The Rosary came from the Latin word, "rosarium" which means, "crown of roses". This has been one of the popular devotions dedicated to our Blessed Mother. It also has its roots from Sacred Scripture itself. This is one of the methods that Catholics use to meditate and contemplate on the life of Christ as seen in the Mother's eyes.
The prayers used in the Rosary:
The Apostles' Creed
The prayer was attributed to the Apostles since it declares what they themselves believed in for over 2000 years. The prayer goes like this in the Rosary:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead, on the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again 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 life everlasting. Amen.
Protestants also recite this creed, only that, they make, "the holy catholic church" small cased letters because they have a different understanding of these terminologies. When they say these, they mean an invisible unity/body of believers while we believe in a visible body of believers.
The Our Father
Catholics and most Protestants alike pray this prayer because first of all, the Lord Jesus taught this to His Apostles. In the Gospels, there are 2 versions of the Our Father, one is found in St. Luke and the other in St. Matthew. We use the Matthean version of the Our Father. For those who do not know the prayer, here goes:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
(Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:1-4)
The Hail Mary
This has become a center of the Rosary. Some Protestants object to this since it has no roots in Scripture. But let us take a closer look at the prayer itself shall we?
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you- This is the greeting of the archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary in Luke 1:28.
Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus- This is taken from Elizabeth's greeting to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Remember, she was filled with the Holy Spirit at that time in Luke 1:41-42.
Holy Mary- There's nothing harm in calling Mary as holy. If Protestants argue that only God is holy, they must know that God is holy by nature (Isaiah 6:3), while Mary is holy by the grace of God. It is also God's command for us to be holy in Leviticus 11:44, "Be holy therefore, for I am holy". If the Apostles and prophets can be called, "holy" in Ephesians 3:5, shouldn't Mary be called such for being the first Christian to obey God's will and accepting the responsibility of being the Mother of the Messiah? In fact, the angel called her, "full of grace".
Mother of God- Protestants often object to this because of thinking that Mary was before God, but such is not the case. It just so happen that Jesus is God, one Divine Person (John 1:1) who took flesh in the womb of Mary through her obedience (cf. Luke 1:38, John 1:14). That is why Mary is "The Mother of the Lord" (Luke 1:43) and only the Lord is God (Psalm 100:3). So it must have been Elizabeth who acknowledged the Divine Maternity of the Blessed Mother first (by saying Divine Maternity, I mean her being Mother of God).
Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death- The prayers of Mary to Jesus are very effective. She was a very righteous person whose prayers, "are of powerful effect" (James 5:16). So many lives have changed through the power of the Rosary since the Blessed Mother brings back a sinner from the error of his ways to the light of Jesus Christ (John 8:12) and, "covered a multitude of sins" (James 5:19-20).
ANOTHER MEDIATOR NEXT TO JESUS?
Protestants are having a problem here. They often use 1 Timothy 2:5 (KJV), "For there is one God and only one Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus" to debunk Marian intercession. It is true that Jesus alone is the sole Mediator between God the Father and humanity. However, in the preceding verses, St. Paul exhorts Christians that, "prayers, supplications and intercessions be offered for all people" (v.1). Why is that? St. Paul gives the answer, ".......this is good, and it pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and come to know the truth" (v.3-4). (refer also to the "pray for us sinners" above). Also, in the wedding at Cana, Mary interceded to Christ on behalf of the guests. Jesus doesn't rebuke her, but said, "My time has not yet come" (John 2:4), and Mary said to the servants, "Do whatever He tells you" (John 2:5).
THE GLORY BE
This is one of the doxology to the Blessed Trinity. The Latin version of this is, "Gloria Patri". It was used in the 4th century and it is still used today. The prayer goes like this:
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 FATIMA PRAYER
During the appearance of Mary at Fatima, Portugal in 1917, she has asked the three children, Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta to include this prayer before the announcement of the next mystery and after the previous mystery:
"O 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"
Thou art all beautiful and fair O Mary!
THE SALVE REGINA
All the prayers have been tackled except this one. The Salve Regina or Hail, Holy Queen in English is a most commonly recited prayer to Mary according to Catholic Answers and the Rosary Answers. It was composed at the end of the 11th century and here goes:
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, Hail, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To you do we cry poor banished children of Eve. To you do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then O most gracious advocate, your eyes of mercy towards us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary
The meat of the Rosary are the decades. The decades are 50 in number comprising of one mystery in the life of Christ and that of Mary, His Mother and ours as well.
VAIN REPETITIONS?
Protestants often say that the Rosary is of vain repetition and therefore, it has to be rejected. They always appeal to Matthew 6:7 (KJV) to refute it, "But when ye pray, use not vain repetition as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking". What Protestants fail to see in the text is the word, "vain". Not all repetitions are condemned in Scripture, for instance, our Lord prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane in Matthew 26:42-44. Even St. Paul tells us to, "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
The Apostle St. Paul exhorts us, "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
What matters when we pray is not whether it is repetitious, but how we mean what we say. Otherwise, we would receive this rebuke from our Lord for only paying Him lip service, "These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for themselves the commandments of men" (Isaiah 29:13, cf. Mark 7:6-7). In David's Psalter, the sentence, "His mercy endures forever" is often repeated in Psalm 136 and also in Deuteronomy 27, the people of Israel say, "Amen" to the consequences awaiting them should they disobey God. But these prayers according to Catholic Answers are under the inspiration of God. Meditation is what makes Rosary a meaningful prayer. Now, let us go to the Biblical roots of the Mysteries of the Rosary:
Catholic Answers and Rosary Answers gives us the Biblical foundations of the 15 mysteries while I will give the Biblical foundation of the Luminous Mysteries which was added by Blessed John Paul II:
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 Crowing with Thorns (Matt. 27:29), the Carrying of the Cross (Luke 23:26-32), 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 (cf. Psalm 132:8, Rev. 11:19, 12), and her Coronation (cf. Psalm 45:6-9, Rev. 12:1).
Then comes the Luminous Mysteries: The Baptism of our Lord in the Jordan (Matthew 3:16-17), the Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11), the Proclamation of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15, cf. Matthew 5:1-12), the Transfiguration of our Lord (Luke 9:28-36), and the Institution of the Holy Eucharist (Matthew 26:26-28, cf. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
The assumption and coronation of Mary are explicitly not in Scripture but there's no reason to reject them out of hand since they are nor contrary to Scripture. If Protestants would just see the Biblical roots of the Rosary, they would enjoy praying it as a devotion and meditation on the life of Christ and Mary. Meditation is written in Scripture, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my Strength and my Redeemer" (Psalm 19:14, NKJV)
Now we have looked at its Biblical roots, let's trace its historical roots:
HISTORY OF THE ROSARY
Before the Rosary, there was, "The Davidic Psalter". The monks often recite these 150 Psalms from the Old Testament of the Bible on a regular basis. But there are some lay brothers called the conversi who could not follow the monks in recitation of the 150 Psalms since during that time, most people are illiterate. So they need a prayer that they can easily remember. So, the 150 Psalms became the 150 Pater Nosters or Our Father. When St. Dominic propagated the Holy Rosary, the Our Fathers became, "The Psalter of Mary", but the Rosary wasn't fully developed. For example, when people pray the Rosary at that time, they say, "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb". But no, "Jesus" yet as we have today. It was the followers of St. Dominic who continued developing this devotion like Blessed Alan de Rupe who added the 15 Mysteries and the Jesuits who added the Apostles' Creed, the Our Father and three Hail Mary's and the Glory Be. In 1917, when the Blessed Mother appeared in Fatima, she herself said that the Fatima prayer be added (refer above for the prayer).
Now that we all know the Biblical roots of the Rosary, remember, reading the Bible and the Rosary is the best thing to do! The Rosary, when recited properly with meditation, leads us to our Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Mother.
vey nice information abt the history of the holy rosary..
TumugonBurahin