A rosary is a circular string of beads used by Roman Catholics for counting prayers. The term is also applied to the prayer beads used by Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims. In the Western church, the rosary commonly consists of 5 (originally 15) decades, or sets of 10 beads, for the recitation of the Hail Mary (Ave Maria), separated by a single bead for the recitation of the Our Father (Paternoster, or Lord's Prayer). The Glory Be to the Father (Gloria Patri) is generally said after each decade.
The Rosary is a string of beads or a knotted cord used to count prayers. The term is also applied to the prayers themselves. Rosaries are used in many religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. Most often associated with Roman Catholics, the rosary is also used by the Orthodox, for whom it is almost exclusively a monastic devotion, and by some Anglicans.
In Roman Catholic practice, the rosary is a string of beads made in the form of a circle, with a pendant crucifix. The standard rosary consists of five sets of beads called decades, each composed of one large and ten smaller beads. On the large beads, the Lord's Prayer, or Our Father, is said; on the smaller beads, the Hail Mary, or Ave Maria. In between the decades the "Glory be," a doxology, is recited. As the prayers are said, the person reciting the rosary may meditate on a series of New Testament events, called the "mysteries" of the rosary, from the lives of Christ and his mother, Mary. The use of these meditations is optional. Traditionally, the rosary was ascribed to the Spanish theologian St. Dominic early in the 13th century, but no proof exists that he originated it.
The Rosary (from Latin rosarium, "rose garden"), is a traditional popular devotion in the Roman Catholic Church. The term denotes both a set of prayer beads used in the devotion and the devotional prayer itself, which combines vocal (or silent) prayer and meditation centered around sequences of reciting the Lord's Prayer followed by ten recitations of the "Hail Mary" prayer and a single recitation of "Glory Be to the Father"; each of these sequences is known as a decade.
Until the recent optional addition of five additional Mysteries by Pope John Paul II, the Rosary had been prayed in three parts of five Mysteries assigned throughout the week. Today the Rosary can be prayed in four parts, one part each day, with the "Mysteries" (which are meditated or contemplated on during the prayers) being rotated daily.
What distinguishes the Rosary from other forms of prayer is that, along with the vocal prayers, it includes a series of meditations. Each decade of the Rosary is said while meditating on one of the "Mysteries" of redemption. These mysteries were finally standardised in the 16th century, and while there has been some disagreement on them (the final mystery is sometimes the Last Judgment) the earliest sets bear a remarkable resemblance to those still used.
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