The Rosary
The Rosary is a series of prayers, counted as they are repeated, on a string of beads or a knotted cord. The best known form of the Rosary consists of five decades divided with a larger bead between each decade. While the prayers are said a meditation on the joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries are encouraged.
The Rosary began back in the early days of Christianity with the monks in the desert. The monks would gather a hundred or more pebbles or seeds in a basket and then place them one by one in another container each time saying a prayer. By the 12th century monks in the Western church used a knotted cord or beads to track the number of prayers they would say. At about this same time the Our Father and Hail Mary became the prayers commonly used. The laity took up the recitation of the Rosary as a source of devotion common to all people.
The Rosary has become a beloved and universal devotion in honor of Christ, Son of Mary. It leads the worshiper to meditate on the joys, sorrows, and glory of Jesus and Mary’s life on earth.
