Brigittine Rosary

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Some time ago I purchased a very large rosary from an antique dealer. It is wooden and full length measures 4’ with each bead having a diameter of 1". What stunned me when I took a closer look at it is that has a 6th decade. At first I thought I had a defective rosary but then I learned that it is a Brigittine Rosary.
The Brigittine (or “Saint Bridget”) Rosary was promoted by the Carmelite order and looks similar to a regular rosary but with seven ‘Pater’ beads (in honour of the seven sorrows of the Blessed Virgin) and sixty-three ‘Ave Maria’ beads (to commemorate the years of her life).

Besides the introductory ‘Pater’ and three ‘Aves’ the rosary has six mysteries or decades. In praying the Brigittine Rosary, there are a total of 18 decades:

In the six joyful mysteries the first is the Immaculate Conception, the sixth of the sorrowful mysteries is the Dead Jesus in the Arms of His Mother.

The sixth of the glorious mysteries is the Patronage of Mary.

The other mysteries are the same as in the Rosary in common use. At the end of each decade, the Apostles Creed, not the ‘Glory be’, is recited.
 
That is truly beautiful. Is the center a heart? It looks like a heart…
(I wish I knew how people manage to find beautiful old rosaries; I have been in all kinds of antique & 2nd hand stores & never saw one)!
 
comtemplative, your rosary reminds me of mine.

Not as beautiful.
Also of wood, and about similar size.

(I moved slightly when I took the picture, so it is not very clear.)

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Zooey:
That is truly beautiful. Is the center a heart? It looks like a heart…
(I wish I knew how people manage to find beautiful old rosaries; I have been in all kinds of antique & 2nd hand stores & never saw one)!
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I’ve found many in flea markets - keep your eyes peeled on the cases where they have jewelry and other small items, they are usually in locked cases. I’ve paid between $3 and $75 (goregous antique crystals) - and always take them to be blessed.

The wife of a man I work with owns a second hand store, and she knows any time a Catholic item comes in, I get first dibs -
 
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IesusDeus:
comtemplative, your rosary reminds me of mine.

Not as beautiful.
Also of wood, and about similar size.

(I moved slightly when I took the picture, so it is not very clear.)

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The crucifix on your rosary looks longer than mine.

Mine has a heart and a short prayer inscribed in French on one side. “Immaculate Heart of Mary Pray For Us”

It was through my discovery of this rosary that I learned about ‘Brigittine’ and the extra decade per mystery. I like the extra decade but the only problem is there is not an extra decade for our new Luminous Mysteries.
Are we allowed to make up one of our own? What would it be?
 
The obvious Luminious Mystery for the Brigittine rosary is “The hidden life at Nazareth” which fits logically as the first of the Luminous Mysteries.

That is, it fits chronologically between “The finding in the Temple” and “Baptism in the Jordan”.
 
Aunt_Raven said:
The obvious Luminious Mystery for the Brigittine rosary is “The hidden life at Nazareth” which fits logically as the first of the Luminous Mysteries.

That is, it fits chronologically between “The finding in the Temple” and “Baptism in the Jordan”.
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I’m glad the Brigittine Rosary is getting a plug here. I use it daily but only when I’m praying my private rosary otherwise the community prays the most popular one of the 5 decades.
 
contemplative said:
Some time ago I purchased a very large rosary from an antique dealer. It is wooden and full length measures 4’ with each bead having a diameter of 1". What stunned me when I took a closer look at it is that has a 6th decade. At first I thought I had a defective rosary but then I learned that it is a Brigittine Rosary.
The Brigittine (or “Saint Bridget”) Rosary was promoted by the Carmelite order and looks similar to a regular rosary but with seven ‘Pater’ beads (in honour of the seven sorrows of the Blessed Virgin) and sixty-three ‘Ave Maria’ beads (to commemorate the years of her life).

Besides the introductory ‘Pater’ and three ‘Aves’ the rosary has six mysteries or decades. In praying the Brigittine Rosary, there are a total of 18 decades:

In the six joyful mysteries the first is the Immaculate Conception, the sixth of the sorrowful mysteries is the Dead Jesus in the Arms of His Mother.

The sixth of the glorious mysteries is the Patronage of Mary.

The other mysteries are the same as in the Rosary in common use. At the end of each decade, the Apostles Creed, not the ‘Glory be’, is recited.
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I’m glad you started this thread on the Brigittine Rosary. I pray mine daily and I love the simple wooden beads and cross.
 
Interesting that there are these other alternatives to the Rosary that not many people know about. Another one is the Franciscan Crown.

More or less like the normal Rosary except you begin with the Our Father and the first decade, after the decades say two more Hail Marys, then an Our Father, Glory Be and Hail Mary (not sure why they’re in that order) 🤷

It has seven decades in total. The decades commemorate the seven joys of Mary -
  1. Annunciation
  2. Visitation
  3. Birth of Christ
  4. Adoration of the Magi
  5. Finding of Jesus in the Temple
  6. Resurrection of Our Lord
  7. Assumption/Coronation of Mary
 
Hello all I will try to post some pics of this Bridgettine Rosary which my Daughter bought yesterday at the local Goodwill. It is quite large-the Cross is 4", and the 2 segments of the 6 decades are 46" and 48" long. Any info would be greatly appreciated. I only know that it is a Nun’s Rosary.
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Unfortunately the Crucifix is missing.
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I can’t quite read this yet.
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At the bottom rear of the Cross it says Italy. I hope the pics are clear enough. We are so interested to find out more about the Rosary.
Thank you!
 
contemplative said:
Some time ago I purchased a very large rosary from an antique dealer. It is wooden and full length measures 4’ with each bead having a diameter of 1". What stunned me when I took a closer look at it is that has a 6th decade. At first I thought I had a defective rosary but then I learned that it is a Brigittine Rosary.
The Brigittine (or “Saint Bridget”) Rosary was promoted by the Carmelite order and looks similar to a regular rosary but with seven ‘Pater’ beads (in honour of the seven sorrows of the Blessed Virgin) and sixty-three ‘Ave Maria’ beads (to commemorate the years of her life).

Besides the introductory ‘Pater’ and three ‘Aves’ the rosary has six mysteries or decades. In praying the Brigittine Rosary, there are a total of 18 decades:

In the six joyful mysteries the first is the Immaculate Conception, the sixth of the sorrowful mysteries is the Dead Jesus in the Arms of His Mother.

The sixth of the glorious mysteries is the Patronage of Mary.

The other mysteries are the same as in the Rosary in common use. At the end of each decade, the Apostles Creed, not the ‘Glory be’, is recited.
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Ah yes, there are several other versions of the Rosary, besides the 5 decade rosary of the Dominicans.👍

:gopray: I myself use the 7 decade Franciscan Crown aka The Seraphic Rosary. I also have a four decade Rosary for the Poor Souls Of Purgatory. That one has skull beads for the large OF beads, and doubled.
 
That is very interesting. I have thought of using different rosaries for the different sets of mysteries, and now all these others expand it even more.

Have any of you come across natural seed rosaries anywhere in your travels?
 
To the person who asked about rosaries made of natural seeds: My husband has one made of narrow, tan olive pits; it came from Jerusalem. Rosaries made of “Job’s tears” are quite common–these are handsome seeds in various shades of warm grey. There is also a naturally black seed used for nuns and priest’s rosaries–they all had them when I was young, 50 years ago. You can theoretically take any hard seed and force a hot needle though it (a stout needle) so that wire can be used to connect the beads in a chain)
 
Thank you. I just found a rosary-maker in my parish and I make dried flowers and will try my hand at preserving the colors of some interesting seeds. We have all kinds around here. I may collect up some seeds and ask the rosary-maker to make one for me.
 
Oooh how interesting! I never knew there was such a thing as a Brigittine rosary until I read this thread today! 🙂 Thanks for enlightening us! 👍
 
This post is for francesdaughter who posted many pictures of a large habit rosary obtained by her daugher. Post dated Feb 10, 2010:

What you have is a habit rosary of a nun. If the nun was a Carmelite, there will be six decades (unable to distinguish from your photo). If not a Carmelite nun, the rosary is most likely in the Dominican 5-decade form (the one we are all used to).

Clips (also used were rings) are placed at various places in the decade circle arranged so that the rosary can be worn around the cord belt of the nun’s habit at her waist, and hang freely without becoming twisted during normal movement of the body.

The crucifix on the rosary is a Profession Crucifix. The heart and crown of thorns placard on the back of the cross would be worn over the heart (under her habit). However, in this case the crucifix is part of her habit rosary. The starburst on the front side is where the head of the crucifix corpus should be…your rosary is missing the corpus (body of Christ). The skull and crossbones would be located under the feet of the corpus, signifying Christ’s defeat of death.

It is a large rosary, becuase, as a habit rosary, this was worn dangling from the belt cord of the habit and was blessed for the nun’s first clothing in the process of her first profession.

You will probably also find that the clips separate the decade part of the rosary into sections…this was done so that it could be worn more conveniently as a part of the habit–as opposed to a rosary used for individual prayer (smaller and all in one piece). Because of these clips, the rosary would naturally “fall” correctly on the nun’s skirt and could be devotionally used whenever her hands reached down to finger the beads (see above).

Hope this helps.
 
contemplative said:
Some time ago I purchased a very large rosary from an antique dealer. It is wooden and full length measures 4’ with each bead having a diameter of 1". What stunned me when I took a closer look at it is that has a 6th decade. At first I thought I had a defective rosary but then I learned that it is a Brigittine Rosary.
The Brigittine (or “Saint Bridget”) Rosary was promoted by the Carmelite order and looks similar to a regular rosary but with seven ‘Pater’ beads (in honour of the seven sorrows of the Blessed Virgin) and sixty-three ‘Ave Maria’ beads (to commemorate the years of her life).

Besides the introductory ‘Pater’ and three ‘Aves’ the rosary has six mysteries or decades. In praying the Brigittine Rosary, there are a total of 18 decades:

In the six joyful mysteries the first is the Immaculate Conception, the sixth of the sorrowful mysteries is the Dead Jesus in the Arms of His Mother.

The sixth of the glorious mysteries is the Patronage of Mary.

The other mysteries are the same as in the Rosary in common use. At the end of each decade, the Apostles Creed, not the ‘Glory be’, is recited.
Click to expand...
Yes, it is part of the Carmelite habit with the cincture (belt) rosary. We no longer have the cincture in our habits but i still use my brigittine rosary when I recite it on my own.
 
Perhaps the most famous Brigittine Rosary is the one on the Crowned Virgin at Lourdes France. At the time the Brigittine Rosary was the normal way of praying the rosary.
 
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