Father Pisut,
Would you please explain to me the origins and significance of saying the Rosary and why we do it?
Sheri
Fr. Pisut
Sheri,
The Rosary has been traditionally attributed to St. Dominic, the founder of the Dominican Order. Supposedly, he received a vision by our Lady to use the Rosary in the fight against the Albigensian Heresy in the early 13th century. While the Rosary may have received its major impetus as a devotion at this time it likely had its origins as a simple way to replace the practice from the early Church of reciting all 150 Psalms daily. In the Psalms we see the foretelling of Christ. Though many persons think of the Rosary of consisting of five decades, or fifty Hail Marys, which is alternated daily with the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries, in reality these 15 mysteries make up the entire Rosary which is prayed daily by many members of religious orders. While in terms of time it may seem that the major focus is on the repetition of the Hail Marys, in reality the Rosary is a meditation on the life of Christ which we do by meditating on the various mysteries. Just as Mary is the handmaiden of the Lord and leads us closer to him so too do the intercessory prayers of the Hail Mary help us to further meditate on the mysteries of Christ's life. Though each Hail Mary represents each of the Psalms the reality exists that the fifteen mysteries, though wonderful in themselves, omit the period of Christ's ministry on earth. Recognizing this, in 2002 Pope John Paul II gave us the Luminous mysteries, or mysteries of Light, in order to fill this gap. While devotion to the Rosary is not technically required in order to be a good Catholic it is, nevertheless, held up as the premier devotion in the Church just shy of Eucharistic Adoration.
