The Rosary has an indisputable claim upon the heart of the Catholic Church. Its recorded origins begin as early as the 12th and 13th centuries when the illiterate laity recited one Our Father for each psalm of the Monastic Office. As the monks recited the 150 psalms of the Psalter, the laity recited 150 Our Fathers keeping track of the number on their fingers. At some point, cords with knotted counters were devised to keep a more accurate account. Eventually, beads were substituted for knots, the Hail Mary replaced the Our Father, and the Rosary, as it is known today, came into being.

Today, the typical 5-decade Rosary consists of 150 beads strung together in 5 decades of 10 smaller beads, and separated by 1 of 5 larger beads. On each large bead, the supplicant recites the Our Father followed by a recitation of 10 Hail Mary’s on each consecutive smaller bead. Each decade represents one of 15 mysteries of the life of Jesus as depicted in the Christian Gospels. Furthermore, each mystery is further divided in three sets of 5 referred to as the Joyful, the Sorrowful, and the Glorious mysteries. While reciting each decade, the supplicant contemplates one of the 15 mysteries of Christ beginning at the Incarnation and ending at the Crowning of the Blessed Mother in Heaven.

The term Rosary refers to a ring of roses. In the spiritual sense, the Rosary represents a crown of roses offered up to the Blessed Mother of Christ. Also referred to as Our Lady’s Psalter or, more simply, the beads, the Rosary is testament to the Catholic Church’s deep and uncompromising faith in the intercession of the Mother of God. It is her promised spiritual crown offered up in prayer by the faithful followers of her only Son, Christ Jesus.