THE  HOLY  ROSARY  ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PRAYERS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

On the first Sunday of October we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.  It would be worthwhile if we were to make some reflections regarding the contemplative dimensions of this prayer.  It may be quite possible for modern man to consider this prayer as rather monotonous and superfluous, and therefore he puts it aside from his usual personal routine prayers.

Prayers recited on a knotty string have been known to have existed since the beginning of the Christian Era.  Slowly this practice passed on from east to west.  In those days people recited only the Our Father and this practice was diffused by the Irish.  History tells us that in the monastic environment of the Middle Ages (e.g. Cluny of the X Century) this form of prayer was recited by those who were unable or were prohibited from reciting the Liturgy of the Hours (fratres, laici, illiterati).  By the XII Century the Ave Maria was already being diffused.  Therefore, those who said the Our Father started reciting also the Ave Maria.  From this time onwards, the Rosary was being diffused among the people.  The Rosary consisted of 150 Ave Maria's and began to be called Psalterium Beatae Mariae Virginis.  It appears that the prayer was shaped on the monastic style of repetitive prayers.  In this way the layman living throughout the world could taste the sweetness of monastic prayers.

With the passing of time this prayer was refined.  The Rosary was divided into decades or sets of ten beads.  This work was attributed to Egher di Kalkar (d. 1408) who was a Carthusian in Cologne.  Then before every decade the mysteries of Christ and Mary were recited.  This development is attributed to Dominic of Prussia (d. 1461).  The Rosary was then spread particularly through the preaching of the Dominicans.  The Popes linked it with indulgences and still recommend to this very day.

Nowadays, studies are being carried out to give the Rosary a modern appearance compatible with contemporary mentality.  Modern man is more or less living in a sophisticated and busy society which looks down upon the Rosary as a monotonous recitation and maybe he will crave after forms of prayer that are not Christian in style.

But the Rosary is a vocal and a contemplative prayer at the same time.  Even Therese of Avila herself emphasises the importance of this type of prayer which is recited by the lips.  If we examine closely the meaning of the vocal prayers, we shall soon discover extraordinary beauty. No wonder then that Cardinal Newman called the Rosary a Gospel version in an abridged form.

The vocal prayers of the Rosary are

1) The Our Father... this prayer was taught by Our Lord Jesus Christ.  It is so strong that St. Augustine writes that whoever recites this prayer will have his venial sins forgiven.  In it the Christian will be addressing himself to God and making seven supplications, the first three concerning the Kingdom of God, and the last four are entreaties regarding his own needs.  In this way, by the Our Father we will be praying to the Father to have his name hallowed, his kingdom to come and that his Will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Following this we pray for our daily bread, to forgive us our trespasses and not to lead us into temptation, but to deliver us from evil.

In this way, if in the Rosary we have only the repetition of the Our Father, this would suffice to make it one of the most beautiful prayers.

2) The Hail Mary is the salutation which the Angel Gabriel made to Our Lady.

3) The Holy Mary is the salutation of St. Elizabeth under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost together with the addition of the word "Jesus".

4)  The Glory be to God is one of the most beautiful prayers to Holy Trinity.

The Salve Regina (Hail Queen) is the prayer of the suffering individual who is beseeching his heavenly mother to help him reach the celestial City of Jerusalem.

However, should we keep unveiling the spiritual treasures of Rosary, that would surely be an ever ending task.  When St. Ignatius of Loyola decided to write down the Spiritual Exercises, he chose a series of mysteries taken from the Gospel so that whoever pursues these mysteries he would be meditating and contemplating on the whole life of Christ.  In like manner the Rosary.  In the Rosary there are the Joyful Mysteries regarding the Annunciation by the Angel Gabriel, as well as the childhood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Passion Mysteries regarding the Passion; and the Glorious Mysteries about the glorification of Jesus and his mother Mary.

Maybe in our present mentality the contemplated dimension of the Rosary has been somewhat disregarded.  Therefore it is a good thing that while we recite the Rosary by our lips, we try to keep before our minds the lives of Jesus Christ and Our Lady.

The Blessed Don George Preca gives us a tangible example of how we should say the Rosary in a creative way.  In a leaflet distributed in 1957 he "invented" another five mysteries, naturally taken from the Gospel.  He called them the Mysteries of Light.  These Mysteries were divided as follows:

1.  When Christ went into the desert.

2.  When Christ manifested himself as God by means of miracles.

3.  When Our Lord taught us the Beatitudes.

4.  The Transfiguration.

5.  When Christ celebrated the Last Supper.

Through these Mysteries this Blessed Maltese Priest taught us that the Rosary is not only a vocal prayer, but also an intimate undertaking to understand the inner and deeper meaning of the Mysteries of Christ and Our Lady as quoted from the Gospel and the teachings of the Church.

The spiritual authors suggest the following methods regarding how the Rosary should be recited.  The first method is that one should meditate on the Mystery of the Rosary while with his lips he recites the decade, which is the easiest method.  The other method is that one should disregard the Mystery and meditate on one of the prayers like the Our Father, the Ave Maria and the Glory be to God.

In this way in our life the Rosary will not only take the form of a vocal prayer but also that of a contemplative one.  It is quite natural that people tend to mention only those objects which they like best.  Therefore, if we love Jesus and Mary above everything thing else, we should glorify and praise them by means of the Rosary, a prayer which was recommended to us by Our Lady herself at Lourdes and Fatima.

This is a translation.