THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPEMENT OF THE HOLY ROSARY

The first account which is the latter, is called the Dominican tradition. It says that when St. Dominic, the founder of the Dominican Order, was fighting against the Albigensian Heresy in the 12th Century, he was given the Rosary by the Blessed Mother, Mary, to spread it as a form of prayer. Faithfulness to it would lead to the defeat and demise of this dangerous heretical movement. This materialized in the 14th Century. The "Dominican tradition on the rosary, historically established since the end of the 15th Century, is, however, less widely acceptable, though it did get papal endorsements...." (cf AFER, "The Rosary: Its History and Relevance" Vol. 30 No. 4 August 1998, P. 243). Beneath is a video by Rev.Fr. Peter Hesse, the Parish priest of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, Abelenkpe explaining the relevance of the Holy Rosary in our lives.

 

Video Credit by: Rhoda Boakye

The second tradition, which is older, traces the Rosary to ancient time and the practice of the Monks as indicated earlier. In the 12th Century however, there was a rise in Marian devotion. The devotees used Gabriele's salutation and the words of Elizabeth as a form of prayer. The "Psalter" 150 " Our Father". In order to ensure accuracy, precision and sequential praying of the Psalters of "Hail Marys" and ' Our Fathers", they used strings of beads. It is important to note that the "Hail Mary" went through a certain development. First, we had the Angel's salutation, then the words of Elizabeth were added. During the 13th Century, the name Jesus was added by the Church. History has it that, a Cartesian Monk, H. Kalper, in the 15th Century bracketed the "Hail Marys" into ' decades' by inserting " Our Fathers" between them. This form prevailed from the 16th Century on.

It was therefore in the same year that the second part - "Holy Mary, mother of God, pray..... death. Amen"- was added by the Church. A Rosary declaration by Pope Pius V, 1569 and the introduction of the Feast of the Rosary in 1573 helped standardize the Rosary as a method of prayer. Hail Marys, are phrase on the psalms referring to Jesus or Mary, was meditated upon. The present form from the annunciation to Glorification is a transformation of the above practice. Later, this was transformed into the mysteries of the Annunciation and Glorification. In the 14th Century, the Sorrowful Mystery was developed and added. During the 15th Century the Doxology, that is the Trinitarian prayer of "Glory be to the Father....." was added to the prayer of the Rosary.

In 1917, when Our Lady appeared at Fatima, she taught the three visionaries a prayer, which has been added to each decade of the Rosary. This prayer is: "O my Jesus, pardon us, save us from the fire of hell, draw all souls to heaven, especially those who are in most need of your mercy". The two traditions compliment each other. Though the Dominican tradition may not be widely accepted, we may say that St. Dominic might have received the Rosary but the prayers and method of prayer has gone through a transformation. In almost all the apparitions Mary encourages Christians, especially Catholics, to pray the Rosary so that people may repent from their sins and serve the Lord. I do not see anything satanic in the exhortations.

In the present form of the Rosary we have the following elements:
The Apostles Creed is said, then the Our Father, Hail Mary, the Glory be to the Father and the Fatima prayer. All these are said with a simultaneous meditation on the mysteries. All the elements that are used in the praying of the Rosary are found in the Bible or base on Scripture. The Sign of the Cross: This reminds us of the passion and death of Christ, which has redeemed us from the slavery of sin and brought for us our salvation. It partly says in 1 Corin. 1;8 " The message of the cross is folly for those who are on the way to ruin, but for those of us whose are on the road to salvation it is the power of God". Like St. Paul we shall never stop boasting in the cross of the Lord (Gal 6: 14).
The Apostles' Creed: This is a scripturally inspired proclamation of faith. It is the earliest simple statement of Christian belief and it is used in Catholic and Protestant rites. The Our Father: This is found in the Gospels- Mat. 6; 9- 13, Luke 11; 2-4. All Christians pray this prayer. The next post will be on the Hail Mary, the Glory be to the Father prayer and the four various Mysteries of the Holy Rosary and also where they can be found in the Bible.

CORE OF MY CATHOLIC FAITH

The subject of the Most Holy Trinity is one that many great theologians have tried to penetrate or delve into but found very difficult to understand. A concrete example is given of St. Augustine who was reflecting deeply on this mystery while walking along the beach. The story says that he saw a little boy trying to collect the sea water with his hands into a small hole, which he had dug. St. Augustine, after a keen observation, asked the boy what he was doing. St. Augustine was bewildered and surprised by the boy's answer that he was trying to collect the entire sea water into that small hole. When Augustine expressed reservation about his intention, the little boy just responded by saying that in that same vein St. Augustine should not think he could understand the mystery of the Blessed Trinity. His small mind, which is finite, cannot fully understand the infinite mind of God.


The Trinity is a mystery and a mystery is a divinely revealed truth, unable to be rationally conceived or fully understood by the finite mind. It is something beyond human understanding. The mystery of the Trinity is explained simply that there are three Persons in one God. Some people see this teaching of the church and conclude that Christians believe in three Gods, and Catholics in particular have added a fourth one whom they call Mary, all amounting to the practice of polytheism (that is the worship of many gods). What the Church actually teaches is that God is one. He has one divine nature but there are three distinct persons in this nature. They are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Son proceeds from the Father and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. God the Father is the source and origin of the world, love and salvation. He is the creator. He was revealed to the world by the Son, Jesus Christ, who is the second Person of the Trinity.


The Son became incarnate and showed the love of God in his ministry, culminating in His painful and excruciating death on the cross for our salvation. He is the Redeemer. He has promised to be with us until we are united with Him forever. God's love comes to us everyday through

the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity. He unites us into a deep and filial relationship with the Father and the Son and to one another. He is the Sanctifier. The three Persons are not three Gods but ONE and only ONE and that is where the mystery lies: how can we say the three Persons are one? This is beyond our human comprehension. It is through God's own self- revelation that we have come to know this. A very good friend was sharing with me a story from East Africa about a lay person's perception of the Trinity. She compared it to the sun which is the Father, the rays of the sun are the Son and the heat which is the effect of the rays is the Holy Spirit. It is the one and only sun, which is manifesting itself in all the various ways. I think this is an excellent analogy for the simple mind.

The three divine Persons are co-equal, none being greater than the other. They are also co-eternal in the sense that they have neither beginning nor end, they live forever. They are consubstantial which means that they have the same substance or nature. For this reason we need to give them equal respect, adoration and glory. Below is a  picture of the human imagination at work to interpret the mystery of the Trinity: three in one and one in three.

                                        The Holy Trinity, three in one and one in three.