What is the history behind the Rosary?

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What is the history and meaning behind the rosary? I guess what i’m asking, is what is an article or explination on the lines of “the rosary for dummies”👍
 
What is the history and meaning behind the rosary? I guess what i’m asking, is what is an article or explination on the lines of “the rosary for dummies”👍
If you would like a good history, a nice book is Stories of the Rose: The Making of the Rosary by Anne Allen.

One of the best short online histories I’ve read is this one . And you can check out the ever faithful Catholic Encyclopedia article on it.
 
This site should answer all of your questions regarding the Rosary. It gives a good history and has a section on how to say it.

fisheaters.com/rosary.html
Bear in mind that this website does not clearly enunciate the mind of the Church in all things. The lady’s attitude re: the Luminous Mysteries, proposed by the Servant of God, Pope John Paul II, is demonstrative of that. She deviates on other issues as well.
 
The Divine Office comprises (originally) the recitation of all 150 psalms weekly.

The Rosary (in its original form) comprises 15 groups of 10 Hail Marys; i.e., 150 Aves.

See a connection?
 
The Divine Office comprises (originally) the recitation of all 150 psalms weekly.

The Rosary (in its original form) comprises 15 groups of 10 Hail Marys; i.e., 150 Aves.

See a connection?
Yes, but remember just how much the Rosary has developed over its time. In the beginning, it was 150 OUR FATHERS. Then when divided into decades it was 10 Our Fathers and a Hail Mary. At some point this was switched around and additional prayers, the Gloria, the Hail Holy Queen, and the Fatima Prayer, added. Then again the ENTIRE second half of the Hail Mary wasn’t added to that prayer until some centuries after Dominic’s time.

The numbers of decades and the mysteries have always been flexible. For example the Franciscan Crown, which IS very much a Rosary, nonetheless has SEVEN decades and SEVEN mysteries combining some of the Joyful and some of the Glorious and addiing a new one to do with the Adoration of the Magi.

Then again - you go to any two churches and they’ll never pray the Rosary exactly the same. All sorts of prayers will be interpolated before, after and between the decades.

In short, it’s a private devotion, liable to change as we who pray it see fit. It is not liturgy set in stone.
 
The Divine Office comprises (originally) the recitation of all 150 psalms weekly.

The Rosary (in its original form) comprises 15 groups of 10 Hail Marys; i.e., 150 Aves.

See a connection?
A numerical one, yes. A pragmatic one? No. I would wager that hardly anyone says to themselves,“Hmmm, 150 Aves to go with 150 Psalms, those new mysteries are gonna throw the whole thing outta wack.” I rather think that people are pondering the mysteries themselves.
 
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