630 PROChjEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.55. 



The rosary (from the Middle Latin, rosai'ium, properly a garland 

 of roses) is a string of beads, generally formed into a circlet or loop, 

 used for keeping count of prayers or formulas repeated in religious 

 devotions. The materials of which it is made range from natural 

 berries or common wood to costly metals and precious stones. Such 

 devices to assist the memory in complex repetitions occur also among 

 the Hindus, Buddhists, and Mohammedans. In fact, it can be said 

 that some form or other of rosary is used by about three-fourths of 

 the world's inhabitants. The Roman Catholic rosary in its present 

 form and the method of devotion performed with its aid is ascribed 

 to St. Dominic (1170-1231), the founder of the Dominican order, to 

 whom, according to legend, the Virgin Mary handed a rosary from 

 heaven as a weapon against heretics and infidels. But both the 

 practice of often repeating prayers and the employment of some 

 expedient for recording the number of repetitions can be traced to a 

 much earlier date.^ 



The ordinary Catholic rosary consists of 150 small beads, divided 

 into decades by 15 larger beads. To these beads, forming a chaplet, 

 is usually attached a pendant, consisting of a crucifix, one large and 

 three small beads. The devotion begins with the invocation. "In 

 the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost." Then the 

 Apostles' Creed is recited on the crucifix, a paternoster (the Lord's 

 Prayer) on the larger bead, and three Ave Maria (Hail Mary) on the 

 three smaller beads, closing with the Gloria (Glory be to the Father, 

 to the vSon, and to the Holy Ghost"). This forms the introduction 

 to the rosary proper. Then follow decades of aves, counted by the 

 smaller beads, each decade preceded by a paternoster, for which a 

 larger bead is used, and followed by a gloria. The 150 aves cor- 

 respond to the number of Psalms, hence from an early period the 

 devotion was called "Our Lady's Psalter." For each decade a 

 subject, or "mystery," in the life of Christ and Mary is set for medi- 

 tation, the 15 mysteries being divided into five joyful, five sorrowful, 

 and five glorious. The five joyful mysteries are: The annunciation 

 (Luke i, 26), the visitation (Luke i, 39), the nativity (Luke ii), the 

 presentation (Luke ii, 21), and the finding in the temple (Luke ii, 

 41). The five sorrov/ful mysteries are: The agony in Gethsemane 

 (Matthew XX vi, 36), the scourging (Matthew xxvii, 26), the crowning 

 with thorns (Matthew, xxvii, 29), the carrying of the cross (John 

 xix, 17), and the crucifixion (Matthew xxvii, 35). The five glorious 

 mysteries are: The resurrection (Matthew xxviii), the ascension 

 (Luke xxiv, 50), the descent of the Holy Ghost (Acts ii), the assump- 



» For a fullerdiscusslon of the subject see The collection of rosaries in the United States National Museum, 

 by I. M. Casanowicz, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 36, pp. 333-360, with pis. 21-30, Washington, Government 

 Printing Office, 1909. 



