Brigittine Rosary

[Aunt_Raven]

Since we now have thanks to the late Pope JP II, a new set of rosary Mysteries, it would be logical that the 6th decade of these Mysteries of Light in the Brigittine Rosary would be “The hidden life at Nazareth” as the first Luminous mystery; --which falls cronologically between the last mystery of the Joyful decade, “finding in the Temple”, and “baptism in the Jordan”.

 

[horselvr]

"Ah yes, there are several other versions of the Rosary, besides the 5 decade rosary of the Dominicans.

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."

Wow! I am ashamed and quite embarrassed to admit this but I always thought a Rosary was a Rosary.

So glad I happened upon this thread as I always feel compelled to pray for the souls in Purgatory and NOW I find that there is a Rosary just for them—a 4 decade. I never thought of searching for Rosaries until this thread. I believe I’ll try searching for the 4 decade Rosary. Thanks so very much for this thread.

 

[Chopstick]

horselvr, if you run a search for ‘chaplets,’ there are lots of prayers that use rosary-type beads to keep count, as well as different prayers that go with the typical 5-decade rosary. Really makes me want to get a jar of beads and some string…

 

[Padraig1972]

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

I have a question regarding the last mystery here. Does this mean that you reflect-meditate over two mysteries and then pray the usual way (hail marys and so on?)

 

[tepeyachill]

I have recently discovered the Brigittine rosary and now pray it regularly. It is a good aid for me for increased meditation on the life of Jesus and his Mother. Since only the mysteries of the 15-decade rosary are “official”, I have added a few of my own with the desire to keep the mysteries as Scriptural as possible.

For the Joyous Mysteries I have foregone the Immaculate Conception (not Scriptural) in favor of the Epiphany. I have always been disappointed that the Epiphany was never represented in the official mysteries. I insert it between the Presentation and the Finding of the Child Jesus.

The Luminous Mysteries have as their purpose I believe to show Jesus revealing himself in various ways to the people. I don’t see this as being accomplished by meditating on the hidden years. I have chosen to meditate on the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem which I insert between the Transfiguration and the Institution of the Eucharist.

Since placing Jesus in the arms of his mother is not Scriptural, I have chosen to meditate on his burial. There are plenty of Scriptural references for meditation. Of course, I place it after the Crucifixion.

The Glorious Mysteries I have left untouched. Meditating on the Patronage of Mary, though not Scriptural, enables me to reflect on all that she has done for us since her Assumption into heaven.

Tepeyachill

 

[Maristella]

I recently learned about the Brigittine Rosary at a Carmelite retreat I attended. Here is information from a handout I received at the retreat on how to pray this Rosary:

The Brigittine Rosary was instituted and propagated by St. Bridget of Sweden. The six decade rosary, or Brigittine beads, is traditional in the Discalced Carmelite Order as part of the habit.

The Brigittine beads number seven “Our Fathers” in honor of the sorrows and joys of the Blessed Virgin, and sixty three “Hail Mary’s” to commemorate the years of her life. The rosary begins with the sign of the cross and goes right into the first “Our Father.” The Creed is not said. Besides the introductory "Our Father " and three “Hail Mary’s” there are six mysteries or decades in each of the four parts or divisions. At the end of each decade, the Apostles Creed, not the Glory Be is recited.

Joyful Mysteries

1. The Immaculate Conception
2. The Annunciation
3. The Visitation
4. The Nativity
5. The Presentation
6. The Finding in the Temple

Luminous Mysteries
1, The Baptism by John
2. The Wedding at Cana
3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom
4. The Transfiguration
5. The Entry into Jerusalem
6. The Institution of the Eucharist

The Sorrowful Mysteries

1. The Agony in the Garden
2. The Scourging
3. The Crowning of Thorns
4. The Way of the Cross
5. The Crucifixion
6. The Pieta

The Glorious Mysteries

1. The Resurrection
2. The Ascension
3. Pentecost
   4, The Assumption
   5, The Coronation
4. Patronage of Mary/the Vision of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

 

[mariafransisca2]

You can read the life of St. Birgitta here
umilta.net/thgascbirgitta.html

It’s excellent

 

[ikobobo]

Great thread!

For my birthday, a few years ago, I inherited my great grand-mother’s rosary. The wooden beads, medal, and crucifix were worn down with a beautiful patina evident of her countless hours of prayer. It turned out to be a Brigittine Rosary.

My Mom says my great grand-mom had a special devotion to St Teresa of Avila.

The gift turned out to be auspicious; later that year, because of an unexpected professional honorarium, I was able to travel to Spain for a working ‘holiday’. During my seven weeks there I visited both Santiago de Compostela and Avila - the fulfillment of a dream! While there I discovered the significant support the Brigittine Sisters had given to pilgrims in Spain over the centuries, and the connection with this Rosary to St. Teresa of Avila. I have prayed the six decades ever since!!

A QUESTION: When St. Therese of Liseaux (sp?), or any other Carmelite saint, is pictured with a Rosary shouldn’t it have six decades?

 

[Maristella]

A QUESTION: When St. Therese of Liseaux (sp?), or any other Carmelite saint, is pictured with a Rosary shouldn’t it have six decades?

My understanding is the Brigittine Rosary is part of the Discalced Carmelite habit, so OCD nuns would be wearing one.

 

[Aunt_Raven]

My husband and I recently made a pilgrimage to Lourdes and there learned that the 6-decade Briggitine rosary was the usual one said in St Bernadette’s time and place.

This solved the puzzle which vexed me since i was a small child observing that the statue of the Immaculate Conception in my home parish (All Saints, Houston Texas) depicted a rosary of six decades. Why?

Answer: tthe first Joyful Mystery of the Brigittine rosary is “the Immaculate Conception” !

 

[Aunt_Raven]

My understanding is the Brigittine Rosary is part of the Discalced Carmelite habit, so OCD nuns would be wearing one.

In a traditional Carmelite Monastery which was once in Aztec NM which has since relocated to Kansas, I indeed saw the nuns wearing the 6-decade habit rosary. I understand that this group began as an offshoot of the Dallas, TX Carmel, which in turn was founded by refugee Carmelite Nuns fleeing persecution in the Mexican Revolution, the cause of many 20th century Catholic martyrs.

 

[CStrand]

Years after the fact, I figured I’d weigh in on this subject, since I have spent a lot of time over the past few years trying to get to the bottom of this curious matter of the “Brigittine” Rosary, sometimes known as the Carmelite rosary.

First of all, there is absolutely no reason why anyone should not pray the modern version of this rosary if conscience moves them to do so. By “modern” I mean the version associated with the 18 mysteries, which are identical to the 15 mysteries of the Dominican rosary, except that they add the Immaculate Conception at the beginning of the Joyful Mysteries, the Pieta at the end of the Sorrowful Mysteries, and the Patronage of Mary at the end of the Glorious Mysteries. This custom is, however, of modern vintage and has nothing to do with St. Brigit or, strictly speaking, medieval Carmelite spirituality.

Roughly half of the rosaries which survive from late medieval times have six decades rather than five. In fact, papal documents from the period seem to indicate that six decades may actually have been the norm. The simple reason for this was that six decades of Ave Marias beads, plus three on the pendant, added up to the years Our Lady is believed to have lived on earth according to St. Brigit (hence the erroneous association of this rosary with her name). This is the only reason for the use of six decades rather than five. The fact that the six decade rosary ended up with 7 Our Fathers may simply have been the result of a desire on the part of those who prayed it to “flesh out” the devotion somewhat by bringing the number of Our Father beads in line with the Seven Sorrows and Seven Joys, which were already well established as a devotion by then.

Even so, there is little reason to believe that the six-decade “Corone (or Crown) of Our Ladie” originally involved meditation on any mysteries. It was simply a way of “weaving a garland of prayer” to offer to the Virgin for her head. The fact that there was one Ave bead for each year of Mary’s life gave people the sense–both tactile and imaginative–of embracing ALL of Mary. The Corona of Our Lady, as the six-decade rosary was called by nearly everyone in the middle ages, was a full-bodied devotion that allowed a person to feel fully related to the Mother of God.

As a further note, the association of the six-decade rosary with Bernadette of Lourdes is apocryphal. There is no record of Bernadette noticing that the apparition held a rosary of six decades rather than five. The statue commissioned for the grotto (which Bernadette hated and which she said bore no resemblance whatsoever to the apparition) holds a rosary of six decades simply because the sculptor was following the local custom. Six decade rosaries were still common in that part of France during the early to mid-19th century.