Bahá’í World/Volume 7/The Rosary
THE ROSARY
BY NELLIE S. FRENCH
THE origin of the use of the Rosary as an aid to meditation and prayer is lost in obscurity but a glimpse into its history is intriguing and presents many phases which prove the universal use of some form of prayer beads in all of the great religions from a very early period. The Old English word “bead,” derived from "biddan” to pray, is said originally to have meant merely prayer, and to have been used in this sense as early as the ninth century. In this connection also the use of the term “beadhouse” for almshouse and its inmates being called beadsmen, because as members of the institution of the almshouse they were required to say prayers for the repose of the soul of the founder of the institution, links the word with religious observance. But just when the name "bead” was transferred to the small perforated ball by which the beadsmen symbolized the prayer in keeping count of his devotions is not clear.
In the year 1377 version of Piers the Plowman a “peyre bedes,” meaning a rosary or series of such balls, is mentioned, and Chaucer in his Canterbury Tales describes the Prioresse thus:—
"Of smal coral aboute hir arme she bar, A peire of bedes, gauded al with grene, And ther-on heng a broche of gold ful shene
On which ther was first write a crowned A And after ‘Amor vincit omnia.’ ”
Mr. Cornelius H. Patton writing somewhat exhaustively on the subject of “Rosaries of the Great Religions” says that—“To begin with, the rosary used by our ancestors was a very simple affair called a ‘paternoster’: for the ave was originally not used and the prayer beads took their name from the only petition offered. By a natural process priests who were devoted to prayer and fasting came to be known as ‘paternosters’ and in the reign of Edward I so many of these were attached to St. Paul's that the manufacture and sale of prayerbooks and rosaries became a trade by itself.”
As to the name “rosary” authorities differ, but the most logical derivation of the word seems to be “rosarium,” the Latin for chaplet or garland of roses and Mr. Immanuel M. Casanowicz in his description of a collection of rosaries in the National Museum in Washington mentions the fact that the corresponding words corona, chaplet, Rosenkranz, capellina—all convey the idea of a garland—possibly of an anthology, or flower-collection of prayers. He says that the custom of decorating the statues of the Virgin with garlands might have led to a liturgical use of the term and eventually to a substitution of beads for flowers.
One of the best authorities on the Muḥammadan use of the rosary seems to be P. Edgar Schafer, a German missionary in upper Egypt, who says that before the rosary came into use among the Muḥammadans one’s prayers were counted on the knuckles of the hand, a special name being given to each knuckle for the purpose. The ones and tens were recorded on the right hand, the hundreds and thousands on the left. A very old tradition attributes to Muḥammad the custom of counting his prayers on his finger tips. The Prophet is quoted as having said to one of His disciples:—“Be quiet and pronounce the praises and mentioning of Alláh and His holiness, and do not forget them or you will forget mercy. Count them on the tips of your fingers, because they are responsible, just as if they really could understand. For the tips of your fingers will be witnesses against you on the Day of Judgment.”
Following this custom there came into use
the custom of carrying the little scrip or bag
containing 99 pebbles which enabled the
worshipper to concentrate more completely
on the Names and attributes of God according
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to Muḥammadan usage.
Then the pebbles were strung and thus
came the rosary of the Muḥammadans.
In the fashioning of rosaries many materials have been employed and the number of beads varies according to the usages of the various religions. Several very rare and precious collections of rosaries present specimens of choicest beauty and richness. Carvings of ivory, jade, pearl and other precious stones as well as gold, crystal, olivewood, amber, jet, etc. From Muḥammadan India come exquisite Chaplets of matched and unmatched agate, the number of beads often differing widely from the traditional idea. There is much that is lovely too, in the ejaculations of praise following the recital of the divine Names such as the Takbir (God is greater); the Tasbih (God be praised); the Tahlil (there is no God but God). “Sir Edwin Arnold has made exquisite use of the 99 names in his ‘Pearls of the Faith’ in which, on a single string, he has threaded ninety-nine poems on the greatness and glory of the Being sought after by men of all races and creeds,” says Mr. Patton. The Muḥammadan rosary or Chaplet, usually consists of 99 beads divided into sections of 33 each and the sections separated by a larger, or different kind of bead, and there is usually a hundredth bead of elongated shape to mark the center of the string. This long bead is sometimes called the “imám” and is not used in the ritual. Again it is known as the "minaret” and is considered to stand for the name of Alláh, apart from all attributes. Tradition also associates the camel with the hundredth bead, for the story is that only the camel knows the hundredth name of God. This knowledge being possessed by him alone accounts for his look of scornful superiority!
“In Tibet,” says Mr. Patton, "of all lands, prayer has become most mechanized. Practically everybody carries the rosary and the prayer-wheel, and the monks have most expensive and elaborate specimens made of all sorts of materials, but that most valued above all other substances are the bones, and especially the skull bones of famous lamas. Next to achieving arbatship, that is, complete sainthood, after the manner of Buddha, there can be no greater honor for a monk than after death to have his skull cut up into small discs or balls, for the edification of those who are still bound to the wheel of this evil world.” The orthodox Buddhist rosary in Tibet and elsewhere consists of 108 beads; thus by repetition this rosary may register ten times 108 prayers, or 1,080 in all, and an additional pendant increases that number to something like 5,000 which probably is the achievement of a "real saint” for the ordinary lama repeats five times his 108 prayers per day, bringing the number to 540.
Whether the reiteration of prayers and the resultant use of the rosary had its earliest beginnings in India, as many claim, and from there spread throughout the whole world influencing the followers of each successive revelation, or whether these usages originated in the inner consciousness of devout souls who longed for close and continued association with God and of their own initiative discovered the true path through prayer and meditation matters not. But certain it is that various forms of the rosary are in constant use among Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, the lamas of Tibet, the priests of Shintoism in Japan, the Zoroastrians, the Mullás in Írán, the Abyssinian church,—indeed we learn on good authority that three-quarters of the human race are given to some measure of its use. Among the followers of Bahá’u’lláh there are those who have always cherished the use of the rosary and there are those to whom its use is new, for the followers of Bahá’u’lláh, having thrown off all bonds, eschewed all limitations, abolished all prejudices, have been brought together from all quarters of the globe, from all religious systems, from all national boundaries. To them there is no value in the rosary per se, nor does prayer mean the vain repetition of meaningless words and phrases. To them the rosary is as a chain and in the passing of the beads over the fingers there is a sense of the gradual closing of the door on the world of matter and the dawning of a consciousness of the nearness of God. By its use the repetition of the revealed Word brings the suppliant nearer and nearer to the feet of his Lord, flooding his soul with the joy and consciousness of eternal reunion. The spiritual
An early group of the Bahá’ís of Írán.
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vibrations set astir
by the mentioning of the
Name of God awaken one to a new life, a
renewal of faith; the heart is purified, the
spirit quickened, the soul rejoiced and the
whole being set aflame by the fire of the love
of God! The most precious of all rosaries
are those which have felt the touch of the
hand of the Messenger of God and by Him
have been bestowed upon the early pioneers
of the Faith!