Wednesday, April 05, 2006

The Origin of the Rosary

In order to understand how Our Lady's Holy Rosary came into its present form, let's go back to 12th century. The Albegensian Heresy, basically a re-birth of Manecheism, was scouring the land with its untruths. These contested, namely, that there are two ruling powers in the universe, one good, one evil. They believed that everything spiritual was created by this Good Power, but the evil power was responsible for the existence of the material. Man, therefore, is a living contradiction; the spiritual must be nurtured, and everything material is to be scorned. In view of this, it was believed that man was not able to keep himself from sin and therefore not responsible for his actions. Sin and carnage were spreading ever more rapidly on account of these beliefs. No longer were the followers of this heresy content with passively adhering to their errors, but were attempting to forceably compelling others to accept the new religion. This had gone on roughly since 1022AD.

In the face of heresy, the pope of the time, Innocent III (1160-1216) greatly emphasized missionary work, in an effort to peacefully regain the souls lost to error. Among the masses of missionaries who combatted the Albegensian heresy, he personally selected such men as Diego, Bishop of Osma, St. Dominic Guzman and two of his papal legates to journey to France and do what they could. Everywhere they met with antagonism and bitterness from the heretics. One of his legates, Peter de Castelnau, was assassinated in 1208, the fabrication of which is widely attributed to Raymond, Count of Toulouse, a noble previously excommunicated for his blatant adherence to the new beliefs. At this final act of blasphemy, the pope ordered an interdict to be placed on the murderers and decided it was time to call upon the Catholic nobility in France to defend the need of the missionaries and Catholic civilians. Raymond de Toulouse did repent, was reconciled with Rome, and fought for the cause with this fellow nobles. But man is weak, and in time, to the Pontiff's grave disapproval, the campaign against the heretical nobility, under the command of Simon de Montfort, became instead a war of conquest. Raymond was again excommunicated when he failed to fulfill the requirements of reconciliation, and open war ensued.

It was during all of this, that both St. Dominic Guzman (1170-1221) and St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) laid before the Holy Father their plans of forming new religious orders; as we call them today, the Dominicans and the Franciscans, respectively. Their intent was to incorporate preaching and poverty, prayer and penance in a new missionary spirit. Innocent III approved and encouraged their intentions whole-heartedly, being fully aware of the vices creeping into much of the clergy, and seeing that this provided a solid answer to that need.
Dominic gave to his order the Rule of St. Augustine of Hippo, and also some special rules of regulation. His religious order was comprised of three parts; the priests and friar preachers, the Dominican sisters, and the third order, or Tertiaries, who follow the holy rule while still living in the world.

Achieving ample success against the raging heresy, but sorrowing for souls lost to it, St. Dominic incessantly prayed to the Blessed Virgin, to help them speedily in the spiritual fight. In answer, it is traditionally believed that she appeared to him, and gave him the Holy Rosary.

It is important to note here, that the idea of the Rosary was not at all a new one. For centuries, monks have daily recited the 150 Psalms, using ropes with as many knots to keep track. This being very strenuous and time-consuming, the faithful adapted it instead into 150 Hail Marys, or Our Fathers, or some other 'popular' prayer; still counted with pebbles, or with knoted and beaded strings (sometimes called 'Paternosters'). Similarly, in some areas, monasteries would recite kyrie eleison 300 times, twice a day, as a devotion. There are numerous variations of this kind of practice, dating back at least to the 4th century.
St. Dominic certainly did not invent the Rosary, nor did he introduce the 'mysteries' of the Rosary, as these weren't published until some 250 years later. Further, it wasn't even called The Rosary until later, but referred to as Our Lady's Psalter. It seems that the reason he is labelled 'Author of the Rosary' has to do primarily with the fact that, after his message from Our Lady, (also receiving the 15 Promises) he fervently preached the Rosary as "an antidote to heresy and sin." (Catholic Encyclopedia) That with the sanction, as it were, from the Mother of God, announcing that she was indeed pleased with this devotion, Dominic accented its importance and effect, and so has been dubbed St. Dominic of the Holy Rosary. Here is the story as told by St. Louis Marie de Montfort:

' At this point our Lady appeared to him, accompanied by three angels, and she said, "Dear Dominic, do you know which weapon the Blessed Trinity wants to use to reform the world?" "Oh, my Lady," answered Saint Dominic, "you know far better than I do, because next to your Son Jesus Christ you have always been the chief instrument of our salvation." Then our Lady replied, "I want you to know that, in this kind of warfare, the principal weapon has always been the Angelic Psalter, which is the foundation-stone of the New Testament. Therefore, if you want to reach these hardened souls and win them over to God, preach my Psalter." So he arose, comforted, and burning with zeal for the conversion of the people in that district, he made straight for the cathedral. At once unseen angels rang the bells to gather the people together, and Saint Dominic began to preach. '

When the Rosary was recognized as one of the most effective prayers in face of, well, anything, it did undergo some defining changes. The chief prayer, the Ave (Hail Mary), which had previously consisted just of scriptural passages, "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb", was lengthed, the name of 'Jesus' was placed after 'womb'. Also, a second part was added: "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen". This is the formula of the Hail Mary, as it exists to this day.
In 1567, St. Pius V, a Dominican himself, authorized the current fifteen-Mystery version of the Holy Rosary. These 15 mysteries are comprised of the main events in the lives of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Mother, on which Catholics daily meditate. They are divided into three sets of five, the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries. Just one of these sets is generally prayed per day by the average Catholic, that set depending on what day of the week it is. A decade (consisting of the Our Father, 10 Hail Marys and Glory Be) is said while meditating on each of the 5 mysteries individually. In this way, Catholics honored, and continue to honor, the Mother of God, Virgin of Virgins and in return, she gives us her heavenly assistance in ways incalculable by worldly means. This much is certain.

References:
New Advent (website)
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vos. VIII, XII, XIII, Robert Appleton Company, 1911