followeth me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)
|
|
'Yes, from this day forward all generations
shall call me blessed, for the Almighty has
done great things for me.' (Luke 1:48,49)
|
Mary, the mother of God, the first to be redeemed by Christ, has been called Mystical Rose. In medieval times, the rose was seen as a symbol of eternal life. The rose is also one of the flowers used to symbolize the Virgin Mary herself. And it is from this very flower that the name "rosary" (also meaning "Crown of Roses") comes from.
This great prayer had its beginnings in the early Christian monastic practice of daily praying the 150 psalms from the Bible, which was done during the daily praying of the Divine Office, or Liturgy of the Hours. Throughout the early middle ages, various ways were developed for participating in some way in the Church's continual prayer of the 150 psalms. Those who were unable to recite the psalms because of illiteracy adopted the practice of reciting prayers, mainly the Our Father, 150 times, using beads to keep count. Later, as the Angelic Salutation (Hail Mary) became more widespread, this prayer was repeated 150 times. By medieval times, this custom was common in many European countries. The first clear historical reference to the rosary is from the life of St. Dominic, the founder of the Order of Preachers or Dominicans. According to tradition the Blessed Mother asked Dominic to preach the praying of the Rosary as an antidote for heresy and sin. He preached a form of the rosary in France to combat the Albigensian heresy. Alain de Roche, one of St. Dominic's was a huge proponant of the rosary and established Rosary Confraternities to promote the praying of the rosary.
The rosary is essentially a meditation upon the birth, life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and also of His mother Mary, insofar as her intimate relationship with Jesus as His mother and disciple, points us, His brethren, into a deeper more perfect relationship with Him.
Meditation consists of verbal and mental prayer. The verbal prayer is for example, praying the Our Father or Hail Mary, whether aloud or silently, while the mind meditates on the mysteries of the rosary, the latter being mental prayer. Meditation also involves the will as we direct our attention toward the mysteries. When we pray the rosary, we enter into a timeless and sacred place. The mysteries of the rosary all flow from the One Truth Who is Almighty God. In meditation on the mysteries of our Lord's Life, we are formed, according to that on which we meditate, namely, the mysteries of our Christian Faith in the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Pope John Paul II called the Rosary a path of contemplation. As we pray to our Heavenly Father, in the Holy Rosary, we are joined with Mary's Immaculate Heart in a loving, tender meditation on the Mysteries of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whether we enter into this prayer in petition or thanksgiving, or both, let us do so in such meditation as we pray with our Blessed Mother, who always points us to her Son who is our Salvation, thanks be to God. The Rosary And Sacred Scripture |
The Joyful Mysteries |
Na Rúndiamhra Sólásacha |
The Luminous Mysteries |
Na Rúndiamhra Solasmhara |
|
The Sorrowful Mysteries |
Na Rúndiamhra Dólásacha |
|
The Glorious Mysteries |
Na Rúndiamhra Glórmhara |
