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The Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.(i)
HE devotion called the Rosary consists of fifteen Pater Nosters and Glorias, and one hundred and fifty Ave Marias, to be recited on Indulgenced beads. It is divided into three parts, each containing five Decades, or Tens; a Decade consisting of one Pater, ten Aves, and one Gloria.[1] To each of these Decades is assigned one of the principal Mysteries of the life of our Saviour or of His Blessed Mother, as matter of meditation, whereon the mind is to exercise itself while at prayer, and therefore it is prefixed to every Decade.
The fifteen Mysteries, as we have said, are divided into three parts—viz., five Joyful, five Sorrowful, and five Glorious Mysteries. Now, the method consists in raising corresponding affections in the will during the recital of each Decade, such as the devotion of each one may suggest: for example, in the first part, sentiments of joy for the coming of our Redeemer; in the second, of compassion for the sufferings of our Lord, and contrition for our sins, which were the occasion of them; in the third, thanksgiving for the exaltation and glory of our Saviour and His Blessed Mother, hoping through the merits of His Passion, and her Intercession, to be made partakers of their glory. To assist the mind in this exercise a short Meditation- ↑ It is customary to preface these prayers with the Apostles' Creed, one Pater, three Aves, and one Gloria, as in the chaplet introduced by St. Bridget of Sweden.
