OUTLINE

HISTORY OF THE ROSARY

A. The Beads as Mechanical Apparatus to Count Prayers

1. Non-Christian Tradition

2. Christian Tradition

B. How the Rosary Developed Overtime

1. The Hail Mary’s

2. The Rosary as We Know Today

C. The Great Propagators of the Rosary

1. The Magisterium

2. The Saints and Religious Orders

3. The Blessed Mother in Her Apparitions

D. The Victories of the Rosary in World History

1. The Battle of Lepanto

2. The Rosary Revolutions of the Philippines

E. The Question of Repetitive Prayers

1. Does God Prohibit Repetitive Prayers?

2. Biblical Support of Repetitive Prayers

3. CONCLUSION
 HISTORY OF THE ROSARY

A. The Beads as Mechanical Apparatus to Count Prayers

BEADS were used as a mechanical apparatus to count prayers that have

to be repeated a large number of times.

1. Non-Christian Tradition

Mohammedans: the “tasbih” or bead string consisting of 33, 66,

and 99 beads are used to count devotionally the names of Allah.
The Mohameddans have been using the “tasbih” for many
centuries.

Japamala: In the Sanskrit language “mala” means garland. Mala

is a string of prayer beads commonly used in Hinduism, Jainism,
Sikhism, Buddhism and Shinto for spiritual practice.

Buddhists use prayer beads (108) as aid in memorizing the

number of mantras one has chanted or silently recited but the
rhythmic counting of beads also contributes to focus and calm the
mind.

Marco Polo, visiting the King of Malabar in the 13th century, found
to his surprise that the monarch used stringed beads of 104
precious stones to count his prayers.

In Japan, beads were universally familiar to the Buddhists even

before St. Francis Xavier and his companions arrived.

2. Christian Tradition

The Greek Church used “kumbologion”, a cord with a hundred

knots used to count genuflections and signs of the cross.

St. Paul the Hermit (4th century) imposed upon himself the task of
repeating 300 prayers everyday using pebbles. He would gather
300 pebbles and threw one away as each prayer is finished.
Monks of Apollinaris in Classe, in gratitude for the Pope’s
benefactions said Kyrie Eleisons 300 times twice daily.

The Monastic Orders:

Monks offered Masses and recited privately the 150 Psalms

as a suffrage for their deceased brothers;

Compact between St. Gall and Reichenau (800AD) that for

each deceased brother all the priests should say 1 Mass and
50 Psalms;

A Charter is Kemble (1096) prescribes that each monk sing 2

fifties (Psalms) for the soul of certain benefactors; a priest
is to sing 2 Masses; each deacon to read the Passion; and
the “conversi” or lay brothers (most of them illiterate)
were required to pray simple prayers in place of the Psalms
to which their more educated brethren were bound by rule;
Simple prayers for the “conversi” is 50 Our Fathers;

Knights Templars (1128) at death of any brethren they have

to say the Our Father one hundred times a day for one
week;

11th and 12th Centuries: The practice of using pebbles,

berries, or discs of bones threaded on a string. Beads were
widespread during the middle ages;

St. Rosalia (1160 AD) similar strings were found in her

tomb.

Countess Godiva of Coventry (1075) used a circlet of precious

stones which she had put on a cord to count her prayers to
Our Lady.

Europe (Middle Ages) there was widespread manufacturing of

the “paternosters”. The rosary was originally designated to count
the Our Fathers.
 Bottomline:

1. Beads, pebbles, berries, precious stones, disc of bones, cord with

knots were used to count repeated prayers.

2. The use of mechanical apparatus to count prayers was common in

most religions.

B. How the Rosary Developed Overtime

1. The Hail Mary’s…

o Historian Fr. T. Esser, OP in 1897 writes that it becomes a

practical certainty when we remember that it was in the middle of
the 12th century that the Hail Mary came at all generally into use
as a formula of devotion.
o There would be no doubt that the string of prayer beads were
called “paternoster” because for a long time they were principally
employed to number repetitions of the Lord’s Prayer.
o When the Hail Mary’s came into use, it appears that from the first,
it was more of a salutation (“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is
with thee!”-Luke 1:28) rather than a prayer induced a fashion of
repeating it many times in succession accompanied by
genuflections.
o Those who were “simple” would pray 50, 100, 150 salutations to
Our Lady to feel they were imitating the practice of the more
“exalted” servants.
o In the course of the 12th century and before the birth of St.
Dominic, the practice of reciting 50 or 150 Hail Mary’s had
become generally familiar.

2. The Rosary as We Know Today

o The Rosary developed overtime. The word “rosary” did not

appear until 1597.
o Around 1050, the words St. Elizabeth used to greet Mary were
added: “Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of
thy womb.”
o According to Tradition, St. Dominic (1170-1221) devised the
Rosary as we know it. Moved by a vision of Our Lady, he preached
the use of the Rosary in his missionary work among the
Albigensians. Twelve Popes have mentioned St. Dominic’s
connections to the Rosary.
o In 1261, Pope Urban IV added the name “Jesus” to the end of St.
Elizabeth’s words.
o St. Dominic of Prussia (1410-1439) added the Mysteries of the
Rosary (Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious)
o Litany of Loreto (the Litany of the Virgin Mary) was finally
approved by Pope Pius Sixtus V in 1587. The litany’s early usage
dates back 1558.
o St. Peter Canisius published the Hail Mary in his 1555 Catechism
with almost the entire final petition: “Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners.”
o Catechism of the Council of Trent (1566), for the first time, the
entire final petition concluded with the final words: “Now and at
the hour of our death. Amen”
o Pope Pius V (1504-1572) officially approved the Rosary in its
present form in 1569. In 1571, he introduced the Feast of Our
Lady of Victory to commemorate the miraculous victory of the
Christian forces in the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571.
o In 1573, Pope Gregory XIII (r. 1572-85) changed the name of the
feast to Our Lady of the Rosary.
o The Fatima Prayer (July 13, 1917): Mary asked the children to
add a short prayer to the end of each decade of the Rosary: “O My
Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell and lead all
souls into heaven specially those who are in most need of your
mercy.”
 o On October 16, 2002, almost 600 years after the original
mysteries of the Rosaries were established, St. John Paul II added
the Luminous Mysteries.
o On June 20, 2020, during the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of
Mary, Pope Francis added three invocations: "Mother of Mercy",
"Mother of Hope", and "Solace of Migrants".
o (Over the years, popes have added various invocations from
different historical moments. For example, in 1917, amid the
suffering caused by WWI, Pope Benedict XV added the invocation,
"Queen of peace." Pius XII added "Queen assumed into heaven," in
keeping with the dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Mary. John Paul II added "Mother of the Church" and "Queen of
families.")

C. The Great Propagators of the Rosary

1. The Magisterium:

Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903): The Rosary Pope

o Emphasized “To Jesus through Mary” as key direction in Roman

Catholic Mariology.
o He wrote 11 Encyclicals on the Rosary.
o He instituted the custom of praying the rosary daily in the month
of October.
o He was the Pope who fully embraced the concept of Mary as
Mediatrix.

2. The Saints and Religious Orders

o St. John Paul II: “The Rosary is my favorite prayer; marvelous

prayer! Marvelous in its simplicity and depth.”
o St. Louise de Marillac: “When parents pray the Rosary, they should
hold it aloft and say to Her, ‘With these beads, bind my children to
the Immaculate Heart’. She will attend to their souls.”
 o St. Louis de Montfort: “Never will anyone who says the Rosary
everyday will be led astray. This is a statement that I would gladly
sign with my blood.”

o St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta: “Cling to the Rosary as the creeper

clings to the tree, for without our Lady we cannot stand.”

o St. Padre Pio of Pietralcina: “Her Rosary is the weapon against the
evils of the world today. All graces given by God pass through the
Blessed Mother.”

o St. Francis de Sales: “The greatest method of praying is to pray the

Rosary.”

o St. Dominic: “One day, through the Rosary and the Scapular, our
Lady will save the world.”

o St. Pius X: “If you wish peace to reign in your homes, recite the
family Rosary.”

o St. Alphonsus Ligouri: “It is more efficacious to say the Rosary in

company with others than to say alone.”

o Venerable Fr. Patrick Peyton: “The family that prays together

stays together”. “A world at prayer is a world at peace”.

3. The Blessed Mother in Her Apparitions

The word Rosary means “Crown of Roses”. Our Lady has revealed to
several people that each time they say a Hail Mary they are giving her a
beautiful rose and that each complete Rosary makes her a crown of
roses. The rose is the queen of flowers, and so the Rosary is the rose of
all devotions and it is therefore the most important one.

o Fatima: “Say the Rosary every day…Pray, pray a lot and offer
sacrifices for sinners… I’m Our Lady of the Rosary. Only I will be
able to help you. In the end My Immaculate Heart will triumph.”

o La Salette: “On the Holy Mountain of La Salette, more remarkable

still, she wore wreaths of roses around her feet, a garland of roses
on her breast and a crown of roses upon her head. In this latter
Apparition, roses bespeak a deep mystical lesson and the triple
wreaths of roses from Heaven are an unmistakable symbol of the
Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary.”

o Guadalupe: There is a striking association of the rose with several

of Our Lady's apparitions, as may be noted in the accounts given
of these rare occurrences. When the Blessed Virgin appeared to a
poor Indian convert at Guada¬lupe, near Mexico, in 1531, She sent
the unbelieving Bishop a miraculous sign – a mantle full of fresh
roses, at a time when no roses were blooming.

o Lourdes: the key point of the apparitions is the Rosary. In fact, it is

only after Bernadette began the recitation of the Rosary that Mary
appeared and she left very soon after the Rosary. Lourdes is the
land of the Rosary. The Rosary is its permanent prayer in many
languages. At Lourdes, on the River Gave, the Immaculate Virgin,
appearing to Bernadette Soubirous, chose to be seen in the midst
of a wild-rose bush and bore upon each foot a golden rose.

o Knock: Mary stood in the middle of the light from heaven, wearing
a long gown and a crown of pulsating brilliance, with a golden
rose over her forehead. Her hands were raised to the height of her
shoulders, reaching out to the people but pointing heavenward. 
 o Banneux: Marriette noticed that the Our Lady of Banneux had a
Rosary, hanging from the blue sash. The cross was the same color
of gold as the rose between her toes.

o Pontmain: As the children prayed the Rosary, the children saw the
garment's stars multiply until it was almost entirely gold. 

o Beauraing: On December 6, the Feast of St. Nicholas, the Virgin

appeared holding a rosary and the children at once began to recite
it. The Virgin asked them to return on the Thursday, the Feast of
the Immaculate Conception.

o Rue De Bac (Miraculous Medal): The most common association of

the rose is with the Virgin Mary. The third-century Saint
Ambrose believed that there were roses in the Garden of Eden,
initially without thorns, but which became thorny after the fall,
and came to symbolize Original Sin itself. Thus the Blessed Virgin
is often referred to as the “rose without thorns”, since she was
immaculately conceived. At Rue De Bac, she was called “Mary
Conceived without Sin” hence, Rose without Thorns.

D. The Victories of the Rosary in World History

1. The Battle of Lepanto

On Oct. 7, 1571, two years after the Vatican urged the Rosary for
universal use, an event took place that caused the devotion to gain
widespread popularity. One of the most famous (and bloodiest)
naval battles in history took place that day on the Bay of Lepanto,
off the coast of Greece. The opposing forces were Christians, made
up of an alliance of fleets from Spain and Italy, against a far
superior Turkish navy. The Muslim force was threatening to take
over the Mediterranean Sea and hence be in a position to attack
European countries. Pope Pius V asked the Christian faithful to
 pray the Rosary and seek the intercession of the Blessed Mother
to defeat the Muslim navy. Despite being outnumbered, the
Christian fleet prevailed. Accordingly, Pope Pius established Oct. 7
as a feast day of Our Lady of Victory, thus perpetually bringing
honor to the Blessed Mother for her assistance. In 1573, Pope
Gregory XIII (r. 1572-85) changed the name of the feast to Our
Lady of the Rosary, a feast the Church continues to celebrate.

2. The Rosary Revolutions of the Philippines

People Power I: Guns Fell to Rosaries in the Philippine

Revolution

It was a revolution like no other. Instead of guns, there were

prayers; instead of bloodshed, celebrations; instead of
casualties, converts.

Priests and nuns, students and civilians stood defiantly in the path
of oncoming tanks, many waving rosaries or praying aloud; and
the soldiers just stopped. Instead of forcing the crowds to
leave, they joined them--in direct defiance of their orders.
(Janet Cawley and Joseph A. Reaves, Chicago Tribune/February 28,
1986)

People Power, Prayer Power

This remarkable event gave rise to what we now call “people

power.” But the secret of our people power revolution in
1986 was God and the intercession of Our Lady, Mother of Christ,
and, perhaps, all the saints who have prayed for our cause. The
Philipino people from all walks of life gathered
together in prayer and peaceful resolve. Catholics, who were
armed with Rosaries and Bibles, linked in chain around the
armed soldiers and tanks praying almost unceasingly. (Fr.
Tommy Lane- American Priest)

The ‘Rosary Revolution’ in the Philippines

The Filipinos are peace-oriented people. In conflicting situations,

Filipinos choose to bring life and peace. Mary becomes the
model of a Virgin-Mother to the Filipinos bearing Christ,
Who is the principle of life to the world through her womb.
Through the "rosary revolution" in the Philippines, prayer
becomes the new principle of political life to put an end of an
administration with an abuse of political power and the
furtherance of immorality in government.  (Prof. Jose Vidamor
Yu, 2003)

E. The Question of Repetitive Prayers

1. Does God Prohibit Repetitive Prayers?

Point in Question:

Matthew 6:7 - In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think
that they will be heard because of their many words. (New
American Bible)

Matthew 6:7 - But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the
heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their
much speaking. (King James Bible)

Clear Reference About Who the Heathens or Pagans Were:

 I Kings 20-39

20 So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and had the prophets

gather on Mount Carmel.

21Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you
straddle the issue? If the LORD  is God, follow him; if Baal,
follow him.” But the people did not answer him.

22So Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of

the LORD, and there are four hundred and fifty prophets of
Baal.

23Give us two young bulls. Let them choose one, cut it into pieces,
and place it on the wood, but start no fire. I shall prepare the
other and place it on the wood, but shall start no fire.

24You shall call upon the name of your gods, and I will call upon the
name of the LORD. The God who answers with fire is God.” All the
people answered, “We agree!”

25Elijah then said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one young bull
and prepare it first, for there are more of you. Call upon your
gods, but do not start the fire.”

26Taking the young bull that was turned over to them, they
prepared it and called upon Baal from morning to noon,
saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound, and no one
answering. And they hopped around the altar they had prepared.

27When it was noon, Elijah taunted them: “Call louder, for he is a

god; he may be busy doing his business, or may be on a
journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”

28They called out louder and slashed themselves with swords and
spears according to their ritual until blood gushed over them.
 29Noon passed and they remained in a prophetic state until the
time for offering sacrifice. But there was no sound, no one
answering, no one listening.

30Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” When they
drew near to him, he repaired the altar of the LORD which
had been destroyed.

31He took twelve stones, for the number of tribes of the sons of
Jacob, to whom the LORD had said: Israel shall be your name.

32He built the stones into an altar to the name of the LORD, and
made a trench around the altar large enough for two
measures of grain.

33When he had arranged the wood, he cut up the young bull and
laid it on the wood.

34He said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it over the burnt
offering and over the wood.” “Do it again,” he said, and they
did it again. “Do it a third time,” he said, and they did it a third
time.

35The water flowed around the altar; even the trench was filled
with the water.

36At the time for offering sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came
forward and said, “LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be
known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your
servant and have done all these things at your command.

37a Answer me, LORD! Answer me, that this people may know that
you, LORD, are God and that you have turned their hearts
back to you.”

38The LORD’s fire came down and devoured the burnt offering,
wood, stones, and dust, and lapped up the water in the trench.
 39Seeing this, all the people fell prostrate and said, “The LORD is
God! The LORD  is God!”

2. Biblical Support of Repetitive Prayers

Matthew 26:29-44

He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, “My Father, if it

is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.”
When he returned to his disciples he found them asleep. He said to
Peter, “So you could not keep watch with me for one hour? Watch and
pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the
flesh is weak.”

Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again, “My Father, if it is not

possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!”

Then he returned once more and found them asleep, for they could not
keep their eyes open. He left them and withdrew again and prayed a
third time, saying the same thing again.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 – “Pray without ceasing.”

Revelation 4:8-11 - The four living creatures, each of them with six
wings,* were covered with eyes inside and out. Day and night they do
not stop exclaiming: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was,
and who is, and who is to come.”

Daniel 3:57-88,56

Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord.

Praise and exalt him above all forever.
 Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord.
All you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord.
All you hosts of the Lord, bless the Lord.
Sun and moon, bless the Lord.
Stars of heaven, bless the Lord.

Every shower and dew, bless the Lord.

All you winds, bless the Lord.
Fire and heat, bless the Lord.
Cold and chill, bless the Lord.
Dew and rain, bless the Lord.
Frost and chill, bless the Lord.
Ice and snow, bless the Lord.
Nights and days, bless the Lord.
Light and darkness, bless the Lord.
Lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord.

Let the earth bless the Lord.

Praise and exalt him above all forever.
Mountains and hills, bless the Lord.
Everything growing from the earth, bless the Lord.
You springs, bless the Lord.

PSALM 136

Praise the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endures forever;
Praise the God of gods for his mercy endures forever;
Praise the Lord of lords for his mercy endures forever;

3. CONCLUSION

The Holy Rosary is considered a perfect prayer because within it lies the
awesome story of our salvation. With the Rosary in fact we meditate the
mysteries of Jesus and Mary. It’s a simple prayer, humble so much like Mary.
It’s a prayer we can all say together with Her, the Mother of God. With the Hail
Mary we invite Her to pray for us. Our Lady always grants our request. She
joins Her prayer to ours. Therefore, it becomes ever more useful, because
what Mary asks She always receives, Jesus can never say no to whatever His
Mother asks for.