Changes

In the 15th century, about 1409, Dominic the Prussian (another Carthusian), wrote a book attaching a "Psalter" of fifty reflective thoughts relating the lives of Jesus and his mother Mary to a devotional ''rosarium'' of 50 Angelic Salutations, a thought for each one of the fifty. Eventually this Psalter was divided into decades, ten thoughts with ten Angelic Salutations, each decade introduced by an Our Father first. Because the form was not firmly fixed, very gradually various forms of this meditative prayer-devotion were composed and proposed from about 1425 through 1470. It was roughly during this period that the greeting of Elizabeth was included, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb", and her testimony under the influence of the Holy Spirit that Mary is the mother of God, "Whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Greek Κύριος ''Kyrios'' "Lord" = God).

In the 15th century, about 1409, Dominic the Prussian (another Carthusian), wrote a book attaching a "Psalter" of fifty reflective thoughts relating the lives of Jesus and his mother Mary to a devotional ''rosarium'' of 50 Angelic Salutations, a thought for each one of the fifty. Eventually this Psalter was divided into decades, ten thoughts with ten Angelic Salutations, each decade introduced by an Our Father first. Because the form was not firmly fixed, very gradually various forms of this meditative prayer-devotion were composed and proposed from about 1425 through 1470. It was roughly during this period that the greeting of Elizabeth was included, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb", and her testimony under the influence of the Holy Spirit that Mary is the mother of God, "Whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Greek Κύριος ''Kyrios'' "Lord" = God).

When the [[Dominican]] Alan of Rupe, ''Alain de Roche'', a disciple of [[Saint Dominic]], founded the first Rosary Confraternity, he also instituted the more modern form of the rosary, and with that launched the Dominican Order as the foremost preachers and missionaries of the Rosary. The form he favored was to refer a special thought for each bead of the Rosary, in preference to a single meditative thought for the whole, which he called the "old" Rosary. The prayer form of 150 special thoughts for the 150 "Hail Mary"s spread rapidly throughout Western Christendom<ref>In Eastern Christendom, among the Orthodox faithful, another form of prayer with a string of beads became widespread, from the [http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Philokalia.pdf ''Philokalia'']. This particular repeated devotional-prayer of petition, also using an implement of beads similar but not identical in form to the western Rosary implement, says, "'''Oh, my Lord Jesus Christ, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, a poor sinner.''" Hindus and Moslems have copied this form of prayer-tool also using beads of varying numbers up to 99 or more. Some [[Fundamentalism|Christian fundamentalists]] insist that the Catholic Rosary is a demonic practice borrowed directly from pagan Hindus and Moslems, and that the title Queen of Heaven refers directly and '''''only''''' to [[Babylon]]ian [[Ishtar]] and [[Astarte]] instead of Mary, because the title is found in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+44%3A15-28&version=KJV Jeremiah 44:15-28] together with the burning of incense, and that this is proof that Catholics and Orthodox have substituted Mary/Istar/Astarte/Isis in place of the Son of God, Jesus, having thereby committed [[Apostasy]] from true Christianity. See [[Great Apostasy]] and [[''The Two Babylons'']]</ref>. This form of meditation, with 150 different thoughts, one for each bead, was gradually abandoned as the Christian world transitioned to the [[Renaissance]].

When the [[Dominican]] Alan of Rupe, ''Alain de Roche'', a disciple of [[Saint Dominic]], founded the first Rosary Confraternity, he also instituted the more modern form of the rosary, and with that launched the Dominican Order as the foremost preachers and missionaries of the Rosary. The form he favored was to refer a special thought for each bead of the Rosary, in preference to a single meditative thought for the whole, which he called the "old" Rosary. The prayer form of 150 special thoughts for the 150 "Hail Mary"s spread rapidly throughout Western Christendom<ref>In Eastern Christendom, among the Orthodox faithful, another form of prayer with a string of beads became widespread, from the [http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Philokalia.pdf ''Philokalia'']. This particular repeated devotional-prayer of petition, also using an implement of beads similar but not identical in form to the western Rosary implement, says, "'''Oh, my Lord Jesus Christ, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, a poor sinner.''" Hindus and Moslems have copied this form of prayer-tool also using beads of varying numbers up to 99 or more. Some [[Fundamentalism|Christian fundamentalists]] insist that the Catholic Rosary is a demonic practice borrowed directly from pagan Hindus and Moslems, and that the title [[Queen of Heaven]] refers directly and '''''only''''' to [[Babylon]]ian [[Mesopotamian mythology|Ishtar]] and Phoenician [[Astarte]] instead of Mary, because the title is found in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+44%3A15-28&version=KJV Jeremiah 44:15-28] together with the burning of incense, and that this is proof that Catholics and Orthodox have substituted Mary/Istar/Astarte/Isis in place of the Son of God, Jesus, having thereby committed [[Apostasy]] from true Christianity. See [[Great Apostasy]] and [[''The Two Babylons'']]</ref>. This form of meditation, with 150 different thoughts, one for each bead, was gradually abandoned as the Christian world transitioned to the [[Renaissance]].

In 1500 for the first time, inexpensive woodblock prints could be made of pictures of the events meditated upon in praying the Rosary, 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 of the Our Father. 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. 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 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 present the mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption in the lives of Jesus and Mary.

In 1500 for the first time, inexpensive woodblock prints could be made of pictures of the events meditated upon in praying the Rosary, 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 of the Our Father. 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. 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 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 present the mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption in the lives of Jesus and Mary.