rosarium
Rosary
The prayer of beads in which decades of Hail Marys are said while meditating on twenty “mysteries” from the lives of Jesus and Mary; a “Gospel in miniature.”
a rose garden; a garland of roses
The Rosary combines vocal prayer — the Our Father, ten Hail Marys and the Glory Be, prayed in decades — with meditation on the Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and, since 2002, Luminous mysteries. The repetition quiets the mind so that the heart can dwell with Mary on the events of her Son's life. The Catechism calls it a form of meditation and a popular expression of the Church's Marian piety, and popes have called it a compendium of the whole Gospel. The word comes from the idea of a garland of roses offered to Mary.
Sources
Church teaching
- Rosarium Virginis Mariae · John Paul IIJohn Paul II, apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae (16 October 2002), which added the Luminous Mysteries and describes the Rosary as a compendium of the Gospel.
Sources checked 29 September 2026