain that the practice existed among Christians before the time of Mohammed. Originally, the prayer so repeated was the Lord's Prayer; but when, in the 11th and 12th centuries, the so-called angelical salutation, "Hail, Maly!" etc., became a frequent form of prayer, it was added to the " Our Father;" and it seems beyond all doubt that the rosary in its present form wr.s, if not devised, at least fully intrcduced and propagated by St. Domi nick. The rosary, although called of the Blesged Virgin Mary, is a series of fifteen prayers, founded on the chief mysteries of the incarnation and passion of our Lord, interspersed with repetitions of the "Our Father," the "Hail, Mary!" and the doxiblogy It consists of three parts, each of contains five so-called mysteries, connected with our Lord's incarnation and public mission on earth, his passion and death, his res urrection and ascension, and the assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Each of these parts thus contains five mysteries (called also "decades" from the ten "Hail, Mattes") consisting of (1) a "meditation," briefly proposing the mystery which is to be meditated upon; (2) one "Our Father;" (3) two "Hail, Marks:" (4) one doxology; (5) a prayer begging for the special grace or fruit appropriate to the particular mystery. The whole
rosary, therefore. consists of 15 mysteries or decades, and thus comprises 15 "Our Fathers" and " Doxologies," and 150 " Hail, Maries." The devotion of the rosary takes several forms. The "Greater Rosary" consists of the recitation of the whole fifteen mysteries or decades, with their component prayers. The "Lesser Rosary" consists of one of the three parts, or of five mysteries or decades. The "Living Rosary" is recited by an association of fifteen individuals, each of whom engages to say daily one mystery. When recited publicly. the prayers are repeated alternately by the priest or other person presiding at prayer, and by the congregation. There is a form of the rosary common in foreign countries, especially Germany, in which the substance of each "mystery" is condensed into a short prayer of three or four words, which are appended to the "Hail, Mary!" and thus serve perpetually to recall the subject to the mind of the person pray ing vocally. The rosary has been sanctioned and recommended by numberless popes and other ecclesiastical authorities, and indulgences (q.v.) have been granted to persons reciting it with proper dispositions. It is•regarded by Roman Catholics as one of their most excellent forms of prayer, and as placing the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary on its true footing—that of a devotion to the incarnation and death of her Son, Jesus Christ. It is expressly recommended for the poor and the ignorant; and there are instructions specially designed for these classes, in order to enable them to combine prayer of the nund with prayer of the lips.
The mechanical instrument, so to speak, of this devotion is also called by the name rosary. It consists of a string of beads, equal in number to the " Our Fathers" and "Hail, MaHes" which are recited in the rosary—the "Our Father" beads being of a. larger size—one of which is passed through the fingers at each recitation of the prayer, and thns secures the person praying from errors of memory. The beads are of various material—berries, wood, stone, ivory, metal, etc., and are often of costly workmanship, and of considerable intrinsic value. They arc blessed for the use of the people by the pope, by bishops and superiors of religious orders, and by others having special power for the purpose.