The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1909-10-16
MONTH OF HOLY ROSARY.

- Ihe month of October has been dedicated by the
Church to special devotion in honor of the Blessed
Mother of God-the Holy Rosary This beautiful
prayer Is, above all things specially Catholic In
TACT, there were times IN the history of the Church
when the recitation of this prayer and the posses
sion OF set of beads we're looked upon as distin-
gushing marks of Catholicity MANY a poor Irish
peasant suffered cruel scourgings, the pitch cap i'm
prsonment and even death, for no other crime than
the possession of set of beads or rosary MANY
students of Irish history, amongst whom are Father
LON Burke and Father Coleman assert that the use
OF this beautiful prayer played a most important
part IN keeping alive in the minds of the Irish peo-
pie knowledge of the chief mysteries of faith dur
ing the terrible prosecutions How this was so can
be easily understood The priests were forbidden to
minister to their focks. The people could assem-
bic occasionally IN some mountain Businesses for
the celebration of holy mass, but there was one de-
votlon which they could practice in their homes
without the priest, and that was the rosary. The
fifteen mysteries give some of the principal points
In the history of mans redemption from the an
nunclation to the browning of the Blessed Virgin in
Heaven Meditating daily on those mysteries gave
the people grasp the essentials of their faith
and for them in their troubles the powerful pro-
lection of the Mother of God. The days of persecu
ton have passed. but, thank God the people are still
devoted to this beautiful prayer. There are few
families In Catholic Ireland where this prayer is not
repeated daily Before retiring to rest the family
assemblies to do honor to their Heavenly Queen
brought to the Irish people? In many parts of Eu
rope the people assemble in the churches at evening
to say this prayer but the family rosary princi
pally Irish practice. In this country the same
practice was quite common at one time, but in how
many Catholic families at the present day do we
find the family rosary reclted!
The Rosary of the Blessed Virgin with the fifteen
mysteries as we now know it. was introduced by ST.
Dominic in the thirteenth century, but the use of
strings of beads to count prayers IS very ancient
History tells us that the Abbot Paul, an Egyptian
monk, used pebbles to count his prayers. He died
A. D. 341. Strings of beads used for the same pur-
pose were found in the tomb of Gertrude OF N1vlles
(died 59). Those beads were called Pater Nosters
and we're in general use amongst lay members of re-
ligious orders, who bound to say certain pray
ers at hours corresponding the time for recitation
of Divine office by the clergy. During the Middle
Ages the lay members of military orders, such as
the knights of st. John, had part of their reg
ular equipment the Pater Noster beads.
The saying of "the beads" is therefore an essen
tally Catholic practice. 1t has the claim of an
tiouity to recommend it. 1t has been sanctifed by
the practice of countless saints of the Church. and
he is poor Catholic indeed who has not his set of
beads or who having them, does not use them