History:

How did the Rosary develop, and is it a scriptural prayer?

“Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” (Lk 1:28)

“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” (Lk 1:42)

“Henceforth all generations will call me blessed.” (Lk 1:48)

Rooted firmly in Christian tradition, the private devotion known as the Holy Rosary comprises prayers and meditations on an entire series of events in the lives of Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary that are explicit or implicit in Scripture.

The Rosary is one of the most recognized Catholic symbols. The Dominican Order helped to popularize devotion to the Rosary. It had long been the practice of people in the consecrated life to recite the 150 Psalms in the Liturgy of the Hours, but many of the faithful who were illiterate began the practice of reciting 150 Our Fathers (cf. Mt 6:9-13) to substitute for the Psalms. As devotion to Our Lady increased, some of the Our Fathers were changed to Hail Marys. Later, a meditation on the life of Christ accompanied the recitation of the prayers. The Rosary became a wonderful tool of faith and prayer, a simple means for people to pray throughout the day and to meditate on the events of our salvation in the life of Christ. (Cf. CCC 2678)

Although the Holy Rosary is associated with most closely the Blessed Virgin Mary and is indeed a Marian devotion, it points us directly to Christ. The Rosary is sometimes called the “epitome of the whole Gospel” because its meditations call to mind the key events and truths of the Gospel message. (Cf. CCC 971)

The Holy Rosary is a form of meditative prayer. It is among the forms of piety and popular devotion that extend the liturgical life of the Church. (Cf. CCC 1674-1675)

The meditations of the Holy Rosary and correlating passages of Scripture are as follows:

The Joyful Mysteries (Mondays & Saturdays)

The Sorrowful Mysteries (Tuesdays & Fridays)

The Luminous Mysteries (Thursdays)

  • The Baptism of Christ in the Jordan (Mk 1:9-11)
  • The Manifestation of Christ at the Wedding of Cana (Jn 2:1-12)
  • The Proclamation of the Kingdom of god, with His Call to Conversion (Mk 1:14-15)
  • The Transfiguration (Mt 17:1-8)
  • The Institution of the Eucharist (Mk 14:22-26)

The Glorious Mysteries (Wednesdays & Sundays)

The Catechism addresses this question in paragraph 2708.

You may also find History of the Rosary at TheHolyRosary.org

The Promises:

The following promises were given by the Blessed Mother to Saint Dominic and Blessed Alan in the twelfth century.  These promises are fifteen in number and are for Christians who recite the Rosary.  The Blessed Mother promises:

  1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.
  2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.
  3. The Rosary shall be powerful armor against hell.  It will destroy vice, decrease sin and defeat heresies.
  4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish.  It will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God.  It will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things.  Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
  5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.
  6. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries, shall never be conquered by misfortune.  God will not chastise him in His justice.  He shall not perish by an unprovided death.  If he be just, he shall remain in the grace of God and become worthy of eternal life.
  7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
  8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have, during their life and at their death, the light of God and the plenitude of His graces.  At the moment of death, they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
  9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
  10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in heaven.
  11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.
  12. All those who propagate the holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
  13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.
  14. All who recite the Rosary are my sons and brothers of my only Son, Jesus Christ.
  15. Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

† Imprimatur:  Pratrick J Hayes, D. D., Archbishop of New York