The Excellence of the Rosary | Page 3

St. Jordanus says, likened to the flaming red
rose.
There is no rose but has its thorns. The thorns are a figure of suffering,
of sorrow, of the temptations in life, under which only a truly virtuous
life can thrive.
St. Brigid relates in her revelations how she at one time was downcast
because the enemies of Christ were so powerful, and how she was
consoled by the mother of God herself, who told her to remember the
rose among the thorns. "The rose," so said Mary, "gives a fragrant odor;
it is beautiful to the sight, and tender to the touch, and yet it grows
among thorns, inimical to beauty and tenderness. So may also those
who are mild, patient, beautiful in virtue, be put to a test among
adversaries. And as the thorn, on the other hand, guards, so do wicked
surroundings protect the just against sin by demonstrating to them the
destructiveness of sin."
The life of Mary was interwoven with many sorrows and she is justly
called "a rose among thorns." St. Brigid says: "The Virgin may suitably
be called a blooming rose. Just as the gentle rose is placed among
thorns, so this gentle Virgin was surrounded by sorrow."
The rose obtains its life through the stem, to which it is closely united.
A rose broken from the stem will soon wither. So Mary received all her
graces from Jesus, with whom she was united through the liveliest faith
and ardent love.

Mary is in truth a spiritual, a mystic rose. The rose therefore is a fitting
symbol of the virtuous life of the mother of God. As mystical rose she
deserves our admiration and veneration, and she must be our example
and model in all Christian virtues, the model of a true spiritual life.
The name rosary, therefore, is well suited to this devotion. For it is a
wreath of spiritual roses, as it were, which we place at the feet of Mary,
in order to show our love and veneration.
The rose has, moreover, been at all times regarded as a symbol of love.
It was already the custom of the early Christians to adorn on feast days
the pictures and statues of the saints with wreaths of roses, especially
on feast days of the Blessed Virgin.
St. Dominic, inspired and instructed by Mary, formed from the
beautiful and efficacious prayers, the Our Father and the Hail Mary,
together with the principal mysteries from the lives of Jesus and Mary,
a beautiful wreath, and called it the "Rosary."
The threefold mysteries represented in the devotion again give it a
resemblance to the rose. The green of the rose is the color of hope and
confidence. It is represented in the glorious rosary. The thorns are
represented in the sorrowful rosary. The beautiful red petals of the rose,
finally, are represented in the joyful rosary, in the glories of Jesus and
Mary.
Thus is shown therefore the deep and significant meaning of the name
rosary. And as the rosary reminds us of all the virtues, the spiritual
beauty and sublimity of Mary, and as it is a worthy manifestation of our
love and veneration for the mother of God it is meet that we hold the
rosary in high esteem. And Mary finds delight in this devotion, for it
reminds her of all the good God did for her, and for which all nations
pronounce her blessed.
Oh, let us then resolve to wind this wreath frequently, to lay it often at
the feet of the noble, the gracious queen of the Rosary!

II. THE ORIGIN OF THE ROSARY
"The Highest himself hath founded her."--Ps. lxxxvi.
My dear brethren, in our consideration on the rosary let us to-day
reflect upon its origin.
Its origin and age bestow on this devotion a great dignity. From the
earliest times of Christianity it has been the custom of the Christians to
observe in their prayers method and perseverance. Thus it was the
custom of the hermits of the Orient, as far back as the fourth century, to
devise a sequence of certain prayers, which they counted on pebbles.
We also know that long ago in England a so-called Paternoster-cord
was used for this purpose. St. Gregory, at the end of the fourth century,
spoke of such a method of devotion in veneration of the Blessed Virgin
Mary. This pious bishop thought a wreath of spiritual roses would be
more pleasing to the blessed Virgin than the natural roses with which
the faithful adorned her altar. He selected, therefore, a number of
prayers, in praise of the blessed Virgin, and united them into a wreath.
And this was the origin of the rosary, woven by pious hands for the
veneration of Mary, the mystical rose.
In the fifth century, St.