The Origin Of The Holy Roman Rosary

The Holy Roman Rosary is one of the most popular religious items in the Roman Catholic world. Its purpose is to meditate the mysteries of Jesus Christ and to devote a prayer ritual to Mama Mary. That’s why the rosary is a popular Marian item. The etymology of the word “rosary” is the Latin word rosarium, which means “garden rose” or “rose garland” or a collection of roses. It got its name because of the remarkable symbolism of the rose flower to Mama Mary. Rosary denotes two things:

1.) the physical item which consists of beads and ornament
2.) the prayer itself.

According to the official records of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, the rosary was miraculously given to Saint Dominic through an apparition of the Virgin Mary in Prouille Church in the 13th century. However, most religious scholars claim that a more evolutional progression and development happened. According to them, the practice of praying with a guide beads begun with the laity in their prayer of the monastic Liturgy of the Hours wherein they pray 150 psalms daily.

They also believe that since most of the laity did not know how to read, they have replaced the psalms with the Latin version of “The Our Father” using a string with knots to guide them. Also in the Middle Ages, evidences were critical that the Hail Mary was also recited with the Our Father using beads.
In the13th century Paris, makers of prayer beads existed. They were called the paternosters, originally from the name of the beads which they made – paternosters (a slight evolution of the Latin word for Our Father – Pater Noster). Also in France, St. Eligius of Loye has been noted to write a systematic counting of praying using prayer beads.

After that, the rosary became popular in the Roman Catholic world. It also appeared in some popular work of arts such as the statute of Madonna with Rosary at Milan’s Church of San Nazaro Maggiore and the Madonna with the Rosary by Murillo which is currently exhibited at the Museo del Prado, Spain. Some churches around the world are also devoted in the rosary such as the Rosary Basilica (Lourdes), Our Lady of the Rosary Basilica (Rosario, Argentina) and Nossa Senhora do Rosario (Brazil).

The popularity of the Rosary can be credited to Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903). Pope Leo XIII issued five Apostolic Letters and twelve encyclicals devoted to the propagation of the Rosary. He also devoted October as the Marian Month and added the invocation of the Holy Queen to the Litany. He promoted the importance of the Rosary as a sincere devotion to God and a direct road to salvation. He also suggested that man cannot change this devotion because the Rosary is an important ritual to meditate the life of Mary in her devotion to her son, Jesus Christ.  His devotion to the rosary earned him the title as the Rosary Pope because he greatly influenced the dogmatism of devotion to the Rosary and to Mama Mary.

It was only in 1569 when Pope Pius V ordered the establishment of the original mysteries. After nearly half-millenium, in 2002, Pope John Paul II issued an Apostolic Letter entitled Rosarium Virginis Mariae which incorporates an optional mystery – The Mysteries of the Light also known as Luminous Mysteries.