Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.
Origin of the Rosary
The Rosary, the blessed beads that
quietly slip between our fingers as we pray over the mysteries of Jesus’
redemptive life, has an ancient origin.
Most likely it originated in the ancient East and not in the medieval
West, perhaps in India. It was and still
is a popular prayer device among the Muslims, who use the Arabic term masbahat , which means to give
praise. Devout Muslims used the masbahat
in repeating the attributes of God, just as it was used by the early
Christian hermits. Following the
Crusades the Rosary found its way to the West.
The missionary who worked hardest to spread this devotion was Saint
Dominic, and his Dominican companions.
The Rosary became a popular method of
prayer and spread quickly in the West during the Middle Ages. For Christians it has always been “the Gospel
strung on beads.” It is a simple and
easy prayer that can be employed for vocal prayer or silent contemplation by
individuals, families, and communities.
Papal Encouragement
Since the 16th century the
popes have frequently encouraged the faithful of East and West to pray the
Rosary. The first was a Dominican pope,
Saint Pius V, who wrote a papal letter about the Rosary in 1569 shortly after
the Council of Trent, and instituted the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.
In the late 19th century
after the First Vatican Council the illustrious Pope Leo XIII wrote more than
ten encyclicals and instructions promoting the use of the Rosary.
To make pastoral applications of the
Marian teachings of the Second Vatican Council Pope Paul VI in 1974 authored
the apostolic exhortation Devotion to
Mary (Marialis Cultus). Paul VI
discussed the Rosary at some length as a summary of the Gospel comprised of
prayers based on Gospel texts. He urged
the faithful to pray the Rosary, and especially recommended the family Rosary
in these words:
“We would like now to join our
voice to the voices of our
predecessors and strongly
recommend the prayer of the
Rosary in the family…because
the Christian family is a
family church…. If the family neglected this communal
prayer, it would lose its
character as a Christian family.
In addition to the prayer of
the Divine Office (Liturgy of
the Hours) …the Rosary of the
Virgin Mary would be the
most preferable communal
prayer for the Christian family.”
Pope Paul VI
concluded his recommendation by saying: “We would like to repeat that the
Rosary is an excellent and magnificent prayer….”
Pope St. John Paul II, enthusiastic devotee of
our Blessed Mother, in 2002 issued a
pastoral letter entitled The Rosary of
the Virgin Mary, in which he proclaimed October 2002 until October 2003 the
Year of the Rosary, and put forth the Luminous Mysteries based on the public
life of Jesus.
Pope Benedict XVI, valued the prayer
of the Rosary as a means of contemplating Jesus with Mary’s eyes. For him pondering the mysteries of the Rosary
calms a “restless spirit, allows the soul to settle into tranquility…and grants
a vision of God.” He associates the
Rosary with consolation and healing, an inner refuge which enfolds us “in the
rhythm of the prayer of the whole Church.”
“I do it quite simply,” he said, “just as my parents used to pray.”
The Rosary Today
Early on, the Rosary was a common
method of prayer in the East among Christians and non-Christians. Even though it came to us through Western
missionaries, it was and still is an easy and rich method of prayer to help the
faithful fathom the mysteries of God along the journey of salvation. And we do so with a special companion, the
Mother of God and our Mother. Praying
the Rosary, particularly in the family, is an excellent method of bringing us
together in the faith under the protection of her who always and everywhere
intercedes for all people. Let us spare
no effort to remain close to her.
