What you need to know about the rosary

By Angel Nabweteme

A rosary is a string of prayer beads used to count the component prayers used in the Catholic Church.

When used in the form of prayer, the word is usually capitalised (Rosary) as is customary for other names of Catholic prayers, such as "the Lord's Prayer" and "the Hail Mary".

But when referring to the beads, it is normally written with a lower-case initial (rosary).

The common prayer of the rosary involves reciting 66 prayers. 53 of these are Hail Marys, 6 are Our Fathers, 6 Glory be to the Fathers and one is I believe. This takes about 15 minutes and the Church emphasises meditative prayer.

“For value, effect, reward and spiritual nourishment, the Rosary must be prayed with focus, respect, reverence and purity of intention,” says a Catholic website, www. holyrosary.org.

Rosaries are worn around the neck, or around fingers, arms and hands, but can also be taken along in pockets or packets and can also be hang on walls or rear-view mirrors of cars.

Rosary in the Church
For over four centuries, the rosary has been promoted by several popes as part of the veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church.

It represents the Catholic emphasis on participation of Mary in the life of Christ. The Congregation for divine worship in the Vatican emphasizes the importance of the rosary as a formative component of spiritual life.

Canon Law §1171 provides that sacred objects, which are designated for divine worship by dedication or blessing, are to be treated reverently and are not to be employed for profane use, even if they are owned by private persons.

A number of churches, monasteries, around the world are named after the Rosary. The biggest is the key basilicas at Lourdes and Fatima with millions of pilgrims per year.

Types of rosaries

There are many rosary designs and types with wooden, glass, plastic or stone beads. There is also a rosary ring, worn around the finger, with 10 indentations and a cross on the surface, representing one decade of a rosary.

The rosary rings are used by either rotating or just holding them between a finger and thumb while praying. They evolved as soldiers' rosaries because they were popular among soldiers going into battle, most notably during World War I.

There are also hand rosaries with a decade in a complete loop, with one bead separated from ten other beads. They are meant to be carried while walking or running.

There are wall rosaries, too big to be worn, but found in many Catholic households.

Rosary today

From the 16th to the early 20th century, the structure of the rosary remained essentially unchanged.

In the 20th century, the addition of the Fatima Prayer to the end of each decade became popular. After Vatican Council II, Msgr. Annibale Bugnini, the architect of the liturgical reform, proposed changes to the structure of the Rosary, but Pope Paul VI rejected it on the grounds that changing such a well established and popular devotion would unsettle the piety of the faithful and show a lack of reverence for an ancient practice. There were thus no other changes, until 2002 when John Paul II instituted fi ve new Luminous Mysteries.

Wearing the rosary

The Apostolate of Holy Motherhood writes that Mary encourages the faithful to wear the rosary and scapular because it serves as a protection from evil. St Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort said wearing the rosary eased him considerably.