| The Sodality of the Most Holy Rosary
is a spiritual association made up of dedicated men and women who meet on a regular basis
within their own parishes to recite the Rosary either in the church or in member's homes.
The members of the Sodality strive to pray the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary during the
course of each month with a minimum of one decade of the Rosary each day on a personal
basis.
A secondary group of individuals who cannot make a commitment to meet on a regular
basis but wish to commit to a regularized prayer life with the rosary, as their time
permits may participate in the Perpetual Rosary Society of the Sodality of the Most
Holy Rosary.
The regular schedule of the Holy Rosary at the local parish or member's homes or
similar meeting places involves praying at least one Holy Rosary indicative of five
mysteries at least once every two weeks with special schedules during religious seasons.
Novenas are offered six times during the year at the Sodality Center with periodic
retreats planned in conjunction with the seasons of the Church.
Individual participation is encouraged from all faiths. Participation is not be
restricted through any form of entrance process, review, payment or other formality.
Useful Links:
The Anglican Church in America
The Anglican Catholic Church of Canada
The Anglican Catholic
Church
Order of Saint Andrew
For more information about us.
Novena for the Lenten season |
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What our heritage describes
The idea of using beads to count prayers is ancient and rich with history.
Ireland 800-900AD
Historians trace the origin of the Rosary back to approximately ninth century Ireland
commonly called the Celtic Rosary formed within the Community of Saint Columba. Today, as
then, the 150 Psalms of the Bible, the Book of Psalms of King David, were an important
form of prayer. Monks and clergy recited or chanted the Psalms as a major source of hourly
worship. People living near the monasteries/abbeys realized the beauty of this devotion
but unable to read or memorize the lengthy Psalms, the people were unable to adapt this
form of prayer for their use.
It was suggested that the people might substitute 150 Our Fathers in place of the
Psalms. At first, pebbles were carried in a pouch to count the 150 Our Fathers; later
ropes with 150 or 50 (1/3 of 150) knots were used (Na tri coicat). Eventually (by the 12th
century) strings with 50 small pieces of wood were used (Paternoster cord).
1072AD
Next the Angelic Salutation (Luke 1:28) was added. Peter Damian was the first to
mention this form of prayer. Soon the Angelic Salutation replaced the 50 Our Fathers.
Some medieval theologians considered the 150 Psalms to be veiled mysteries about the
life, death and resurrection of Jesus. They began to compose "Psalters of Our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ" – 150 praises in honor of Jesus. Soon psalters devoted
to 150 praises of Mary were composed. When a Psalter of 150 praises in Mary’s honor
numbered 50 instead of 150, it was called a rosarium, or bouquet.
1365AD
Henry of Kalkar, Visitator of the Carthusian Order grouped the salutations into decades
and an Our Father was put before each decade. This combined the Our Father and the Angelic
Salutation for the first time. To use 10 beads or a decade was not an outlandish decision
since ancients used 10 fingers to count prayers. Ten is also the ancient symbol of
perfection of the divine order of God (i.e. the Ten Commandments). The word bead comes
from the Anglo-Saxon root word, ‘bede’ and it means ‘prayer.’
‘Bidden’ means ‘to pray.’
1409AD
Dominic the Prussian, another Carthusian wrote a book that grouped special thoughts or
meditations attaching one for each Hail Mary bead.
1470AD
The Dominican Order of the Roman Catholic Church spread the form of the "new
rosary" throughout Western Christendom.
1400 – 1500AD
The thoughts or meditations on the 150 Hail Mary beads took the form of woodcuts
(graphic pictures). This exhausted the practice easily because of the volume of pictures.
Picture rosaries were shortened to one picture/thought for each Our Father as it is today.
1700’sAD
St. Louis de Montfort wrote the most common set of meditations for the rosary used
today.
Early 1900’sAD
A movement was begun attempting to return to a form of the medieval rosary – one
thought for each Hail Mary.
Today
The present devotion, differing from the medieval version, is composed almost entirely
of direct quotations from the Bible. It is appropriately called "the Scriptural
Rosary."
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