The Origin of Holy Rosary
The Holy Rosary
“The Buddhists of the far East, the Brahmans of India, the Lamas of Tibet, the old pagans of Rome, and the people of Ephesus in their worship of Diana (Acts 19:28), all existing before the Roman Catholic Church came into existence, constantly used beads in reciting their many prayers.”
-by Dreyer and Weller
Roman Catholicism in the Light of Scripture
p. 137
“… The rosary, however, is no invention of the Papacy. It is of the highest antiquity, and almost universally found among Pagan nations. The rosary was used as a sacred instrument among the ancient Mexicans.”
-by Alexander Hislop,
The Two Babylons or The Papal Worship
p. 187
“The great Marian devotion, the Rosary, began obscurely in the eleventh century and was later systematically developed by saint Dominic and took the form in which we now know it as comprising the recitation of prayer and meditation on the fifteen mysteries, about the time of the Hundred Years’ War. Thus briefly passed in review are some indications of that remarkable surge of devotion which sufficed both to assure to the Virgin her high place in Christian worship where she ranks second to Christ himself.”
-by Henri Daniel-Rops,
The Book of Mary
p. 81
“The complete Rosary devotion consists of fifteen groups of Hail Marys, ten to each group, which is commonly called a decade… Prayers are said on every bead and on the crucifix, but those recited on the crucifix and on the five beads which you have referred to as an appendage are only introductory to rosary itself, and are not essential to the Rosary.
“Do you mean that when the complete Rosary is said, the ‘Hail Mary’ is said 150 times?
“Exactly; ”
-by Most Rev. John Francis Noll
Father Smith Instructs Jackson
p. 269-270
“In the Western Church. ‘The Rosary’, says the Roman Breviary, ‘is a certain form of prayer wherein we say fifteen decades or tens of Hail Marys with an Our Father between each ten.”
The Catholic Encyclopedia
vol. 13, p. 184
“Pope Clemet the XI, prescribed that on the first Sunday of October the Feast of the Rosary (Naval) be celebrated in the whole Church. In the year 1885 Pope Leo XIII ordered the Rosary to be recited everyday during the month of October in evry parish church throughout the world and he exhorted that those who cannot be present at the praying of the rosary in the church, should say it with their families at home, or in private.”
Amigo del Pueblo
p. 275
But what does the Bible say regarding such practice?
“Here then is my word to you, and I urge it on you in the Lord’s name: give up living as pagans do with their futile notions. Their minds are closed, they are alienated from the life that is in God, because ignorance prevails among them and their hearts have grown hard as stone.”
Ephesians. 4:17-18, REB
“And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
“Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”
Matthew. 6:7-8, NKJV
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The references cited above were written by recognized Catholic authorities to show that the Rosary is indeed a repetitious prayer and thus contrary to the statement of Christ in Matthew 6:7. To defy Christ’s admonition against repetitious prayers is not only unbiblical – it is choosing to be an enemy of Christ.
Repetitious reciting of prayers, says Christ in the same verse, is the way pagans pray. Apostle Paul states in Ephesians 4:17-18 that Christians must “give up living as pagans do with their futile notions” (Revised English Bible)
Thus, any praying in the same way as what pagans are doing contradicts Christ’s admonition on how to pray properly.
“…the old pagans of Rome … before the Roman Catholic Church came into existence, constantly used beads in reciting their many prayers…”
Roman Catholics in the Light of Scripture
p. 137
“The practice of using beads, etc., as a help to memory in reciting a set number of prayers is not distinctively Christian…”
A Catholic Dictionary
p. 717
The rosary beads have been very much in fashion before and up to now that is why they are universally found. Catholic defenders might claim that these rosary beads are not the sole or exclusive property of the pagans and conclude that the Rosary “can not be branded as such”.
The fact, however, that there is no mention of it being commanded by Christ and the Apostles or used by the early Christians, and not even by the people of God in the Old Testament indicates that the Rosary was adopted by the Catholic Church not from the Holy Scriptures.
As Catholics themselves know, history proves that the Rosary beads had long been widespread among pagans even before the existence of the Roman Church.
Aside from recitation of the vocal prayers, the Rosary includes meditation on the “mysteries” and putting into practice what is meditated upon and expressed in vocal prayers. Catholics, then, may conclude, “the Holy Rosary is biblically based.”
Meditating on important events in the life of Jesus and other virtuous servants of God and living it out in the daily life are indeed noble activities, but these activities can be done even without ritually reciting memorized prayers while using beads which the pagans also use. God’s people in the Bible practiced meditation and were prayerful, but none of them used vain repetitions or rosary beads in his prayers.
Moreover, at least two of the so-called “mysteries” involved in praying the Rosary are obviously not warranted by the Holy Scriptures. In announcing the “Fourth mystery – the Assumption of Our Lady” in the so-called “Glorious Mysteries,” it proclaims:
“We recall how Jesus has taken His Mother to heaven with body and soul as a generous reward for her devoted love to Him while on earth.”
How to Say the Rosary
p. 22
But nowhere in the Bible can we find that “Jesus has taken His Mother to heaven with body and soul.” What the Bible teaches is that the dead are in the grave (Psalm 88:5, NKJV), including those who are holy (Psalm 86:2; Acts 2:29, 34), and that the “soul clings to the dust” when a person dies (Psalm 119:25, NKJV). Those who are worthy of salvation will enter the kingdom in heaven on the Second Advent of Christ (Matthew 25:31-34) or Judgment Day (Jude 1:14-15).
In the “Fifth Mystery – the Coronation of Our Lady in Heaven” of your so-called “Glorious Mysteries,” it announces:
“We recall how Mary enter[ed] heaven and is greeted by the endless jubilation of angels and saints. Jesus sets upon her head the crown as Heaven’s Queen.”
How to Say the Rosary
p. 23
Regarding the “Glorious Mysteries,” the Pope John Paul II himself in his Apostolic Letter “The Rosary of the Virgin Mary” states:
“In the Ascension, Christ was raised in glory to the right hand of the Father, while Mary herself would be raised to that same glory in the Assumption, enjoying beforehand, by a unique privilege, the destiny reserved for all the just at the resurrection of the dead. Crowned in glory – as she appears in the last glorious mystery – Mary shines forth as Queen of the Angels and Saints…” (p.16)
Again, these teachings are without biblical basis. Even your [Catholics] Pope can not read from the Holy Scriptures that Mary was “crowned in glory … as Queen of the Angels and Saints” and that “Jesus sets upon her head the crown as Heaven’s Queen.” As a matter of fact, no less that Catholic priests and authorities testify to the fact that Mary’s “Assumption” or being “taken … to heaven with body and soul” is not found in the Holy Scriptures:
“There is no statement of the Assumption in Holy Scripture. Moreover, of we consult the historical writings of the first five centuries, we find them void of any historical data to certify that fact of the Assumption.”
God the Redeemer by Charles G. Herzog
p. 98
“There is no explicit reference to the assumption in the Bible, yet the Pope insists in the decree of promulgation that the Scriptures are the ultimate foundation of this truth.”
New Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. I, 1967, p. 972
The Assumption, therefore, is nothing but just a mere assumption.
No doubt, the Rosary can be prayed with the best of human intentions, but this doesn’t change the biblical truth that it is against the will of God and it is of pagan origin. Neither the prophets nor Christ, nor the Apostles taught it and therefore, the Rosary is a prayer taught as a commandment of men, who have not been commissioned by God to teach His words.
As to prayers made to God by people who teach and obey commandments of men, Christ quoted these words from God:
“But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
Matthew 15:9, KJV
Therefore, while there’s still time, put away the commandments of men, and learn to accept the truth no matter how painful it may be. The truth will set us free (John 8:32).
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