The suppliant who prays fervently is wont to repeat over and over again words which come from the depth of the heart. Our Lord did this on Mount Olivet; David in Psalm 135, exclaims no less than twenty-seven times: "His mercy endureth forever," and St. Francis of Assisi spent whole nights repeating: "My God and my all." The devout servants of Mary used to address Her frequently in the words of the archangel, adding one Ave Maria to another, as one places roses in a wreath.
The Rosary is a prayer in which the Our Father, followed by ten Hail Marys and one Glory Be, is repeated five or fifteen times, accompanied by meditation on the life, the Passion, and the exaltation of the Redeemer.
We begin the Rosary with the Creed and three Hail Marys, for the increase within us of the three theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity). While reciting the Rosary, every one must hold his own Rosary in his hand, and touch the beads as he says the prayers; but if several persons join in saying it, it is only necessary for one to hold the Rosary, in order thereby to regulate the number of the prayers. The Rosary is divided into the joyful, the sorrowful and the glorious mysteries; in the first we honor God the Father, Who sent us the Saviour; in the second, God the Son, Who redeemed us; in the third, God the Holy Ghost, Who sanctifies us.
The Rosary owes its origin to St. Dominic. The hermits of the first centuries, who could not read the psalter, used to recite one Our Father and one Hail Mary in the place of every psalm; and in order to note the number they had said, they made use of small stones, or of seeds strung on a cord. St. Dominic was the first who made the custom general of substituting one hundred and fifty Hail Marys for the one hundred and fifty psalms; hence the Rosary used to be called the Psalter of Mary. When, about the year 1200, the heresies of the Albigenses wrought great mischief in the south of France and the north of Italy, St. Dominic was commissioned by the Pope to preach in refutation of their erroneous tenets. His efforts availed little, and he besought the aid of the Mother of God. She appeared to him, and bade him to make use of the Rosary as a weapon against her enemies. He accordingly introduced it everywhere, and before long it had effected the conversion of more than a hundred thousand heretics.
The use of the Rosary soon spread throughout Christendom, and it became a most popular devotion. It is a method of prayer at once simple and sublime; the prayers are so easy that a child can repeat them, and the mysteries are so profound that they supply a subject for meditation to the most learned theologians. It is a prayer of contemplation as well as a prayer of supplication, for it places before the mind the principal truths of the faith. The Rosary is a compendium of the Gospels; a complete and practical manual of instruction wherein the chief points of Christian doctrine are presented under the guise of prayer.
By meditation on the events of Our Lord's life, faith and charity are increased; from the example of our divine Redeemer we learn to be humble, gentle, obedient; we are incited to imitate the virtues which the mysteries teach, to strive after what they promise us. Moreover the union of vocal and mental prayer makes the Rosary easy, pleasant, and profitable. As a method of prayer it is unrivalled; the longer and more devoutly it is practised, the more one appreciates its excellence and becomes convinced of its supernatural origin. As in St. Dominic's time when the Rosary proved a sure remedy for the evils of that age, so it will now effect much towards the amelioration of the ills that afflict society today. (Excerpts from Spirago's Catechism.)
FIRST, choose a set of mysteries from back of card. Begin prayers by holding crucifix and reciting The Apostles Creed. Then follow arrows along beads saying prayers as indicated.
1. APOSTLES CREED
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead He ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
2. OUR FATHER, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. Amen.
3. HAIL, MARY, full of grace; the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
4. GLORY BE to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.