“HAIL MARY, FULL GRACE…” IS THE ROSARY BIBLICAL?

One of the things Catholics are known for is our devotion to Mama Mary through praying the Rosary. This devotion is different from the adoration we give to God. 

Often, we see the Rosary hanging on the rearview mirrors or in the hands of people fingering each bead and with moving lips silently pray, also one can find it inside the pockets or bags. When I was a kid, our family prayed this together as 6:00 p.m. struck the clock.

The word rosary comes from the Latin word rosarium meaning “rose garden” or “garland of roses.” It embodies what Pope John Paul II said: “To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ.” The Rosary is a devotion to honor Mary, but Jesus is in the Rosary. It is very Christ-centered as we meditate His life on the mysteries.

Other denominations question the basis of this devotion. The Catholic Church has not or does not officially teach or proclaim this as dogma or doctrine that we have to practice, but she encourages the faithful to pray it as our private devotion, and many Catholics responded to this encouragement that this became a daily devotion for us. Now, does the Rosary have a biblical basis?

The Rosary is a combination of several prayers.

First is the Sign of the Cross, which is a very short prayer in itself. We bless ourselves in the Holy Trinity and call upon the Name of God. (http://iamacatholicbyheart.blogspot.com/2012/07/why-dowe-make-sign-of-cross.html)

Second is the Apostles’ Creed, which by its title doesn’t mean it was composed by the Apostles but it expresses their teachings. It’s original form was used in 125 A.D. and what we use now was from the 400s. It summarizes the faith that we profess. (http://iamacatholicbyheart.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-apostles-creed.html)

Third is the Our Father or Pater Noster, also known as the Lord’s Prayer since it was Jesus Himself who taught it to His disciples. The version we use is taken from Matthew 6:9-13.

Fourth is the Hail Mary. The first part of this prayer is “Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you.” The basis of this is the greeting of angel Gabriel to Mary in Luke 1:28. Then we pray, “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.” In Luke 1:42, this is what Elizabeth said to Mary. The names of Jesus and Mary are added to clearly state who is being referred to. 

The second part of this prayer is “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen” In the Bible, Christians were called saints (Philippians 1:1, Colossians 1:2). Saint means “holy one”. If Paul called the Christians then as saints and considered them holy, how much more is Mary. Surely, God will not choose her to carry Jesus in her womb if she is not holy. In Luke 1:43, Elizabeth said to Mary, “the mother of my Lord” which can be expressed as the “Mother of God.” In addition, Jesus is both divine and human in nature. Mary carried Him in her womb and gave birth to baby Jesus, not only with His human nature but also with His divine nature. That entitles Mary as being called the Mother of God. (http://iamacatholicbyheart.blogspot.com/2012/08/does-calling-mary-mother-of-god-make.html)

The latter part of this prayer is prayer of petition and asking Mary to pray for us. In 1 Timothy 2:1-4, Paul instructed the Christians to pray for each other and added that this was pleasing to God. In Revelation 5:8, it was mentioned that the elders fell down before the Lamb holding the prayers of the saints. These support our belief that we can ask Mary, the saints and others to pray for us.

The next prayer is the Glory Be. It is sometimes called the Gloria. It is a brief hymn of praise as angels do in heaven (Revelation 4:8).

The Salve Regina or Hail Holy Queen is the next to Hail Mary as a prayer of in honor of Mary. It was composed at the end of the 11^th century.

The Rosary has mysteries and in each one there are five decades which includes one Our Father, 10 Hail Mary and one Glory Be. The mysteries are as follows:

The Joyful Mysteries

1.  the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38)
2. the Visitation (Luke 1:40-56)
3. the Nativity (Luke 2:6-20)
4. the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:21-39)
5. the Finding of the child Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:41-51)

The Sorrowful Mysteries

1.  the Agony in the Garden (Matthew 26:36-46)
2.  the Scourging (Matthew 27:26)
3.  the Crowning with Thorns (Matthew 27:29)
4.  the Carrying of the Cross (John 19:17)
5.  the Crucifixion (Luke 23:33-46)

The Luminous Mysteries

1.  the Baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11)
2.  the Miracle at Cana (John 2:1-11)
3.  the Proclamation of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 4:13-17, 23-25)
4.  the Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-35, Matthew 17:1-8)
5.  the Institution of the Eucharist (Luke 22:14-20, Matthew 26:26-28)

The Glorious Mysteries

1.  the Resurrection (Luke 24:1-12)
2.  the Ascension (Luke 24:50-51)
3.  the Descent of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4)
4.  the Assumption of Mary into heaven (Revelation 12)
5.  Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth (Revelation 12:1)

All the mysteries are fully and clearly expressed scripturally except for the last two mysteries about Mary, but keep in mind that they are not contrary to the Scripture. In his book, “Catholic Soul,” Edgardo de Vera wrote that when we pray the Rosary, “we invoke God 55 times; the Father, 15 times, Son 9, Holy Spirit 10, Jesus 60, Christ once, and Lord 54 times. A complete Rosary comprising all four mysteries…quadruples our invocations of these most sacred names.”

We must remember that the staying power of the Rosary lies in meditating on it as we pray. We meditate on each mystery, contemplatively focusing on Jesus and recalling the Gospel’s from the fiat of Mary to Jesus’ life until Mary’s communion with the saints and angels in heaven and man on earth as she was crowned Queen of heaven and earth.

Sources: 

- Catholic Soul, Concise Essays in Catholic Apologetics by Edgardo C. de Vera

- Wikipedia  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosary

- Catholic Biblical Apologetics  http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2513278/posts

- Catholic Answers  http://www.catholic.com/tracts/the-rosary
- The Word Exposed with Archbishop Antonio Luis Tagle 
- Catechism of the Catholic Church 187 (Creed)  http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p1s2.htm
- Catechism of the Catholic Church 2675 - 2677 (Hail Mary)  http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p4s1c2a2.htm
- Catechism of the Catholic Church 971, 2678, 2708 (The Rosary)   http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/ccc_toc2.htm

Know How to Pray the Rosary:   http://www.rosary-center.org/howto.htm 

Related Topic:
Repetitious Prayer   http://iamacatholicbyheart.blogspot.com/2012/08/why-do-catholics-pray-repetitious.html