The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-10-14
THE ROSARY.

The ancient hermits and others fire.
quently counted the number of their
prayers by little stones, grains, or
other marks. In the eleventh century
the Abbott John Gualbertus directed
those of his monastery who were not
priests, and who could not read the
Latin Psalter, to say certain num-
Der of Our Fathers" and Hail
Marys" instead of each canonical
hour of the Divine Office. But the
Rosary in it's present form, consisting
of fifteen decades, or tens of Hail
Marys" and one Our Father" before
each decade, in honor of the principal
mysteries in the life, passion, and
glory of the Redeemer, is due to St.
Dominic. This illustrious saint had
undertaken to check the fearful
spread of the heresy of the Albigenses,
who had completely overrun the south
of France and the adjoining parts of
Italy, and to win them back to the
true faith. This sect of blasphemers
sought to undermine the very founda-
ton of Christianity by denying the
mystery of the Incarnation, and, con-
sequently, the redemption of man
kind. The efforts of ST. Dominic re-
NAMED fruitless, despite his elo-
quence and the gift of miracles with
which God had favored him. At
length the Blessed Virgin appeared to
him one day, when, almost in despair,
he was fervently invoking her aid.
She presented the Rosary to him, and
thus addressed him: know, my son,
that the Angelical Salvation was the
means employed by the Most Holy
Trinity for the regeneration OF the
world. This prayer is the foundation
of the new alliance. Do you wish to
gain for God these hardened hearts
Preach it, then, according to the form
| have taught you Dominic faith
fully carried out the instructions Of
Mary, and the most astonishing re-
suits Immediately followed his preach
ing. The people were converted, and
both faith and piety f1ourished with
renewed vigor.
The Rosary is composed of the
Apostles Greed, the Lords Prayer,
and the Angelical Salutation, and the
principal mysteries in the life of Our
Lord and His Blessed Mother. The
devotion of the Rosary consists in
reciting, in honor of the Queen of
Heaven, one hundred and fifty times
the Hail Mary" These "Hail Marys"
are divided into fifteen decades, each
one of which commences with the
your Father" and terminates with the
doxology, "Glory be to the Father, y
etc. The Angelical Sanitation being
repeated ten times is the reason why
that portion of the Rosary is called a
decade-the word decade signifylng
the sum or number of ten. The Hail
Mary is repeated one hundred and
fifty times, to correspond with the one
hundred and fifty psalms of the Royal
Prophet; hence this devotion is by
some called the Psalter of the Blessed
Virgin, as the book of Psalms is called
the Psalter of David.
Each decade is accompanied by a
meditation on one of the mysteries
mentioned before These mysteries
are divided into three equal parts
each of one is called chaplet OF
part.
The first part represents the i've
joyful mysteries, which are: 1. The
Annunciation; g The Visitation; 8
The Nativity of Our Lord; 4. The
Presentation of Our Saviour in the
Temple; 5. The Finding of the Child
Jesus in the Temple.
The second part contains the five
sorrowful mysteries, namely: 1. Tue
Prayer and Bloody Sweat of Our Lord
in the Garden; 2. The Scourging at the
Pillar; 8. The Growing with Thorns;
4. The Carrying of the Cross; 5. The
Crucifixion of Our Lord.
The third part represents the five
glorious mysteries, which are: 1. The
Resurrection; 2. Ascension; 8. The
Descent of the Holy Ghost upon the
Apostles; 4. The Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin into Heaven; S. The
Coronation and Exaltation of Mary
above all the Angels and Saints.
Each one of the three parts com
mence with the Apostles Greed, to
gether with three "Hail Marys" in
honor of the Blessed Trinity.
If we reeite the three parts Of the
Rosary together, we briefly recall te
mind the whole history of the life, the
Passion and glory of Our Saviour, and
the eternal reward of His holy Mother
and the mysteries added to each de
cade certainly afford sufficient ma
terial for meditation