Rosary History
The Rosary Bead
The word Rosary comes from the Latin ‘Rosarium’, meaning rose garden, a symbol of love in ancient times. The word Bead is derived from an old Saxon word for prayer, Bede.
The Hail Mary
The Hail Mary as we know it today took its present form in the 15th century. Prior to that, there was a shorter doxology ‘Glory be to Mary/Hail Mary Full of Grace the Lord is with you’ (Luke 1.28).Later her cousin, Elizabeth, greets May with the response ‘and blessed is the fruit of thy womb’ (Luke 1.42) ‘Jesus’ was added a little later.
The final part of the prayer ‘Holy Mary mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, Amen’ was again added on later so that by the 15th century the Hail Mary as we know and say it today has been in use from that period.
The Hail Mary is much younger than the ‘Our Father’ which was taught by Christ himself while he was on earth.
The Association of the pearls and Mary
In medieval times relics were much treasured and they were normally encased, depending on the relic, in beautiful caskets, surrounded by gold, precious stones and pearls.
We can see it at its best in the relic of the’ Holy Thorn’ in the British Museum, a thorn taken from the actual Crown of Thorns which is now in the Notre Dame, Paris.
It was originally kept in the specially designed Church called Sainte-Chapelle by King Louis IX. It was given to him by his cousin, Baldwin, originating in Constantinople in the year 1239.
The relic (the Holy Thorn) is housed behind a glass screen and this is surrounded by rubies (representing the blood of Christ) sapphires (representing Heaven) and pearls (representing the purity of the Blessed Virgin). The pearl has a long and noble association with our Lady.
