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THE ROSARY - HISTORY & HOW TO
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Brief History
The Rosary is a prayer in honor of the
Blessed Virgin, consisting of one
hundred and fifty Hail Marys and
fifteen Our Fathers accompanied by
meditation on the life, passion, and
glory of Christ.
In the first centuries of Christianity
there were many hermits who could not
read the psalms in the psalter. So they
used to substitute one Our Father and
one Hail Mary for each psalm. To note
the number, they made use of stones, or
strung seeds on a cord.
The word rosary means a garland or
wreath of roses. Each prayer said in
the Rosary is a spiritual rose offered
to our Blessed Mother.
St. Dominic was the first to make
general the custom of substituting 150
Hail Marys for the 150 Psalms. When in
the thirteenth century, heresy ravaged
southern France and northern Italy, the
Holy Father appointed St. Dominic to
preach against the heretical doctrines.
When, after exerting a great deal of
effort, Dominic saw very little results,
he prayed to the Blessed Virgin, and
used the rosary as a means for
conversion of the heretics. By this
method, which was everywhere welcomed,
his campaign became a complete success.
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How to say the Rosary
The image on the left is a
perfect picture of how to say
the rosary.
It begins with making the Sign
of the Cross (at this point you
may offer any intentions) and
then say the
Apostle's Creed.
Then the Our Father on the
first bead followed by three
Hail Marys and a
Glory be
between the fourth and fifth
bead.
On the fifth bead the 1st
Mystery is announced and an Our
Father is said.
Then there are
ten Hail Marys, a Glory be, and
the sequence starts all over
again with the 2nd Mystery, 3rd
Mystery, 4th Mystery, 5th
Mystery and ends with saying the
Hail Holy Queen.
During The Miracle of Our
Lady of Fatima in 1917 our Lady
said, "I want you to continue
saying the Rosary every day.
And after each one of the
mysteries, my children, I want
you to pray in this way:
"O my Jesus, forgive us
our sins and save us from the
fires of hell. Lead all souls
to heaven, especially those in
need of thy mercy."
For this reason it is acceptable
to add this prayer after each
Glory be, following each
mystery.
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