Changes

In 1500 for the first time, inexpensive woodblock prints could be made of pictures of the events meditated upon in praying the Rosary. Since the vast majority of the common people were still illiterate these picture rosaries were immensely popular, as a form of directed meditation on the events of our salvation, much easier than attempting to memorize them. But it was difficult and expensive to draw and then print reproductions of 150 different pictures for each of the 150 Hail Marys. The ten pictures for each of the ten thoughts in each decade were printed around the words and picture of the Our Father. This was the time of the printing of the [[Gutenberg Bible]] and the beginning of the [[Protestant Reformation]]. It was also the century of the reported apparition in Mexico of [[Our Lady of Guadalupe]]. But gradually, during the 16th and 17th centuries, the use of 150 distinct meditative thoughts gradually died out, and only the 15 brief Our Father thoughts, one for each entire decade of 10 Hail Marys, were printed in the picture rosaries. These fifteen became known as the mysteries of the rosary, because they directly represent the mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption in the lives of Jesus and Mary for our salvation.  

In 1500 for the first time, inexpensive woodblock prints could be made of pictures of the events meditated upon in praying the Rosary. Since the vast majority of the common people were still illiterate these picture rosaries were immensely popular, as a form of directed meditation on the events of our salvation, much easier than attempting to memorize them. But it was difficult and expensive to draw and then print reproductions of 150 different pictures for each of the 150 Hail Marys. The ten pictures for each of the ten thoughts in each decade were printed around the words and picture of the Our Father. This was the time of the printing of the [[Gutenberg Bible]] and the beginning of the [[Protestant Reformation]]. It was also the century of the reported apparition in Mexico of [[Our Lady of Guadalupe]]. But gradually, during the 16th and 17th centuries, the use of 150 distinct meditative thoughts gradually died out, and only the 15 brief Our Father thoughts, one for each entire decade of 10 Hail Marys, were printed in the picture rosaries. These fifteen became known as the mysteries of the rosary, because they directly represent the mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption in the lives of Jesus and Mary for our salvation.  

The [[Sign of the Cross]] and the [[Apostles' Creed]] were added to the beginning of the rosary by the authority of the [[Magisterium]] of the Church, as an affirmation of the fullness of the orthodox and [[catholic]] Christian faith and to prevent superstitious abuse of a sacramental<ref>"superstitious abuse of a sacramental". The added emphasis on orienting the recitation of the Rosary to orthodox Christian doctrine in the Sign of the Cross and the Apostles' Creed at the very beginning of the prayer, was pastorally mandated as a counter to any tendency on the part of ignorant people to turn it into a superstitious talisman divorced and separated from God, away from Christ and the Church, and to remind them of the faith in God they should always profess and give witness to.</ref> (a devotional practice officially approved by the Magisterium which predisposes the individual to live a life of grace, as does reverent Bible-reading and other acts of [[piety]]). The addition of the Sign of the Cross and the Apostles' Creed along with three Hail Marys, one each for an increase of [[Faith]], an increase of [[Hope]], and an increase of [[Charity]], as a preparatory introduction before beginning the series of 50 or 150 decades, and a "Glory Be" at the end of each decade—  

The [[Sign of the Cross]] and the [[Apostles' Creed]] were added to the beginning of the rosary by the authority of the [[Magisterium]] of the Church, as an affirmation of the fullness of the orthodox and [[catholic]] Christian faith and to prevent superstitious abuse of a sacramental<ref>"superstitious abuse of a sacramental". The added emphasis on orienting the recitation of the Rosary to orthodox Christian doctrine in the Sign of the Cross and the Apostles' Creed at the very beginning of the prayer, was pastorally mandated as a counter to any tendency on the part of ignorant people to turn it into a superstitious talisman divorced and separated from God, apart from Christ and the Church, and to remind them of the faith in God they should always profess and give witness to.</ref> (a devotional practice officially approved by the Magisterium which predisposes the individual to live a life of grace, as does reverent Bible-reading and other acts of [[piety]]). The addition of the Sign of the Cross and the Apostles' Creed along with three Hail Marys, one each for an increase of [[Faith]], an increase of [[Hope]], and an increase of [[Charity]], as a preparatory introduction before beginning the series of 50 or 150 decades, and a "Glory Be" at the end of each decade—  

:"Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen."

:"Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen."

—and an added conclusive ending with a "Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy," a prayer crying to her, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, as advocate, to look on us with mercy and pray for us to God, and after our deaths to show to us Jesus himself, and finally ending with a closing prayer to God alone, acknowledging his gift of unmerited salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord, the Son of God:

—and an added conclusive ending with a "Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy," a prayer crying to her, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, as advocate, to look on us with mercy and pray for us to God, and after our deaths to show to us Jesus himself, and finally ending with a closing prayer to God alone, acknowledging his gift of unmerited salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord, the Son of God:

==Praying the Rosary==

==Praying the Rosary==

{{cquote|To pray the rosary you should use a Rosary. A Rosary is a string of beads with a crucifix. A short string of five beads is attached to the crucifix which leads to a large circular strip of beads made of five sets of one large bead and ten smaller beads, called decades. You begin on the crucifix with a [[Sign of the Cross]] and an [[Apostles' Creed]]. Say an [[Our Father]] on the large bead and one [[Hail Mary]] for each of the next three smaller beads. On the next large bead, say a Glory Be to the Father, announce and meditate on the first mystery and say an Our Father. Say a Hail Mary for each of the following smaller beads, and end the decade with the Glory Be. Begin the cycle again with an Our Father, meditate the second mystery according to the same schema and so on for the third, fourth and fifth mysteries. You end with the [[Prayer]] after the Rosary and a Sign of the Cross.<ref>

{{cquote|To pray the rosary you should use a Rosary. A Rosary is a string of beads with a crucifix. A short string of five beads is attached to the crucifix which leads to a large circular strip of beads made of five sets of one large bead and ten smaller beads, called decades. You begin on the crucifix with a [[Sign of the Cross]] and an [[Apostles' Creed]]. Say an [[Our Father]] on the large bead and one [[Hail Mary]] for each of the next three smaller beads. On the next large bead, say a Glory Be to the Father, announce and meditate on the first mystery and say an Our Father. Say a Hail Mary for each of the following smaller beads, and end the decade with the Glory Be. Begin the cycle again with an Our Father, meditate the second mystery according to the same schema and so on for the third, fourth and fifth mysteries. You end with the [[Prayer]] after the Rosary and a Sign of the Cross.}}  

</ref>}}  

===Mysteries of the Rosary===   

===Mysteries of the Rosary===