Special
During the month of May our thoughts turn to Mary and the rosary Guest Columnist Father Michael Bergeron
May is the month of the Mary. Almost synonymous with Mary is the rosary. The rosary is steeped in mystery and deep in theology. Pinpointing the origin of the rosary is not easy because it is surrounded in both fact and legend. Wading through this material can be a confusing task since every pamphlet seems to differ somewhat in its origin. The most popular legend is that the rosary was given by Mary to St. Dominic of Guzman before the Battle of Muret in 1213 to aid in the overthrow of the Albigenese. But the legend of St. Dominic did not originate during the saint’s lifetime nor during the century in which he lived. In the 18th century a group of scholars set out to rewrite the lives of the saints so as to preserve all the truth and separate it from legend. The group concluded that the tradition of the direct gift to St. Dominic was not based on enough evidence to support it nor was it well authenticated. In truth, the rosary is a combination of many streams of development. In the early days, the liturgical prayer of the church developed around the 150 psalms which Monks sang in the choir. But for laypeople, who could not read, 150 Our Fathers were substituted in place of the psalms. Some used a string of 150 beads to keep count. A parallel development was taking place among people devoted to Mary. They said 150 Ave Marias (Angel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary), mixed
with verses and psalms, a devotion known as Our Lady’s Psalter. About the turn of the 13th century in England, the Cistercians developed a practice of meditating on the 15 joys of the Blessed Virgin. Between the 14th and 15th century, the 150 Ave Marias were divided into 15 decades, each preceded by the Lord’s Prayer. In the book Rosario della gloriosa Vergine Maria, published in 1521, the author uses the word “mystery” for the first time in association with the rosary. The book introduced the idea of having a mystery introduced by each Our Father. In 1573, a Dominican wrote the book Rosario della Sacratissima Vergine Maria which set the modern 15 mysteries in their typical division of joyful, sorrowful and glorious. This developed into 150 Hail Marys with 15 mysteries. Today, people usually pray five decades – or one set of mysteries – at a time, although strictly speaking, the rosary is all 15 decades (often called the Dominican Rosary). The crucifix and five more beads were added later. The three Hail Marys represent faith, hope and charity. The word “bead” comes from “bede” which in early English meant a “prayer.” The use of beads or some sort of counters to keep track of prayers is very old. Even today we see them among Mohammedans, Buddhists, Brahmins, and generally in India, China and Japan. Christian graves as far back as the third century have produced “abacus-like” devices which were probably used for praying. Beads were found in the tomb of St. Gertrude of Nivelles from the sixth century and St. Norbert from the 11th century. The application of the term rosarium (rose garden or crown of roses) to the prayer beads had its major development in the 14th and 15th century. At that time, the concept of a rose garden and a wreath of roses was
24 • Bayou Catholic • Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux • May 2021
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