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Andy Sukho Mun blog.chosun.com/andychun

바로가기 -------- 내블로그 가기 산과 바다에 우리가 살고... 칸토르-이상화 사랑의 빛 서신동 누구라도 그러하듯이 살아가는 이야기 어디서 왔다가 어디로 가는가 喜希 아델라. 울고싶을때 우는남자 함 혜 숙 바람처럼.. 촛불 우물안 개구리 Hi_story 선 브론즈 꼬맹이의사 패리스의 시사 앤 뷰 Andante, Andante 우린친구 아리랑 이 따뜻한 슬픔의 시간에,,, 한 ‧ 묶음 미리내 관악산 중앙SNP funny 사랑의 여신 ★강남베드로병원의 건강이야기 바람처럼 구름처럼 shinga67 람단 品安 (江湖煙波) 숨겨둔 이야기 smile queen 그 곳에 가고싶다 joy 살아가는동안 가로등 조선닷컴의 당찬 PB 꿈길 밖에 길이 없어 살만한 세상을 만들며 경희궁 건강 100세를 향해 浪 漫 貴 族(낭만귀족) 늘보 定處 없는 旅程 누리누빔 보고듣고 배우고 Engineer가 바라보는 세상이야기 삼시세끼의 밥에담긴 깨달음~ 흔적2 행복의 문 choi 반야월半夜月 유산요 장백산은 백두산 길바닥에 돌부리 하나 ponte 광야 *** 美花 야호야 들국화 이다 세상속으로 빈센트 오크통건강연구소 해피투게더 Freedom is not free. 편안한 오후 아름다운 미래 메타세쿼이어의 속삭임 특별한 시사회로의 초대 choijinsang 경옥이 흔적 따낀미얀마 늘~사랑 육공사 SunnySideUp 홍콩초신자 shinsuner 구지미 스테파노 자유공간 말라브리고 포인트 기쁨 행복한 한나 북치고 장구치고 入 古 出 新 북극성(北極星) 무명무상 마음이 머무는곳 흐르는 강물처럼 오가네 임사깟 사랑방 고국을 그리며....... 감동과 사랑이 있는... 미술품투자카페 람세스 캔버스 누가 이룩해 놓은 나라인가? 솔바람 柱聯찾아 천리길 나그네김 오두의 꿈꾸는 풍경 우표 골드 문 고향의 봄 제이주의 음악감상실 화라지를 아시나요/ 침묵 전원(田園)통신 입양부모의 마음 지게꾼 연미산 수색 그 물빛 무늬 '광야'에서 '하나님'만 바라보다 설악 청봉 찰리의 중국이야기 밝고 둥근달(moon) 앵두나무 newwindow 고방 톰서영과 로르 빛과 같이 지나는 시간들 slapshot 감사하며 살기 사슴의 집 green roof 想 開 靑松의 문학향기 신화의 거울 성경과 이스라엘, 한국과 세계 나나리카페 김홍주 만년설 seven N a half mindfulness 산다화 핀 섬 동산위의 소나무 자작나무숲에서 기대와 설레임 무심의 작은 둥지 오병규 세아이 여행 diver zinggumdari 오悉V의 블로그 일월-인권 프라자 그날이 오면,,,, 아름다운 세상 낙엽 지는 가을날 수봉 무용과 오페라 말레이코리아 passion for life 옥 색 천 목 BlueSky 존재의 신비 본드걸 꿈이있는자 봄내소리 '진리가 너희를 자유케 하리라' 검은눈동자 아낌없이 주는 나무 늘푸른 나무의 도토리 하루하루를 금모래의 '강변에 살자' 아바단 주향아로마 francisco 나도 한마디 안나의 삶 kims 풍기순흥 살며 사랑하며 조약돌 天地人 산속에 숨은달 음악과추억 물따라 바람따라 소박한 꿈 사람@함께 하는 세상 산과들 은혜위에 은혜러라 사계절 흐르는 강물처럼 월보 삼마 cognoscere 有緣千里來相會 청라원 일기 flyfish ○ Classicidea Minuette*♬ ○ 아카시아 향기나는 시루떡 루르드의 베르나데트 備忘錄 인연 신세계 마미앙의 산책 조금 느리게 노매드의 여정 가야만 해 불가지지대 소시민 事事佛供 處處佛像 최상철 우연 - ^.^ 雨淵 삶 고구려의 혼 프로사진실전훈련원 銀河天使의 나라 세상이야기 靑睦閒筆 오두막 웃는 돌 빈계절 오면 다시채울수있을까. 까치밥을 생각하는 마음 유 천 꿈꾸는 섬 si*jo문어발 반란을 꿈꾸는 여자 simbidium 가자~~~~~ 귀성전쟁 없애기 aunai 마음을 여는 감로수 아침이슬 가야산 먼 곳 안에서 바깥보기 사랑 조선닷컴 通達人클럽 골프通지기 울타리에 앉은 새 숲이 되고 싶은 나무 미래지향 천하부부의 여행 그리고 삶 cafe summer moon lead6012 본대로 느끼는대로 미도요 田元 具誠會 더불어사는 세상 Georgia on my mind 봄날처럼~~~ 술래 대한민국 愚農 亭 hanulove 초원의 집 기호의 섬 Law & Order travelessay 채움과 비움 우리나라 삼국지 보물 없는 보물섬 행복속에 머물고 싶어라 무화(無火) 백선균입니다 The Secret Garden 씨밀레 4evergreen solafide..나눔의 삶을 준비하며 따뜻한 비즈니스 화분 캄파눌라 주인공 나날이 좋은날 되소서 푸른잎사귀 세실 蒼村 함지박 크리스박 Alice in wonderland sohn430323 노오란 향기 Jeannie's Diary 꿈나무 minwhee rainbow 추풍 만리경 해변의 길손 주님의 품안 Seriyoon™ 오~☆천사 선희! 갈무리 밤골 물의나라 culture 오리&또또 달빛 흐르는 샘 부자되시고 싶은 분 오세요 조선닷컴 한 촌사람... 하이레티쿠스 무영탑 산사람들 봄여울 새로운 삶 멋진 이웃 마음 동양의학 쉽게이해하기 The Waste Land 영화, 축구, 그리고 음악 도란도란 사랑방 세사레 뜨거운 햇살.여기는 텍사스 시나위 기다림의 그늘아래서 때때로 바람부는 날이면 니구로 길 위에서 길을 잃다 좌충우돌 흐르는 강물처럼 ^_^..New Palladini 영화처럼 행복하게 살아가기 ^^ ... Endorphin Virus intermezzo Just-do-it mooyong66. 아름다운 이야기 두강산책 Robin Times 초록정원 아이..귀찮아.. 神話에 묘사된 기술자의 심리-上 Takeyosi Evergreen 오또산1 Mansio de Litteratura 우리 다시 만날 때까지 김홍석입니다 고운사람들 바람재 아이사랑 종달새 수레바퀴 사랑의 고을 해산 아름다운 오늘을 만드는 사람들 21C뉴스(www.21cnews.com) BOBOS 조민사사 경대승 munam (최승달) Flag 블랙리스트 관악산방 ccsslim(昌) wnduddlqslek 도On도 思索의 공간 흐르는강물처럼 불 괴 심 승환이가 신광철의 지구여행열차 창가에 가는세월 elitei 21세기 지전의 보이는대로 들리는대로 미르 來者勿拒 去者勿追 그린필 ☆ 시와 신앙 Poem & Faith ☆ 감사하는 나날 훼드라의 세상만사 백인대장의 '쑥덕공론' 건전한 보수 loveness Sous Le Ciel Gris Manon 흐르는데로... 동백 한숲아산 들빛마을 친환경 전문 에스엔비 Natural 전태수팔각정= 040810～ 아다다 psb0549 똑똑바보 먼 과거와 깊은 미래로 오가는길 쉼터.. always 행복 통! 통! 통하는[정수천]부천사랑 김완곤 a line's drive 타이거블로그 서투른 木工 바람소리... 이름없는 풀뿌리 천연염색 꽃물 풀물 이야기 어울림 바람 소리 세월 소리 젬워드(gemWord) 1월 눈 솔방울 아저씨 싱그런 풀냄새 물같이, 바람같이 김한수 vs 김한수 수레바퀴 저 산길 끝에는 옛님의 숨결... 아내(남편)가 아픈 사람들 김창호와 함께 하는 운하가 희망 鳳 頭 亭 (봉두정) 한 번뿐이므로 소중한... 고목나무에 꽃피우기 mountainpark 東夷敎會 한마음 운동 류한_말그림 La Chambre d'Echos 내 안에, 뜰 달리는 큰법당 UFO! 미지의 세계를 동경하며... 난... 행복해야 돼!!! 아름다운 세계 먼 산 kimyt 野生花 피는 들녘. 화양동계곡신토불이 시인 김인숙의 숭어리 숲 새슬 스트라이크테러 꿈꾸는 샹송인형 끌리는 것에 빠져보는 거야 ebony 팜 향로봉 산머리곡산 CEO와 영이 김동주원장의 여행이야기 온새미... 굳바이 마이 블로그 비엔나 당랑거철(螳螂拒轍) Welcome To My World .. 공간과 시간 보나 Universal Peace Fedevation Sunflower 조선미꽃방 www.00.ne.kr 청포도의 꿈 나무친구들 그대 이름은 모란 아름다운 세상 만들기 해외트레킹&스노우보딩 자키홍의 턴테이블 도인으로서의 시작 옛날에 금잔디 못다판 꽃한송이 함박골신사 다니엘의 기도하는 손 석양(夕陽) jch2319 노들나루 차나한잔 그리움이 바람되어 ★사람에게선 좋은 냄새가 난다★ 학문의 즐거움 상림남강 그리움! 아름다운 우리 ... ♥ 산새들꽃 바다야 쉬어가기 오드리의 방 초심초월初心超越 James' Leadership Note 피레네숲과 그리고 지중해변 한국인 유엔 사무총장 0212 Listen to my heart 파란하늘 밝고 따뜻한 세상을 위하여 秋山 생각하는 휴게실 아라리 한마음 남한강의 장 이어도 얼음꽃 작은눈 세상보기! 월송정 달빛 나의 정원 일기 상림사운정 Suitcase of memories 소석정(素石亭) 트리티_Doctorkimh 한국의 美 松林房 초암의 쉼터 靑山文學日記 雪中梅花 아름다운 迎瑞堂 믿거나 말거나~ 조화유 블로그 김종선의 캐나다 이야기 박원의 제비꽃 이야기 인간과 우주 그리고 공유 영화를 좋아하는 사람 DOLCE 살아 있으매.. 삶과 문학 ldg 동해 핑크로즈 취미로 그리는 캐리커처 하늘바라기 바람처럼... 겨울 그리고 야생마 바람 KPK악극단 스페셜리스트 충격예언 세상에 이런일이 나만의 세상...^^ shworld 마악산 하나님의 갈망 맛과 색깔 있는 영/어/세/상/ 칼럼니스트 columnist 이강석 등대지기 버팔로 능금꽃 향기로운 고향 정치에 대하여... 밀금 miracle 동서남북의 에너지 아름다운세상 mdyooao101 cool Chamber of mine 여란 망울이 고요한 호숫가 그대 그리고 나 혼자서 간다 premolar 그늘님의쉼터 노을빛처럼 편안한집 세상만사 두남 溫哥華-北山居師 방효문 이상철 ahnno 곰 좋은세월 설매화 박대통령 임기 끝까지 비공개 명경지수 베 잠뱅이 행복 바이러스 不法音源 청산 내인생의향기 Worm King 은은한 蘭香이 흐르는곳 사진 이야기 문학과 여행 주인으로 살기 머슴으로 살기 북경반점 청풍명월 八月花 디딤은 어디로 멋썸의 잡기장 常懷 디카로 부르는 노래(아마사진) 소로우의 월든 Say Goodbye! 소낙비 작별 노을 누운 산자락 그대에게 던지는 사랑의 그물 픽션 난픽션 김태공 마을 지 맘대로 씨부리는 헛소리 엄마냄새 삶의 한 가운데에서 해피 루루 코코의 집 홍익인간 미국 유학정보 잃어버린 시간을 찾아 맨발 Living Beautiful 솔이 댕기네 집 수선화 지저스가든 JESU'S GARDEN 아홉개의 필연과 우연.. 제스나의 뜰 Sanctification 샘물한모금의행복 먼산바라기 내 마음의 풍경소리 토민 그대 있음에 산책로 강가의 아침 언젠가는 랑~새 둥지 moon뭉치 빈처 내 마음에 집 시온성 기억속으로~ 이미희 이용남의 세계여행 갈대 고원에 핀 사랑 작은바다 나비건달 가라스 필휴먼(Philhuman) 헤드헌터, 사람을 만나다. 道可道 非常道 수색, 그 물빛 무늬 2 이런 저런 고도를 기다리며 ♡ ½ dorade 칸타빌레 hyuckc 다 이루리... 참나로가는길 하늘만큼 땅만큼 타는 불 수양 히라공주 아름다운 풍경 지난 시간을 괴어놓은 노을 심슨-free hsh0402 인디언 보호구역 Dr. Suh's Library 실루엣 세런딥 대청화곡(대정수포럼 상임대표) 翠軒 맑은 아침 ~바람처럼~ 詩도 아닌, 散文도 아닌 것이 玉蘭齋 소라의 꿈 작은 곰 자리 北 極 星 다 돌아볼때까지 休 yeshua 찬양 늑대굴 내가 사는 삶 피그말리온 China Inside 선물 (The Present) 은빛하늘 마셀의 노랑잠수함 아름다운세상 즐거운인생 다시, 나에게 소리네 까르페 디엠! 아까시꽃의 살아가는 이야기 행복을 찾어서 설원 鹿 野 苑 (DEERFIELD)

	Kepa(Sukho Mun) (andychun)   2008년 사순시기를 보내면서 베드로 사제(Kepa, Peter)를 본받는 삶을 살고 싶어 블로그명을 Kepa로 바꾸었습니다. 블로그 벗님들의 많은 기도를 부탁드립니다. 내 마음에 드는 사람들에 대한 사랑 때문에 마음에 들지 않는 사람들에 대한 사랑이 줄어들지 않기를 기도드립니다. 하느님께 감사드리는 삶입니다. 이곳 우리집 가까이에 있는 Saint Cecilia 성당에 다니고 있습니다. 매일 새벽미사 봉헌에 참례할 때가 하루 중에 가장 행복한 순간입니다. 위젯설정 통계 컨텐츠설정

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기도의 정의    2007/02/16 12:33

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http://blog.chosun.com/andychun/1860887

Hildegard von Bingen(1098 ~ 1179)
Ave generosa (Ymnus de Sancta Maria) 




Original Latin Text
texts from the chants of
Hildegard von Bingen

Ave, generosa,
gloriosa et intacta puella.
Tu pupilla castitatis,
tu materia sanctitatis,
que Deo placuit.

Nam hec superna infusio in te fuit,
quod supernum Verbum in te carnem induit.

Tu candidum lilium,
quod Deus ante omnem creaturam inspexit.

O pulsherrima et dulcissima,
quam valde Deus in te delectabatur,
cum amplexionem caloris sui in te posuit,
ita quod Filius eius de te lactatus est.

Venter enim tuus gaudium havuit,
cum omnis celestis symphonia de te sonuit,
quia, Virgo, Filium Dei portasti,
ubi castitas tua in Deo claruit.

Viscera tua gaudium habuerunt,
sicut gramen, super quod ros cadit,
cum ei viriditatem infudit,
ut et in te factum est,
o Mater omnis gaudii.

Nunc omnis Ecclesia in gaudio rutilet
ac in symphonia sonet
propter dulcissima Virginem
et laudabilem Mariam, dei Genitricem.
Amen.

기도의  정의:

인류는 최초부터 종교를 가졌듯이 처음부터 기도를 해 왔다고 말할 수 있다. 기도는 인간의 본능적인 행위일 뿐만 아니라 인간의 본질에 속한 행위이다. 또한 인간에게 있어 가장 보편적이고 오래된 것이며 내적이고 심오한 행위이다. 인간은 본질적으로 자신과 자연을 초월하여 무한으로 나가려는 욕심을 가지고 있다.  무엇보다도 그는 기도 안에서 하느님과  인격적인 관계를 맺고자 하며 자신의 한계와 나약함과 죄를 인정하는 가운데 하느님께  매달리어 자신이 바램이 채워지기를 원한다. 기도에는 원시 종교에서부터 벌써 여러 가지 모양(맹세, 제물 봉헌, 청원, 저주, 산 자와 죽은 자를 위한 전구, 감사 등)이 있음을 발견할 수가 있다. 인간학적으로 볼 때 기도는 인간이 자연을 초월하여 절대자에게 자신을 여는 인격적인 교류 행위이다. 이 기도 안에서 인간은 자신을 발견하고 실현시키고 성장시키면서 완성되는 것이다. 또한 인간은 절대자를 삶의 원천과 중심과 목적으로 받아들여서 신에 의해서 살고 신을 향하여 살게 된다. 구약성서가 말하는 기도는 야훼께서는 이스라엘 백성과 맺은 계약에 기초를 두고 있다. 야훼께서는 ‘과거’에는 이스라엘 백성들을 해방시켜 약속된 땅으로 인도하셨으며, ‘현재’에는 그들의 번영을 축복하시고, ‘미래’에 가서 완성된 구원을 약속하셨다. 그러나 이스라엘 백성들은 이 같은 하느님과의 계약을 어겼으므로 재난과 패전 등의 벌을 받아야만 했었다. 그리하여 그들은 다시 신음하고 슬퍼하여 하느님께 외치게 되었다. 하느님께서는 이스라엘 백성들을 용서하여 구원자를 보내 주셨으니 그들은 다시 하느님께 감사하고 그분을 찬양하게 되었다. 하느님과 인간간의 이 같은 생생한 교류에 대해서 시편과 지혜 문학서가 감동적인 필치로 묘사하고 있다.

고대에는 왕과 예언자가 백성들을 위해 하느님께 기도하고 제물을 바쳤으며, 예언자는 하느님의 말씀을 듣고 그 뜻을 백성들에게 전하여 회개를 권고했었다. 예루살렘에 성전이 세워진 뒤부터는 사제들이 기도를 주관하면서 제물을 바치게 되었다. 그리하여 성전은 ‘기도하는 장소’(이사 56:7)가 되었다. 사실 하느님께서 즐겨 받으시는 것은 예절이나 제물이 아니라 진실한 기도의 자세이다. 정의를 실행하고 약한 자를 보호하며 진정한 회개를 하지 않는다면 하느님께서는 제물을 받지 않으시고 기도를 들어 주지 않으신다. 하느님과의 이러한 관계에서 드리는 기도는 인간으로 하여금 윤리적인 책임을 자각하게 하고 정의와 자비의 사회를 실현하게 하였다. 기도가 전례(典禮)로서 규정되었던 시기는 기원전 5세기경이다. 그 전례적인 기도는 하느님의 존엄성을 강조한 나머지 그의 이름을 직접 부르지 못하고 천사가 항상 하느님과 인간 사이를 중계했었다. 이리하여 하느님과 백성간의 친교는 차차 형식주의와 율법주의로 흐르게 되었다.

   인류의 기도와 이스라엘 백성의 기도는 예수님안에서 완성되었다. 예수님께서는 기도의 사람이셨으며 기도는 그분의 존재  전체에 깊이 뿌리내리고 있었다. 복음서는 가끔 예수님께서 기도하셨다는 사실에 대해서 간단히 언급한다. 특히 그 분이 사건과 관련된 중요한 일을 시작하시기 전에 그 분은 기도하셨다고 말하고 있다(마르 14:32-36, 루가 3:21, 6:12-13, 9:28-29). 예수님께서는 다른 종교가와는 달리 기도에 대한 자기 체험을 말하지도 않고 또 기록하지도 않으셨다. 그분은 기도의 모범이시지만 모범을 보이시기 위해 기도하시지 않았다. 기도는 예수님께 호흡과 같이 필수적인 것이었고 자연스러운 것이었다. 제자들이 예수님께 기도하는 법을 가르쳐 달라고 했을 때 ‘주의 기도’를 가르치셨다(마태 6:9-14, 루가 11:2-4). ‘주의 기도’는 모든 기도의 모형이며 거기에 포함되어 있는 7가지 기원은 기도의 근본적인 내용과 자세를 말해 준다. 예수님께서는 제자들에게 하느님을 ‘아버지’라고 부르라고 하셨지만 당신은 하느님을 ‘Abba’(아빠)라고 부르셨다(마르 14:36). 예수님의 기도는 이 ‘아빠’와의 끊임없는 대화, 자녀다운 친교, 그리고 깊은 일치였다. ‘아버지’는 일종의 거리감과 경의, 두려움의 감정을 느끼게 하는 반면, ‘아빠’는 아무 거리감과 두려움이 없는 완전한 일치의 상태를 가리킨다. 이 ‘아빠’야말로 그리스도교의 하느님의 본질을 말하는 적절한 표현이다. 사실 이 단어만큼 그리스도교의 하느님에 대한 개념을 충분히 표현하는 단어는 없을 것이다. ‘아빠’란 예수님께서 아버지와 본성상 동등하고 하나라는 깊은 뜻이 담겨 있는 말이다. 사실 예수님께서는 아버지의 외아들이기 때문에 당신만이 하느님을 ‘아빠’라고 부를 수 있었다. 결국 예수님께서 아버지를 불렀던 ‘아빠’야말로 원래의 기도이며 진정한 기도이다.

   제자들은 예수님의 죽음과 부활을 체험하고 그 열매인 성령을 받았을 때 성령에 의해서 아버지를 ‘아빠’라고 부르기 시작하였다. 그들은 모든 죄를 용서받고 예수님의 형제들이 되고 아빠의 총애를 받아 하느님의 생명까지 이어 받게 되었기 때문에 하느님을 ‘아빠’라고 부를 수 있는 위치에까지 오르게 된 것이다. 이와 같은 새 창조 및 새 탄생이 이루어졌음을 확증해 주신 분은 바로 성령이시다. “이제 여러분은 하느님의 자녀가 되었으므로 하느님께서는 여러분의 마음속에 당신의 아들의 성령을 보내 주셨습니다. 그래서 여러분은 하느님을 ‘아빠’라고 부를 수 있게 되었습니다!”(갈라 4:6, 로마 8:15도 참조) 아버지와 외아들 사이의 사랑의 끈이신 성령께서는 예수님으로 하여금 아버지를 ‘아빠’라고 부르게 해 주셨다. 이제 같은 성령께서는 제자들을 아버지의 자녀와 예수님의 형제가 되게 하시고 예수님과 같은 입장에서 아버지를 ‘아빠’라고 부를 수 있게 해 주시고 기도하게 해 주신다. 그러므로 성령께서는 기도의 원동력이며 스승이시다.

   그리스도인의 모든 기도, 아니, 인간의 모든 기도는 예수님의 기도에 참여하는 것이며 예수님의 기도의 연장이다. 성령으로 인하여 일종의 신비스러운 ‘양도’ 또는 ‘교환’이 일어나 예수님의 기도가 그리스도인 안에 들어가 아버지께 바쳐진다. 다시 말해서 삼위일체 안에 오고가는 부자(父子)간의 교류가 성령으로 말미암아 그리스도인 안에 흘러 들어가는 것이다. 그리하여 그리스도인은 삼위일체의 신적인 친목 안에 끌려 들어가 외아들과 같은 입장에서 ‘아빠’라고 부른다. 이것이 바로 기도이며 이는 거저 주시는 은총이다. “이제는 내가 기도하는 것이 아니라 예수님께서 내 안에서 기도하시는 것이다”(갈라 2:20 참조). 이렇게 볼 때 기도는 하느님의 자녀가 된 의화(義化)의 사실을 말과 다른 수단으로 표현하는 행위이다.

   성 요한 다마셰노는 기도를 “하느님께 영혼을 올리는 것”이라고 정의하였다. 이밖에도 기도는 ‘하느님과의 대화’(성 예로니모, 성 아우구스티노), ‘하느님과의 친교’(성 금구 요한), 그리고 ‘하느님과의 친밀함’(니사의 성 그레고리오)이라고 말하는 이들이 있다. 기도는 ‘하느님과의 인격적인 만남’이며 ‘하느님과의 일치’이다. 기도의 내적인 면을 강조하면서 오리제네스는 “기도는 하느님의 현존을 의식하여 그분과 대화하고 그분을 바라보는 것”이라고 설명하였다. 성 아우구스티노도 “기도는 애정을 다하여 하느님을 쳐다보는 행위” 또는 “하느님께 나아가고자 하는 애정으로 가득찬 행위”라고 하였다.

   지금까지 말했던 신 · 구약성서와 교부들과 성인들의 가르침을 요약해서 기도를 다음과 같이 정의할 수 있다. 엄밀한 의미에서 기도는 그리스도인의 마음속에서 여러 방법으로 이루어지는 하느님과의 인격적인 친교이다. 기도는 예수님께서 아버지를 ‘아빠’라고 부르시는 행위에 참여하는 행위이므로 하느님의 은총으로서 주어진 것이다. 기도는 구도(口禱)와 염도(念禱)로 구분된다. 구도는 일정한 기도문 또는 문귀를 외는 기도이며, 염도는 기도문이나 문귀를 쓰지 않고 내심에서 하는 침묵의 기도이다. 구도는 전례기도와 비(非)전례기도로 나눌 수 있다. 전례기도는 교회의 공식적인 기도이며 그리스도의 신비체 전체 즉, 머리이신 그리스도와 지체인 그리스도인의 공동체가 함께 드리는 기도이다. 전례기도가 되기 위해서는 성직자의 지도에 따라 교회가 인준하는 경문을 사용하고, 교회의 이름으로 바치는 것이어야 한다. 전례 기도에는 최고의 기도인 미사와 그 밖의 성사, 준성사, 성무일도, 말씀의 전례 등이 있다. 비전례기도는 전례가 아닌 모든 구도이며 공동으로 또는 개인적으로 바친다. 아침, 저녁기도, 로사리오 기도, 십자가의 길 기도, 여러 호칭기도, 자유로운 형태의 기도 등이 비전례기도에 속한다. 화살기도는 개인적인 비전례기도이다. 염도는 저자에 따라 약간의 견해 차이가 있으나 일반적으로 묵상 염도, 감동적인 염도, 단순한 염도(수득적 관상 修得的 觀想), 신비적인 염도(주부적 注賦的 관상)로 구분된다. 이것은 구분이라기보다는 차라리 염도가 깊어져 가는 과정이라고 하는 것이 좋겠다. 하느님과의 친교가 여러 가지 중개수단(언어, 상상, 이미지, 상찰 등)을 필요로 하지 않으면서 점차 직접적이고 순수한 친교가 이루어지는 과정이라고 하겠다.

   기도는 구원을 얻기 위해 꼭 필요한 것이다. 하느님께서는 대개 구원과 은총을 기도에 대한 응답으로 베풀어 주신다. 기도는 ‘마음의 호흡’과 ‘영혼의 음식’과 같은 것이므로 얼마 동안 기도하지 않는다면 반드시 유혹을 받거나 죄를 범하게 되어어 신앙생활에 해를 입게 된다. 리구오리의 성 알퐁소(St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori)는 “기도하는 자는 구원을 받고 기도하지 않는 자는 멸망한다”고 말하였다. 기도를 하기 위한 준비에는 간접적인 준비와 직접적인 준비가 있다 간접적인 준비는 성실하게 신앙생활을 하면서 정서적인 안정을 유지하는 것이다. 전통적인 뜻에 의하면, 간접적인 준비는 기도 직전에 하고 있는 일을 침착하게 평온한 마음으로 하는 것이라고 말한다. 직접적인 준비는 몸과 정신의 긴장을 풀고 기도의 은총을 성령께 빌면서 마음을 집중하는 것이다. 마음을 집중하기 위해서는 감실이나 십자가, 상본 같은 것을 조용히 바라보는 것이 가장 쉬운 일이라 할 수 있다. 혹은 눈을 감고 하느님의 현존을 생생하게 의식하거나 예수님께서 자기를 보고 계신다는 것과 자기도 예수님께 말씀 드리고자 함을 생생하게 의식하는 일이다. 그와 더불어 기도의 중요성과 필요성을 재인식하고 기도를 잘 하려고 하는 마음을 새롭게 하는 것도 필요하다.

   기도에서 위로와 기쁨을 맛볼 때가 있고 잡념과 무미건조로 어려움을 겪을 때가 있다. 그러나 기도 중에 느끼는 기쁨이나 어려움으로 기도를 평가할 수 없으며 생활과 행동에서 맺어지는 그 열매로 평가해야한다. 기도 중에 큰 위안을 받고 특별한 체험을 한다 해도 생활에 아무 변함이 없다면 소용이 없고, 어려움을 겪으면서도 꾸준히 기도하여 하느님과 이웃을 보다 사랑하게 될 때만이 그 기도가 진정한 것이라 할 수 있다. 기도 중에 느끼게 되는 위로와 기쁨은 영적, 내적, 감정적, 감각적인 것들로 이루어진 여러 가지 종류와 단계가 있다. 모든 것은 그 자체로서는 좋은 것이기 때문에 하느님께서 주시는 은총이라고 생각하면서 받아들이되 위로와 기쁨을 맛보려고 기도해서는 안 된다. 참다운 기도란, 자기 만족을 위해 기도하지 않고 하느님을 만족시켜 드리기 위해 기도하는 것이다. 특히 감정적인 위로와 감각적인 기쁨에 구애되지 말아야 한다. 기도를 방해하는 잡념과 무미건조도 그 내용과 원인에 있어서 여러 가지 종류와 단계가 있다. 즉 기도의 준비 부족, 양심의 가책, 고민, 불안, 질병, 고통 등으로 인한 것들이 있으며 또한 지나친 긴장, 흥분, 마음의 산만 등으로 인한 것들도 있다. 반면, 자기에게는 아무런 잘못이나 이유가 없는데도 잡념과 무미건조가 생길 수도 있다. 이런 때는 인간의 연약함, 한계성, 또는 하느님께서 허락하시는 시련이다. 시련에도 여러 단계가 있어, 단순하고 가벼운 시련이 있는가 하면, ‘감각의 암야’, ‘영혼의 암야’(십자가의 성 요한)까지도 있다. 잡념과 무미건조에 대해서 취해야 할 자세는 침착, 인내, 끈기이다. 분심과 무미건조의 상태를 의식할 때마다 초조함과 불안, 흥분 등을 피하고 침착한 마음으로 기도에 들어가는 노력을 되풀이해야 한다.

   기도의 수련은 계속해서 기도하는 것과 마음 깊은 곳에서 기도하는 것으로 나뉜다. 주님께서는 “언제나 기도하라”(루가 18:1)고 가르치셨고,  사도 바오로도 “언제나, 늘 기도하라”(에페 6:18, 1데살 5:17)고 말하였다. 계속적인 기도의 수련은 화살기도와 성서 구절(특히 시편) 등을 되풀이해서 외는 수련이나 주님과 함께 자유로운 대화를 나누거나 하느님의 현존을 의식하는 수련 등이다. 주님은 또한 마음 속 깊은 곳에서 기도하라고 하셨다(마태 6:6 참조). 마음 속 깊은 곳에서 기도하는 수련은 묵상, 관상(觀想) 등이다. 늘 기도하는 것과 마음 속 깊은 곳에서 기도하는 것은 상호 보충관계에 있다. 늘 기도하면 할수록 마음 속 깊은 곳에서 기도하게 되고 마음 속 깊은 곳에서 기도하면 할수록 늘 기도하게 된다. 이 두 종류의 기도는 점차 가까워져 마지막에 가서는 하나의 현실이 된다. 이 현실은 예수님  안에서 절정에 도달했었다. 예수님이야말로 아버지와의 끊임없는 친교와 깊은 관상 안에 사신 분이셨다.

 늘 기도하고 마음 속 깊은 곳에서 기도한다면 기도가 생활 속에 침투되어 마침내 기도와 생활이 단 하나의 현실이 된다. 이 현실 역시 예수님 안에서 절정에 도달했었다. 예수님이야말로 기도와 활동을 온전히 조화시키고 통합시키신 분이셨다. 그리스도인도 늘 기도하고 마음 속 깊은 곳에서 기도하면서 이 두 종류의 기도가 한 현실이 되도록 노력해야 하며, 또한 기도와 활동을 조화 통합시켜 한 현실이 되도록 노력해야 한다. (金保祿)

   [참고문헌] Catholic Encyclopedia, pp.667-678 / The Catholic Encyclopedia for School and Home, by St. Joseph's Seminary and College, Dunwoodie, Yonkers, 8vol, pp.615-619, New York 1965 / Sacramentum Mundi, 5vol., pp.74-81 / 上智大學 宗敎硏究所編, キリスト敎を生きる祈り, 東京 1975 / 男子洗足カルメル會, 祈りヘの道, 東京 1975 / ドソ・ヴィタル・ルオデー, 念禱の種タな道, 東京 1972.

가톨릭대사전에 게재된  내용임.. 

"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, while at each of these fifteen decades we

recall successively in pious meditation one of the mysteries of our

Redemption." The same lesson for the Feast of the Holy Rosary informs

us that when the Albigensian heresy was devastating the country of

Toulouse, St. Dominic earnestly besought the help of Our Lady and was

instructed by her, so tradition asserts, to preach the Rosary among

the people as an antidote to heresy and sin. From that time forward

this manner of prayer was "most wonderfully published abroad and

developed [promulgari augerique coepit] by St. Dominic whom different

Supreme Pontiffs have in various past ages of their apostolic letters

declared to be the institutor and author of the same devotion." That

many popes have so spoken is undoubtedly true, and amongst the rest

we have a series of encyclicals, beginning in 1883, issued by Pope

Leo XIII, which, while commending this devotion to the faithful in

the most earnest terms, assumes the institution of the Rosary by St.

Dominic to be a fact historically established. Of the remarkable

fruits of this devotion and of the extraordinary favours which have

been granted to the world, as is piously believed, through this means,

something will be said under the headings FEAST OF THE ROSARY and

CONFRATERNITIES OF THE ROSARY. We will confine ourselves here to the

controverted question of its history, a matter which both in the

middle of the eighteenth century and again in recent years has

attracted much attention. Let us begin with certain facts which will

not be contested. It is tolerably obvious that whenever any prayer

has to be repeated a large number of times recourse is likely to be

had to some mechanical apparatus less troublesome than counting upon

the fingers. In almost all countries, then, we meet with something

in the nature of prayer-counters or rosary beads. Even in ancient

Nineveh a sculpture has been found thus described by Lavard in his

"Monuments" (I, plate 7): "Two winged females standing before the

sacred tree in the attitude of prayer; they lift the extended right

hand and hold in the left a garland or rosary." However this may be,

it is certain that among the Mohammedans the Tasbih or bead-string,

consisting of 33, 66, or 99 beads, and used for counting devotionally

the names of Allah, has been in use for many centuries. Marco Polo,

visiting the King of Malabar in the thirteenth century, found to

his surprise that that monarch employed a rosary of 104 (? 108)

precious stones to count his prayers. St. Francis Xavier and his

companions were equally astonished to see that rosaries were

universally familiar to the Buddhists of Japan. Among the monks of

the Greek Church we hear of the kombologion, or komboschoinion, a

cord with a hundred knots used to count genuflexions and signs of

the cross. Similarly, beside the mummy of a Christian ascetic,

Thaias, of the fourth century, recently disinterred at Antinöe in

Egypt, was found a sort of cribbage-board with holes, which has

generally been thought to be an apparatus for counting prayers, of

which Palladius and other ancient authorities have left us an

account. A certain Paul the Hermit, in the fourth century, had

imposed upon himself the task of repeating three hundred prayers,

according to a set form, every day. To do this, he gathered up three

hundred pebbles and threw one away as each prayer was finished

(Palladius, Hist. Laus., xx; Butler, II, 63). It is probable that

other ascetics who also numbered their prayers by hundreds adopted

some similar expedient. (Cf. "Vita S. Godrici", cviii.) Indeed when

we find a papal privilege addressed to the monks of St. Apollinaris

in Classe requiring them, in gratitude for the pope's benefactions,

to say Kyrie eleison three hundred times twice a day (see the

privilege of Hadrian I, A.D. 782, in Jaffe-Löwenfeld, n. 2437), one

would infer that some counting apparatus must almost necessarily

have been used for the purpose. But there were other prayers to be

counted more nearly connected with the Rosary than Kyrie eleisons.

At an early date among the monastic orders the practice had

established itself not only of offering Masses, but of saying vocal

prayers as a suffrage for their deceased brethren. For this purpose

the private recitation of the 150 psalms, or of 50 psalms, the third

part, was constantly enjoined. Already in A. D. 800 we learn from

the compact between St. Gall and Reichenau ("Mon. Germ. Hist.:

Confrat.", Piper, 140) that for each deceased brother all the

priests should say one Mass and also fifty psalms. A charter in

Kemble (Cod. Dipl., I, 290) prescribes that each monk is to sing

two fifties (twa fiftig) for the souls of certain benefactors, while

each priest is to sing two Masses and each deacon to read two

Passions. But as time went on, and the conversi, or lay brothers,

most of them quite illiterate, became distinct from the choir monks,

it was felt that they also should be required to substitute some

simple form of prayer in place of the psalms to which their more

educated brethren were bound by rule. Thus we read in the "Ancient

Customs of Cluny", collected by Udalrio in 1096, that when the death

of any brother at a distance was announced, every priest was to

offer Mass, and every non-priest was either to say fifty psalms or

to repeat fifty times the Paternoster ("quicunque sacerdos est

cantet missam pro eo, et qui non est sacerdos quinquaginta psalmos

aut toties orationem dominicam", P. L., CXLIX, 776). Similarly

among the Knights Templar, whose rule dates from about 1128, the

knights who could not attend choir were required to say the Lord's

Prayer 57 times in all and on the death of any of the brethren they

had to say the Pater Noster a hundred times a day for a week. To

count these accurately there is every reason to believe that already

in the eleventh and twelfth centuries a practice had come in of

using pebbles, berries, or discs of bone threaded on a string. It

is in any case certain that the Countess Godiva of Coventry (c. 1075)

left by will to the statue of Our Lady in a certain monastery "the

circlet of precious stones which she had threaded on a cord in order

that by fingering them one after another she might count her prayers

exactly" (Malmesbury, "Gesta Pont.", Rolls Series 311). Another

example seems to occur in the case of St. Rosalia (A. D. 1160), in

whose tomb similar strings of beads were discovered. Even more

important is the fact that such strings of beads were known

throughout the Middle Ages -- and in some Continental tongues are

known to this day -- as "Paternosters". The evidence for this is

overwhelming and comes from every part of Europe. Already in the

thirteenth century the manufacturers of these articles, who were

known as "paternosterers", almost everywhere formed a recognized

craft guild of considerable importance. The "Livre des métiers" of

Stephen Boyleau, for example, supplies full information regarding

the four guilds of patenôtriers in Paris in the year 1268, while

Paternoster Row in London still preserves the memory of the street

in which their English craft-fellows congregated. Now the obvious

inference is that an appliance which was persistently called a

"Paternoster", or in Latin fila de paternoster, numeralia de

paternoster, and so on, had, at least originally, been designed

for counting Our Fathers. This inference, drawn out and illustrated

with much learning by Father T. Esser, O.P., in 1897, becomes a

practical certainty when we remember that it was only in the middle

of the twelfth century that the Hail Mary came at all generally

into use as a formula of devotion. It is morally impossible that

Lady Godiva's circlet of jewels could have been intended to count

Ave Marias. Hence there can be no doubt that the strings of

prayerbeads were called "paternosters" because for a long time

they were principally employed to number repetitions of the Lord's

Prayer. When, however, the Hail Mary came into use, it appears that

from the first the consciousness that it was in its own nature a

salutation rather than a prayer induced a fashion of repeating it

many times in succession, accompanied by genuflexions or some other

external act of reverence. Just as happens nowadays in the firing

of salutes, or in the applause given to a public performer, or in

the rounds of cheers evoked among school-boys by an arrival or

departure, so also then the honour paid by such salutations was

measured by numbers and continuance. Further, since the recitation

of the Psalms divided into fifties was, as innumerable documents

attest, the favourite form of devotion for religious and learned

persons, so those who were simple or much occupied loved, by the

repetition of fifty, a hundred, or a hundred and fifty were

salutations of Our Lady, to feel that they were imitating the

practice of God's more exalted servants. In any case it is certain

that in the course of the twelfth century and before the birth of

St. Dominic, the practice of reciting 50 or 150 Ave Marias had

become generally familiar. The most conclusive evidence of this

is furnished by the "Mary-legends", or stories of Our Lady, which

obtained wide circulation at this epoch. The story of Eulalia,

in particular, according to which a client of the Blessed Virgin

who had been wont to say a hundred and fifty Aves was bidden by her

to say only fifty, but more slowly, has been shown by Mussafia

(Marien-legenden, Pts I, ii) to be unquestionably of early date.

Not less conclusive is the account given of St. Albert (d. 1140)

by his contemporary biographer, who tells us: "A hundred times a

day he bent his knees, and fifty times he prostrated himself

raising his body again by his fingers and toes, while he repeated

at every genuflexion: 'Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with

thee, blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of

thy womb'." This was the whole of the Hail Mary as then said, and

the fact of all the words being set down rather implies that the

formula had not yet become universally familiar. Not less remarkable

is the account of a similar devotional exercise occurring in the

Corpus Christi manuscripts of the Ancren Riwle. This text, declared

by Kölbing to have been written in the middle of the twelfth

century (Englische Studien, 1885, P. 116), can in any case be hardly

later than 1200. The passage in question gives directions how

fifty Aves are to be said divided into sets of ten, with prostrations

and other marks of reverence. (See The Month, July, 1903.) When we

find such an exercise recommended to a little group of anchorites

in a corner of England, twenty years before any Dominican foundation

was made in this country, it seems difficult to resist the

conclusion that the custom of reciting fifty or a hundred and fifty

Aves had grown familiar, independently of, and earlier than, the

preaching of St. Dominic. On the other hand, the practice of

meditating on certain definite mysteries, which has been rightly

described as the very essence of the Rosary devotion, seems to have

only arisen long after the date of St. Dominic's death. It is

difficult to prove a negative, but Father T. Esser, O.P., has shown

(in the periodical "Der Katholik", of Mainz, Oct., Nov., Dec.,

1897) that the introduction of this meditation during the recitation

of the Aves was rightly attributed to a certain Carthusian, Dominic

the Prussian. It is in any case certain that at the close of the

fifteenth century the utmost possible variety of methods of

meditating prevailed, and that the fifteen mysteries now generally

accepted were not uniformly adhered to even by the Dominicans

themselves. (See Schmitz, "Rosenkranzgebet", p. 74; Esser in "Der

Katholik for 1904-6.) To sum up, we have positive evidence that both

the invention of the beads as a counting apparatus and also the

practice of repeating a hundred and fifty Aves cannot be due to St.

Dominic, because they are both notably older than his time. Further,

we are assured that the meditating upon the mysteries was not

introduced until two hundred years after his death. What then, we

are compelled to ask, is there left of which St. Dominic may be

called the author? These positive reasons for distrusting the

current tradition might in a measure be ignored as archaeological

refinements, if there were any satisfactory evidence to show that

St. Dominic had identified himself with the pre-existing Rosary

and become its apostle. But here we are met with absolute silence.

Of the eight or nine early Lives of the saint, not one makes the

faintest allusion to the Rosary. The witnesses who gave evidence

in the cause of his canonization are equally reticent. In the great

collection of documents accumulated by Fathers Balme and Lelaidier,

O.P., in their "Cartulaire de St. Dominique" the question is

studiously ignored. The early constitutions of the different

provinces of the order have been examined, and many of them printed,

but no one has found any reference to this devotion. We possess

hundreds, even thousands, of manuscripts containing devotional

treatises, sermons, chronicles, Saints' lives, etc., written by

the Friars Preachers between 1220 and 1450; but no single verifiable

passage has yet been produced which speaks of the Rosary as

instituted by St. Dominic or which even makes much of the devotion

as one specially dear to his children. The charters and other deeds

of the Dominican convents for men and women, as M. Jean Guiraud

points out with emphasis in his edition of the Cartulaire of La

Prouille (I, cccxxviii), are equally silent. Neither do we find

any suggestion of a connection between St. Dominic and the Rosary

in the paintings and sculptures of these two and a half centuries.

Even the tomb of St. Dominic at Bologna and the numberless frescoes

by Fra Angelico representing the brethren of his order ignore the

Rosary completely. Impressed by this conspiracy of silence, the

Bollandists, on trying to trace to its source the origin of the

current tradition, found that all the clues converged upon one

point, the preaching of the Dominican Alan de Rupe about the years

1470-75. He it undoubtedly was who first suggested the idea that

the devotion of "Our Lady's Psalter" (a hundred and fifty Hail Marys)

was instituted or revived by St. Dominic. Alan was a very earnest

and devout man, but, as the highest authorities admit, he was full

of delusions, and based his revelations on the imaginary testimony

of writers that never existed (see Quétif and Echard, "Scriptores

O.P.", 1, 849). His preaching, however, was attended with much

success. The Rosary Confraternities, organized by him and his

colleagues at Douai, Cologne, and elsewhere had great vogue, and

led to the printing of many books, all more or less impregnated

with the ideas of Alan. Indulgences were granted for the good work

that was thus being done and the documents conceding these

indulgences accepted and repeated, as was natural in that uncritical age, the historical data which had been inspired by Alan's writings and which were submitted according to the usual practice by the promoters of the confraternities themselves. It was in this way that the tradition of Dominican authorship grew up. The first Bulls speak of this authorship with some reserve: "Prout in historiis legitur" says Leo X in the earliest of all. "Pastoris aeterni" 1520; but many of the later popes were less guarded. Two considerations strongly support the view of the Rosary tradition just expounded. The first is the gradual surrender of almost every notable piece that has at one time or another been relied upon to vindicate the supposed claims of St. Dominic. Touron and Alban Butler appealed to the Memoirs of a certain Luminosi de Aposa who professed to have heard St. Dominic preach at Bologna, but these Memoirs have long ago been proved to a forgery. Danzas, Von Löe and others attached much importance to a fresco at Muret; but the fresco is not now in existence, and there is good reason for believing that the rosary once seen in that fresco was painted in at a later date ("The Month" Feb. 1901, p. 179). Mamachi, Esser, Walsh, and Von Löe and others quote some alleged contemporary verses about Dominic in connection with a crown of roses; the original manuscript has disappeared, and it is certain that the writers named have printed Dominicus where Benoist, the only person who has seen the manuscript, read Dominus. The famous will of Anthony Sers, which professed to leave a bequest to the Confraternity of the Rosary at Palencia in 1221, was put forward as a conclusive piece of testimony by Mamachi; but it is now admitted by Dominican authorities to be a forgery ("The Irish Rosary, Jan., 1901, p. 92). Similarly, a supposed reference to the subject by Thomas à Kempis in the "Chronicle of Mount St. Agnes" is a pure blunder ("The Month", Feb., 1901, p. 187). With this may be noted the change in tone observable of late in authoritative works of reference. In the "Kirchliches Handlexikon" of Munich and in the last edition of Herder's Konversationslexikon" no attempt is made to defend the tradition which connects St. Dominic personally with the origin of the Rosary. Another consideration which cannot be developed is the multitude of conflicting legends concerning the origin of this devotion of "Our Lady's Psalter" which prevailed down to the end of the fifteenth century, as well as the early diversity of practice in the manner of its recitation. These facts agree ill with the supposition that it took its rise in a definite revelation and was jealously watched over from the beginning by one of the most learned and influential of the religious orders. No doubt can exist that the immense diffusion of the Rosary and its confraternities in modern times and the vast influence it has exercised for good are mainly due to the labours and the prayers of the sons of St. Dominic, but the historical evidence serves plainly to show that their interest in the subject was only awakened in the last years of the fifteenth century. That the Rosary is pre-eminently the prayer of the people adapted alike for the use of simple and learned is proved not only by the long series of papal utterances by which it has been commended to the faithful but by the daily experience of all who are familiar with it. The objection so often made against its "vain repetitions" is felt by none but those who have failed to realize how entirely the spirit of the exercise lies in the meditation upon the fundamental mysteries of our faith. To the initiated the words of the angelical salutation form only a sort of half-conscious accompaniment, a bourdon which we may liken to the "Holy, Holy, Holy" of the heavenly choirs and surely not in itself meaningless. Neither can it be necessary to urge that the freest criticism of the historical origin of the devotion, which involves no point of doctrine, is compatible with a full appreciation of the devotional treasures which this pious exercise brings within the reach of all. As regards the origin of the name, the word rosarius means a garland or bouquet of roses, and it was not unfrequently used in a figurative sense -- e.g. as the title of a book, to denote an anthology or collection of extracts. An early legend which after travelling all over Europe penetrated even to Abyssinia connected this name with a story of Our Lady, who was seen to take rosebuds from the lips of a young monk when he was reciting Hail Marys and to weave them into a garland which she placed upon her head. A German metrical version of this story is still extant dating from the thirteenth century. The name "Our Lady's Psalter" can also be traced back to the same period. Corona or chaplet suggests the same idea as rosarium. The old English name found in Chaucer and elsewhere was a "pair of beads", in which the word bead originally meant prayers.

II. IN THE GREEK CHURCH, CATHOLIC AND SCHISMATIC

The custom of reciting prayers upon a string with knots or beads thereon at regular intervals has come down from the early days of Christianity, and is still practised in the Eastern as well as in the Western Church. It seems to have originated among the early monks and hermits who used a piece of heavy cord with knots tied at intervals upon which they recited their shorter prayers. This form of rosary is still used among the monks in the various Greek Churches, although archimandrites and bishops use a very ornamental form of rosary with costly beads. The rosary is conferred upon the Greek monk as a part of his investiture with the mandyas or full monastic habit, as the second step in the monastic life, and is called his "spiritual sword". This Oriental form of rosary is known in the Hellenic Greek Church as kombologion (chaplet), or komboschoinion (string of knots or beads), in the Russian Church as vervitza (string), chotki (chaplet), or liestovka (ladder), and in the Rumanian Church as matanie (reverence). The first use of the rosary in any general way was among the monks of the Orient. Our everyday name of "beads" for it is simply the Old Saxon word bede (a prayer) which has been transferred to the instrument used in reciting the prayer, while the word rosary is an equally modern term. The intercourse of the Western peoples of the Latin Rite with those of the Eastern Rite at the beginning of the Crusades caused the practice of saying prayers upon knots or beads to become widely diffused among the monastic houses of the Latin Church, although the practice had been observed in some instances before that date. On the other hand, the recitation of the Rosary, as practised in the West, has not become general in the Eastern Churches; there it has still retained its original form as a monastic exercise of devotion, and is but little known or used among the laity, while even the secular clergy seldom use it in their devotions. Bishops, however, retain the rosary, as indicating that they have risen from the monastic state, even though they are in the world governing their dioceses. The rosary used in the present Greek Orthodox Church -- whether in Russia or in the East -- is quite different in form from that used in the Latin Church. The use of the prayer-knots or prayer-beads originated from the fact that monks, according to the rule of St. Basil, the only monastic rule known to the Greek Rite, were enjoined by their founder to pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17; Luke 1), and as most of the early monks were laymen, engaged often in various forms of work and in many cases without sufficient education to read the prescribed lessons, psalms, and prayers of the daily office, the rosary was used by them as a means of continually reciting their prayers. At the beginning and at the end of each prayer said by the monk upon each knot or bead he makes the "great reverence" (he megale metanoia), bending down to the ground, so that the recitation of the rosary is often known as a metania. The rosary used among the Greeks of Greece, Turkey, and the East usually consists of one hundred beads without any distinction of great or little ones, while the Old Slavic, or Russian, rosary, generally consists of 103 beads, separated in irregular sections by four large beads, so that the first large bead is followed by 17 small ones, the second large bead by 33 small ones, the third by 40 small ones, and the fourth by 12 small ones, with an additional one added at the end. The two ends of a Russian rosary are often bound together for a short distance, so that the lines of beads run parallel (hence the name ladder used for the rosary), and they finish with a three-cornered ornament often adorned with a tassel or other finial, corresponding to the cross or medal used in a Latin rosary. The use of the Greek rosary is prescribed in Rule 87 of the "Nomocanon", which reads: "The rosary should have one hundred [the Russian rule says 103] beads; and upon each bead the prescribed prayer should be recited." The usual form of this prayer prescribed for the rosary runs as follows: "O Lord Jesus Christ, Son and Word of the living God, through the intercessions of thy immaculate Mother [tes panachrantou sou Metros] and of all thy Saints, have mercy and save us. If, however, the rosary be said as a penitential exercise, the prayer then is: O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. The Russian rosary is divided by the four large beads so as to represent the different parts of the canonical Office which the recitation of the rosary replaces, while the four large beads themselves represent the four Evangelists. In the monasteries of Mount Athos, where the severest rule is observed, from eighty to a hundred rosaries are said daily by each monk. In Russian monasteries the rosary is usually said five times a day, while in the recitation of it the "great reverences" are reduced to ten, the remainder being simply sixty "little reverences" (bowing of the head no further than the waist) and sixty recitations of the penitential form of the prescribed prayer. Among the Greek Uniats rosary is but little used by the laity. The Basilian monks make use of it in the Eastern style just described and in many cases use it in the Roman fashion in some monasteries. The more active life prescribed for them in following the example of Latin monks leaves less time for the recitation of the rosary according to the Eastern form, whilst the reading and recitation of the Office during the canonical Hours fulfils the original monastic obligation and so does not require the rosary. Latterly the Melchites and the Italo-Greeks have in many places adopted among their laity a form of to the one used among the laity of the Roman Rite, but its use is far from general. The Ruthenian and Rumanian Greek Catholics do not use it among the laity, but reserve it chiefly for the monastic clergy, although lately in some parts of Galicia its lay use has been occasionally introduced and is regarded as a latinizing practice. It may be said that among the Greeks in general the use of the rosary is regarded as a religious exercise peculiar to the monastic life; and wherever among Greek Uniats its lay use has been introduced, it is an imitation of the Roman practice. On this account it has never been popularized among the laity of the peoples, who remain strongly attached to their venerable Eastern Rite.  Traditionally, the rosary is said to have come directly from the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Dominic. The rosary began as a practice by the laity to imitate the monastic Divine Office, during the course of which the monks daily prayed the 150 Psalms. The laity, many of whom could not read, substituted 50, or even 150, Ave Marias (Hail Marys) for the Psalms. This prayer, at least the first half of it so directly biblically, seems to date from as early as the 2nd century, as ancient graffiti at Christian sites has suggested. Sometimes a cord with knots on it was used to keep an accurate count of the Aves. The Rosary came to replace the popular devotional practice that consisted of reciting the 150 Psalms of the Bible in thirds or 50 at a time. Instead of the Psalms, 150 Our Fathers were recited. Over the course of the Middle Ages, the Lord's Prayer was replaced with the Angelic Salutation, commonly called the Hail Mary. The prayers of the Rosary were set by the late 16th century. From the 16th to the early 20th century, there were no changes in the Rosary until the mid-20th century when the addition of the Fatima Prayer became popular. There were no other changes until 2002 when John Paul II instituted five optional new Luminous Mysteries, for a total of 20 decades for the complete Rosary. The Rosary (from Latin rosarium, "rose garden"), is a traditional popular devotion in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. The term denotes both a set of prayer beads used in the devotion and the devotional prayer itself, which combines vocal (or silent) prayer and meditation centered around sequences of reciting the Lord's Prayer followed by ten recitations of the "Hail Mary" prayer and a single recitation of "Glory Be to the Father"; each of these sequences is known as a decade. Until the recent optional addition of five additional Mysteries by Pope John Paul II, the Rosary had been prayed in three parts of five Mysteries assigned throughout the week. Today the Rosary can be prayed in four parts, one part each day, with the Mysteries" (which are meditated or contemplated on during the prayers) being rotated daily.What distinguishes the Rosary from other forms of prayer is that, along with the vocal prayers, it includes a series of meditations. Each decade of the Rosary is said while meditating on one of the "Mysteries" of redemption. These mysteries were finally standardised in the 16th century, and while there has been some disagreement on them (the final mystery is sometimes the Last Judgment) the earliest sets bear a remarkable resemblance to those still used.Many similar prayer practices exist in popular Roman Catholicism, each with its own set of prescribed prayers and its own form of bead counters. These other devotions and their associated beads are usually referred to as "chaplets." (To see types of prayer-bead prayers used by other religions, see article on prayer beads).The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary has the liturgical rank of universal memorial. It is associated with Our Lady of Victory and is celebrated on October 7 on the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar in commemoration of the "Victory of Our Lady" at the Battle of Lepanto.The rosary is used sometimes by some adherents of other Christian denominations, particularly in the Anglican Communion, the Old Catholic Church, and the Lutheran Church, and occasionally by some Methodists. Evangelical Protestants, however, such as Baptists, Adventists, Assembly of God etc., do not use it and actively discourage their members from using this method of prayer. 4th century prayer rope used by the Desert Fathers to count repetitions of the Jesus Prayer

c. 1075 Lady Godiva refers in her will to "the circlet of precious stones which she had threaded on a cord in order that by fingering them one after another she might count her prayers exactly" (Malmesbury, "Gesta Pont.", Rolls Series 311.  Early to mid 12th century repetition of the Hail Mary prayer (in groups of 50) comes into use as a devotion  AD1160 Saint Rosalia is buried with a string of prayer beads  AD 1214 traditional date of the legend of Saint Dominic's reception of the rosary from the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of the Rosary  Mid-13th century word "Rosary" first used (by Thomas of Champitre, in De apibus, ii. 13),  not referring to prayer beads but in a Marian context  1268 Reference to guild of "paternosterers" in Paris in "Livre des métiers" of Stephen Boyleau. Early 15th century a Carthusian, Dominic of Prussia, introduces the meditations (mysteries)  c. 1514 Hail Mary prayer attains its current form.  AD1569 Pope Pius V established the current form of the original 15 mysteries  1597 first recorded use of the term "rosary" to refer to prayer beads. 1917 Our Lady of Fatima is said to ask that the Fatima Prayer be added to the Rosary. She also asks for the Rosary to be said to stop the war, and as part of the Immaculate Heart's reparation. 2002 Pope John Paul II introduces the Luminous Mysteries as an option for Roman Catholics. 

Approved form

• A sign of the cross on the Crucifix and then the "Apostles' Creed";
• An "Our Father" on the first large bead;
• A "Hail Mary" on each of the three small beads with the following intentions (the theological virtues):
  1. For the increase of faith
  2. For the increase of hope
  3. For the increase of charity
• A "Glory Be to the Father" on the next large bead;
• Announce the mystery
• An "Our Father" on the large bead
• A "Hail Mary" on each of the adjacent ten small beads;
• A "Glory Be to the Father" on the next large bead;
• Again an Our Father, ten Hail Marys, the Glory Be to the Father, and Fatima Prayer for each of the following decades;
• A "Hail Holy Queen" and a sign of the cross.

The Rosary of the Virgin Mary, which gradually took form in the second millennium under the guidance of the Spirit of God, is a prayer loved by countless Saints and encouraged by the Magisterium. Simple yet profound, it still remains, at the dawn of this third millennium, a prayer of great significance, destined to bring forth a harvest of holiness. It blends easily into the spiritual journey of the Christian life, which, after two thousand years, has lost none of the freshness of its beginnings and feels drawn by the Spirit of God to "set out into the deep" (duc in altum!) in order once more to proclaim, and even cry out, before the world that Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour, "the way, and the truth and the life" (Jn 14:6), "the goal of human history and the point on which the desires of history and civilization turn".The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer. In the sobriety of its elements, it has all the depth of the Gospel message in its entirety, of which it can be said to be a compendium.² It is an echo of the prayer of Mary, her perennial Magnificat for the work of the redemptive Incarnation which began in her virginal womb. With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love. Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer.

The Popes and the Rosary

2. Numerous predecessors of mine attributed great importance to this prayer. Worthy of special note in this regard is Pope Leo XIII who on 1 September 1883 promulgated the Encyclical Supremi Apostolatus Officio,³ a document of great worth, the first of his many statements about this prayer, in which he proposed the Rosary as an effective spiritual weapon against the evils afflicting society. Among the more recent Popes who, from the time of the Second Vatican Council, have distinguished themselves in promoting the Rosary I would mention Blessed John XXIII⁴ and above all Pope Paul VI, who in his Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus emphasized, in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, the Rosary's evangelical character and its Christocentric inspiration. I myself have often encouraged the frequent recitation of the Rosary. From my youthful years this prayer has held an important place in my spiritual life. I was powerfully reminded of this during my recent visit to Poland, and in particular at the Shrine of Kalwaria. The Rosary has accompanied me in moments of joy and in moments of difficulty. To it I have entrusted any number of concerns; in it I have always found comfort. Twenty-four years ago, on 29 October 1978, scarcely two weeks after my election to the See of Peter, I frankly admitted: "The Rosary is my favourite prayer. A marvellous prayer! Marvellous in its simplicity and its depth. [...]. It can be said that the Rosary is, in some sense, a prayer-commentary on the final chapter of the Vatican II Constitution Lumen Gentium, a chapter which discusses the wondrous presence of the Mother of God in the mystery of Christ and the Church. Against the background of the words Ave Maria the principal events of the life of Jesus Christ pass before the eyes of the soul. They take shape in the complete series of the joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries, and they put us in living communion with Jesus through � we might say � the heart of his Mother. At the same time our heart can embrace in the decades of the Rosary all the events that make up the lives of individuals, families, nations, the Church, and all mankind. Our personal concerns and those of our neighbour, especially those who are closest to us, who are dearest to us. Thus the simple prayer of the Rosary marks the rhythm of human life".With these words, dear brothers and sisters, I set the first year of my Pontificate within the daily rhythm of the Rosary. Today, as I begin the twenty-fifth year of my service as the Successor of Peter, I wish to do the same. How many graces have I received in these years from the Blessed Virgin through the Rosary: Magnificat anima mea Dominum! I wish to lift up my thanks to the Lord in the words of his Most Holy Mother, under whose protection I have placed my Petrine ministry: Totus Tuus!

October 2002 � October 2003: The Year of the Rosary

3. Therefore, in continuity with my reflection in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, in which, after the experience of the Jubilee, I invited the people of God to "start afresh from Christ",⁶ I have felt drawn to offer a reflection on the Rosary, as a kind of Marian complement to that Letter and an exhortation to contemplate the face of Christ in union with, and at the school of, his Most Holy Mother. To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ. As a way of highlighting this invitation, prompted by the forthcoming 120th anniversary of the aforementioned Encyclical of Leo XIII, I desire that during the course of this year the Rosary should be especially emphasized and promoted in the various Christian communities. I therefore proclaim the year from October 2002 to October 2003 the Year of the Rosary.I leave this pastoral proposal to the initiative of each ecclesial community. It is not my intention to encumber but rather to complete and consolidate pastoral programmes of the Particular Churches. I am confident that the proposal will find a ready and generous reception. The Rosary, reclaimed in its full meaning, goes to the very heart of Christian life; it offers a familiar yet fruitful spiritual and educational opportunity for personal contemplation, the formation of the People of God, and the new evangelization. I am pleased to reaffirm this also in the joyful remembrance of another anniversary: the fortieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council on October 11, 1962, the "great grace" disposed by the Spirit of God for the Church in our time.⁷

Objections to the Rosary

4. The timeliness of this proposal is evident from a number of considerations. First, the urgent need to counter a certain crisis of the Rosary, which in the present historical and theological context can risk being wrongly deval‎ued, and therefore no longer taught to the younger generation. There are some who think that the centrality of the Liturgy, rightly stressed by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, necessarily entails giving lesser importance to the Rosary. Yet, as Pope Paul VI made clear, not only does this prayer not conflict with the Liturgy, it sustains it, since it serves as an excellent introduction and a faithful echo of the Liturgy, enabling people to participate fully and interiorly in it and to reap its fruits in their daily lives.Perhaps too, there are some who fear that the Rosary is somehow unecumenical because of its distinctly Marian character. Yet the Rosary clearly belongs to the kind of veneration of the Mother of God described by the Council: a devotion directed to the Christological centre of the Christian faith, in such a way that "when the Mother is honoured, the Son ... is duly known, loved and glorified".⁸ If properly revitalized, the Rosary is an aid and certainly not a hindrance to ecumenism!

A path of contemplation

5. But the most important reason for strongly encouraging the practice of the Rosary is that it represents a most effective means of fostering among the faithful that commitment to the contemplation of the Christian mystery which I have proposed in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte as a genuine "training in holiness": "What is needed is a Christian life distinguished above all in the art of prayer".⁹ Inasmuch as contemporary culture, even amid so many indications to the contrary, has witnessed the flowering of a new call for spirituality, due also to the influence of other religions, it is more urgent than ever that our Christian communities should become "genuine schools of prayer".The Rosary belongs among the finest and most praiseworthy traditions of Christian contemplation. Developed in the West, it is a typically meditative prayer, corresponding in some way to the "prayer of the heart" or "Jesus prayer" which took root in the soil of the Christian East.

Prayer for peace and for the family

6. A number of historical circumstances also make a revival of the Rosary quite timely. First of all, the need to implore from God the gift of peace. The Rosary has many times been proposed by my predecessors and myself as a prayer for peace. At the start of a millennium which began with the terrifying attacks of 11 September 2001, a millennium which witnesses every day innumerous parts of the world fresh scenes of bloodshed and violence, to rediscover the Rosary means to immerse oneself in contemplation of the mystery of Christ who "is our peace", since he made "the two of us one, and broke down the dividing wall of hostility" (Eph 2:14). Consequently, one cannot recite the Rosary without feeling caught up in a clear commitment to advancing peace, especially in the land of Jesus, still so sorely afflicted and so close to the heart of every Christian.A similar need for commitment and prayer arises in relation to another critical contemporary issue: the family, the primary cell of society, increasingly menaced by forces of disintegration on both the ideological and practical planes, so as to make us fear for the future of this fundamental and indispensable institution and, with it, for the future of society as a whole. The revival of the Rosary in Christian families, within the context of a broader pastoral ministry to the family, will be an effective aid to countering the devastating effects of this crisis typical of our age.

"Behold, your Mother!" (Jn 19:27)

7. Many signs indicate that still today the Blessed Virgin desires to exercise through this same prayer that maternal concern to which the dying Redeemer entrusted, in the person of the beloved disciple, all the sons and daughters of the Church: "Woman, behold your son!" (Jn19:26). Well-known are the occasions in the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries on which the Mother of Christ made her presence felt and her voice heard, in order to exhort the People of God to this form of contemplative prayer. I would mention in particular, on account of their great influence on the lives of Christians and the authoritative recognition they have received from the Church, the apparitions of Lourdes and of Fatima;¹¹ these shrines continue to be visited by great numbers of pilgrims seeking comfort and hope.

Following the witnesses

8. It would be impossible to name all the many Saints who discovered in the Rosary a genuine path to growth in holiness. We need but mention Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, the author of an excellent work on the Rosary,¹² and, closer to ourselves, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, whom I recently had the joy of canonizing. As a true apostle of the Rosary, Blessed Bartolo Longo had a special charism. His path to holiness rested on an inspiration heard in the depths of his heart: "Whoever spreads the Rosary is saved!".¹³ As a result, he felt called to build a Church dedicated to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Pompei, against the background of the ruins of the ancient city, which scarcely heard the proclamation of Christ before being buried in 79 A.D. during an eruption of Mount Vesuvius, only to emerge centuries later from its ashes as a witness to the lights and shadows of classical civilization. By his whole life's work and especially by the practice of the "Fifteen Saturdays", Bartolo Longo promoted the Christocentric and contemplative heart of the Rosary, and received great encouragement and support from Leo XIII, the "Pope of the Rosary".

CONTEMPLATING CHRIST WITH MARY

A face radiant as the sun

9. "And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun" (Mt 17:2). The Gospel scene of Christ's transfiguration, in which the three Apostles Peter, James and John appear entranced by the beauty of the Redeemer, can be seen as an icon of Christian contemplation. To look upon the face of Christ, to recognize its mystery amid the daily events and the sufferings of his human life, and then to grasp the divine splendour definitively revealed in the Risen Lord, seated in glory at the right hand of the Father: this is the task of every follower of Christ and therefore the task of each one of us. In contemplating Christ's face we become open to receiving the mystery of Trinitarian life, experiencing ever anew the love of the Father and delighting in the joy of the Holy Spirit. Saint Paul's words can then be applied to us: "Beholding the glory of the Lord, we are being changed into his likeness, from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit" (2Cor 3:18).

Mary, model of contemplation

10. The contemplation of Christ has an incomparable model in Mary. In a unique way the face of the Son belongs to Mary. It was in her womb that Christ was formed, receiving from her a human resemblance which points to an even greater spiritual closeness. No one has ever devoted himself to the contemplation of the face of Christ as faithfully as Mary. The eyes of her heart already turned to him at the Annunciation, when she conceived him by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the months that followed she began to sense his presence and to picture his features. When at last she gave birth to him in Bethlehem, her eyes were able to gaze tenderly on the face of her Son, as she "wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger" (Lk2:7).

Thereafter Mary's gaze, ever filled with adoration and wonder, would never leave him. At times it would be a questioning look, as in the episode of the finding in the Temple: "Son, why have you treated us so?" (Lk 2:48); it would always be a penetrating gaze, one capable of deeply understanding Jesus, even to the point of perceiving his hidden feelings and anticipating his decisions, as at Cana (cf. Jn 2:5). At other times it would be a look of sorrow, especially beneath the Cross, where her vision would still be that of a mother giving birth, for Mary not only shared the passion and death of her Son, she also received the new son given to her in the beloved disciple (cf. Jn 19:26-27). On the morning of Easter hers would be a gaze radiant with the joy of the Resurrection, and finally, on the day of Pentecost, a gaze afire with the outpouring of the Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14).

Mary's memories

11. Mary lived with her eyes fixed on Christ, treasuring his every word: "She kept all these things, pondering them in her heart" (Lk 2:19; cf. 2:51). The memories of Jesus, impressed upon her heart, were always with her, leading her to reflect on the various moments of her life at her Son's side. In a way those memories were to be the "rosary" which she recited uninterruptedly throughout her earthly life.Even now, amid the joyful songs of the heavenly Jerusalem, the reasons for her thanksgiving and praise remain unchanged. They inspire her maternal concern for the pilgrim Church, in which she continues to relate her personal account of the Gospel. Mary constantly sets before the faithful the "mysteries" of her Son, with the desire that the contemplation of those mysteries will release all their saving power. In the recitation of the Rosary, the Christian community enters into contact with the memories and the contemplative gaze of Mary.

The Rosary, a contemplative prayer

12. The Rosary, precisely because it starts with Mary's own experience, is an exquisitely contemplative prayer. Without this contemplative dimension, it would lose its meaning, as Pope Paul VI clearly pointed out: "Without contemplation, the Rosary is a body without a soul, and its recitation runs the risk of becoming a mechanical repetition of formulas, in violation of the admonition of Christ: 'In praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think they will be heard for their many words' (Mt 6:7). By its nature the recitation of the Rosary calls for a quiet rhythm and a lingering pace, helping the individual to meditate on the mysteries of the Lord's life as seen through the eyes of her who was closest to the Lord. In this way the unfathomable riches of these mysteries are disclosed".It is worth pausing to consider this profound insight of Paul VI, in order to bring out certain aspects of the Rosary which show that it is really a form of Christocentric contemplation.

Remembering Christ with Mary

13. Mary's contemplation is above all a remembering. We need to understand this word in the biblical sense of remembrance (zakar) as a making present of the works brought about by God in the history of salvation. The Bible is an account of saving events culminating in Christ himself. These events not only belong to "yesterday"; they are also part of the "today" of salvation. This making present comes about above all in the Liturgy: what God accomplished centuries ago did not only affect the direct witnesses of those events; it continues to affect people in every age with its gift of grace. To some extent this is also true of every other devout approach to those events: to "remember" them in a spirit of faith and love is to be open to the grace which Christ won for us by the mysteries of his life, death and resurrection.

Consequently, while it must be reaffirmed with the Second Vatican Council that the Liturgy, as the exercise of the priestly office of Christ and an act of public worship, is "the summit to which the activity of the Church is directed and the font from which all its power flows",¹⁵ it is also necessary to recall that the spiritual life "is not limited solely to participation in the liturgy. Christians, while they are called to prayer in common, must also go to their own rooms to pray to their Father in secret (cf. Mt 6:6); indeed, according to the teaching of the Apostle, they must pray without ceasing (cf.1 Thes 5:17)".¹⁶ The Rosary, in its own particular way, is part of this varied panorama of "ceaseless" prayer. If the Liturgy, as the activity of Christ and the Church, is a saving action par excellence, the Rosary too, as a "meditation" with Mary on Christ, is a salutary contemplation. By immersing us in the mysteries of the Redeemer's life, it ensures that what he has done and what the liturgy makes present is profoundly assimilated and shapes our existence.

Learning Christ from Mary

14. Christ is the supreme Teacher, the revealer and the one revealed. It is not just a question of learning what he taught but of "learning him". In this regard could we have any better teacher than Mary? From the divine standpoint, the Spirit is the interior teacher who leads us to the full truth of Christ (cf. Jn 14:26; 15:26; 16:13). But among creatures no one knows Christ better than Mary; no one can introduce us to a profound knowledge of his mystery better than his Mother.The first of the "signs" worked by Jesus � the changing of water into wine at the marriage in Cana � clearly presents Mary in the guise of a teacher, as she urges the servants to do what Jesus commands (cf. Jn 2:5). We can imagine that she would have done likewise for the disciples after Jesus' Ascension, when she joined them in awaiting the Holy Spirit and supported them in their first mission. Contemplating the scenes of the Rosary in union with Mary is a means of learning from her to "read" Christ, to discover his secrets and to understand his message.This school of Mary is all the more effective if we consider that she teaches by obtaining for us in abundance the gifts of the Holy Spirit, even as she offers us the incomparable example of her own "pilgrimage of faith".¹⁷ As we contemplate each mystery of her Son's life, she invites us to do as she did at the Annunciation: to ask humbly the questions which open us to the light, in order to end with the obedience of faith: "Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38).

Being conformed to Christ with Mary

15. Christian spirituality is distinguished by the disciple's commitment to become conformed ever more fully to his Master (cf. Rom 8:29; Phil 3:10,12). The outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Baptism grafts the believer like a branch onto the vine which is Christ (cf. Jn 15:5) and makes him a member of Christ's mystical Body (cf.1Cor 12:12; Rom 12:5). This initial unity, however, calls for a growing assimilation which will increasingly shape the conduct of the disciple in accordance with the "mind" of Christ: "Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ Jesus" (Phil 2:5). In the words of the Apostle, we are called "to put on the Lord Jesus Christ" (cf. Rom 13:14; Gal 3:27).In the spiritual journey of the Rosary, based on the constant contemplation � in Mary's company � of the face of Christ, this demanding ideal of being conformed to him is pursued through an association which could be described in terms of friendship. We are thereby enabled to enter naturally into Christ's life and as it were to share his deepest feelings. In this regard Blessed Bartolo Longo has written: "Just as two friends, frequently in each other's company, tend to develop similar habits, so too, by holding familiar converse with Jesus and the Blessed Virgin, by meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary and by living the same life in Holy Communion, we can become, to the extent of our lowliness, similar to them and can learn from these supreme models a life of humility, poverty, hiddenness, patience and perfection".¹⁸

In this process of being conformed to Christ in the Rosary, we entrust ourselves in a special way to the maternal care of the Blessed Virgin. She who is both the Mother of Christ and a member of the Church, indeed her "pre-eminent and altogether singular member",¹⁹ is at the same time the "Mother of the Church". As such, she continually brings to birth children for the mystical Body of her Son. She does so through her intercession, imploring upon them the inexhaustible outpouring of the Spirit. Mary is the perfect icon of the motherhood of the Church.The Rosary mystically transports us to Mary's side as she is busy watching over the human growth of Christ in the home of Nazareth. This enables her to train us and to mold us with the same care, until Christ is "fully formed" in us (cf. Gal 4:19). This role of Mary, totally grounded in that of Christ and radically subordinated to it, "in no way obscures or diminishes the unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power".²⁰ This is the luminous principle expressed by the Second Vatican Council which I have so powerfully experienced in my own life and have made the basis of my episcopal motto: Totus Tuus.²¹ The motto is of course inspired by the teaching of Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, who explained in the following words Mary's role in the process of our configuration to Christ: "Our entire perfection consists in being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus Christ. Hence the most perfect of all devotions is undoubtedly that which conforms, unites and consecrates us most perfectly to Jesus Christ. Now, since Mary is of all creatures the one most conformed to Jesus Christ, it follows that among all devotions that which most consecrates and conforms a soul to our Lord is devotion to Mary, his Holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to her the more will it be consecrated to Jesus Christ".²² Never as in the Rosary do the life of Jesus and that of Mary appear so deeply joined. Mary lives only in Christ and for Christ!

Praying to Christ with Mary

16. Jesus invited us to turn to God with insistence and the confidence that we will be heard: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" (Mt 7:7). The basis for this power of prayer is the goodness of the Father, but also the mediation of Christ himself (cf. 1Jn 2:1) and the working of the Holy Spirit who "intercedes for us" according to the will of God (cf. Rom 8:26-27). For "we do not know how to pray as we ought" (Rom 8:26), and at times we are not heard "because we ask wrongly" (cf. Jas 4:2-3).In support of the prayer which Christ and the Spirit cause to rise in our hearts, Mary intervenes with her maternal intercession. "The prayer of the Church is sustained by the prayer of Mary".²³ If Jesus, the one Mediator, is the Way of our prayer, then Mary, his purest and most transparent reflection, shows us the Way. "Beginning with Mary's unique cooperation with the working of the Holy Spirit, the Churches developed their prayer to the Holy Mother of God, centering it on the person of Christ manifested in his mysteries".²⁴ At the wedding of Cana the Gospel clearly shows the power of Mary's intercession as she makes known to Jesus the needs of others: "They have no wine" (Jn 2:3).The Rosary is both meditation and supplication. Insistent prayer to the Mother of God is based on confidence that her maternal intercession can obtain all things from the heart of her Son. She is "all-powerful by grace", to use the bold expression‎, which needs to be properly understood, of Blessed Bartolo Longo in his Supplication to Our Lady.²⁵ This is a conviction which, beginning with the Gospel, has grown ever more firm in the experience of the Christian people. The supreme poet Dante expresses it marvellously in the lines sung by Saint Bernard: "Lady, thou art so great and so powerful, that whoever desires grace yet does not turn to thee, would have his desire fly without wings".²⁶ When in the Rosary we plead with Mary, the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit (cf. Lk 1:35), she intercedes for us before the Father who filled her with grace and before the Son born of her womb, praying with us and for us.

Proclaiming Christ with Mary

17. The Rosary is also a path of proclamation and increasing knowledge, in which the mystery of Christ is presented again and again at different levels of the Christian experience. Its form is that of a prayerful and contemplative presentation, capable of forming Christians according to the heart of Christ. When the recitation of the Rosary combines all the elements needed for an effective meditation, especially in its communal celebration in parishes and shrines, it can present a significant catechetical opportunity which pastors should use to advantage. In this way too Our Lady of the Rosary continues her work of proclaiming Christ. The history of the Rosary shows how this prayer was used in particular by the Dominicans at a difficult time for the Church due to the spread of heresy. Today we are facing new challenges. Why should we not once more have recourse to the Rosary, with the same faith as those who have gone before us? The Rosary retains all its power and continues to be a valuable pastoral resource for every good evangelizer.

The Rosary, "a compendium of the Gospel"

18. The only way to approach the contemplation of Christ's face is by listening in the Spirit to the Father's voice, since "no one knows the Son except the Father" (Mt 11:27). In the region of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus responded to Peter's confession of faith by indicating the source of that clear intuition of his identity: "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven" (Mt 16:17). What is needed, then, is a revelation from above. In order to receive that revelation, attentive listening is indispensable: "Only the experience of silence and prayer offers the proper setting for the growth and development of a true, faithful and consistent knowledge of that mystery". The Rosary is one of the traditional paths of Christian prayer directed to the contemplation of Christ's face. Pope Paul VI described it in these words: "As a Gospel prayer, centred on the mystery of the redemptive Incarnation, the Rosary is a prayer with a clearly Christological orientation. Its most characteristic element, in fact, the litany-like succession of Hail Marys, becomes in itself an unceasing praise of Christ, who is the ultimate object both of the Angel's announcement and of the greeting of the Mother of John the Baptist: 'Blessed is the fruit of your womb' (Lk 1:42). We would go further and say that the succession of Hail Marys constitutes the warp on which is woven the contemplation of the mysteries. The Jesus that each Hail Mary recalls is the same Jesus whom the succession of mysteries proposes to us now as the Son of God, now as the Son of the Virgin".²⁸

A proposed addition to the traditional pattern

19. Of the many mysteries of Christ's life, only a few are indicated by the Rosary in the form that has become generally established with the seal of the Church's approval. The selection was determined by the origin of the prayer, which was based on the number 150, the number of the Psalms in the Psalter.I believe, however, that to bring out fully the Christological depth of the Rosary it would be suitable to make an addition to the traditional pattern which, while left to the freedom of individuals and communities, could broaden it to include the mysteries of Christ's public ministry between his Baptism and his Passion. In the course of those mysteries we contemplate important aspects of the person of Christ as the definitive revelation of God. Declared the beloved Son of the Father at the Baptism in the Jordan, Christ is the one who announces the coming of the Kingdom, bears witness to it in his works and proclaims its demands. It is during the years of his public ministry that the mystery of Christ is most evidently a mystery of light: "While I am in the world, I am the light of the world" (Jn 9:5).Consequently, for the Rosary to become more fully a "compendium of the Gospel", it is fitting to add, following reflection on the Incarnation and the hidden life of Christ (the joyful mysteries) and before focusing on the sufferings of his Passion (the sorrowful mysteries) and the triumph of his Resurrection (the glorious mysteries), a meditation on certain particularly significant moments in his public ministry (the mysteries of light). This addition of these new mysteries, without prejudice to any essential aspect of the prayer's traditional format, is meant to give it fresh life and to enkindle renewed interest in the Rosary's place within Christian spirituality as a true doorway to the depths of the Heart of Christ, ocean of joy and of light, of suffering and of glory.

The Joyful Mysteries

20. The first five decades, the "joyful mysteries", are marked by the joy radiating from the event of the Incarnation. This is clear from the very first mystery, the Annunciation, where Gabriel's greeting to the Virgin of Nazareth is linked to an invitation to messianic joy: "Rejoice, Mary". The whole of salvation history, in some sense the entire history of the world, has led up to this greeting. If it is the Father's plan to unite all things in Christ (cf. Eph 1:10), then the whole of the universe is in some way touched by the divine favour with which the Father looks upon Mary and makes her the Mother of his Son. The whole of humanity, in turn, is embraced by the fiat with which she readily agrees to the will of God.Exultation is the keynote of the encounter with Elizabeth, where the sound of Mary's voice and the presence of Christ in her womb cause John to "leap for joy" (cf. Lk 1:44). Gladness also fills the scene in Bethlehem, when the birth of the divine Child, the Saviour of the world, is announced by the song of the angels and proclaimed to the shepherds as "news of great joy" (Lk 2:10).The final two mysteries, while preserving this climate of joy, already point to the drama yet to come. The Presentation in the Temple not only expresses the joy of the Child's consecration and the ecstasy of the aged Simeon; it also records the prophecy that Christ will be a "sign of contradiction" for Israel and that a sword will pierce his mother's heart (cf Lk 2:34-35). Joy mixed with drama marks the fifth mystery, the finding of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple. Here he appears in his divine wisdom as he listens and raises questions, already in effect one who "teaches". The revelation of his mystery as the Son wholly dedicated to his Father's affairs proclaims the radical nature of the Gospel, in which even the closest of human relationships are challenged by the absolute demands of the Kingdom. Mary and Joseph, fearful and anxious, "did not understand" his words (Lk 2:50).To meditate upon the "joyful" mysteries, then, is to enter into the ultimate causes and the deepest meaning of Christian joy. It is to focus on the realism of the mystery of the Incarnation and on the obscure foreshadowing of the mystery of the saving Passion. Mary leads us to discover the secret of Christian joy, reminding us that Christianity is, first and foremost, euangelion, "good news", which has as its heart and its whole content the person of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, the one Saviour of the world.

The Mysteries of Light

21. Moving on from the infancy and the hidden life in Nazareth to the public life of Jesus, our contemplation brings us to those mysteries which may be called in a special way "mysteries of light". Certainly the whole mystery of Christ is a mystery of light. He is the "light of the world" (Jn 8:12). Yet this truth emerges in a special way during the years of his public life, when he proclaims the Gospel of the Kingdom. In proposing to the Christian community five significant moments � "luminous" mysteries � during this phase of Christ's life, I think that the following can be fittingly singled out: (1) his Baptism in the Jordan, (2) his self-manifestation at the wedding of Cana, (3) his proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with his call to conversion, (4) his Transfiguration, and finally, (5) his institution of the Eucharist, as the sacramental expression‎ of the Paschal Mystery.Each of these mysteries is a revelation of the Kingdom now present in the very person of Jesus. The Baptism in the Jordan is first of all a mystery of light. Here, as Christ descends into the waters, the innocent one who became "sin" for our sake (cf. 2Cor 5:21), the heavens open wide and the voice of the Father declares him the beloved Son (cf. Mt 3:17 and parallels), while the Spirit descends on him to invest him with the mission which he is to carry out. Another mystery of light is the first of the signs, given at Cana (cf. Jn 2:1-12), when Christ changes water into wine and opens the hearts of the disciples to faith, thanks to the intervention of Mary, the first among believers. Another mystery of light is the preaching by which Jesus proclaims the coming of the Kingdom of God, calls to conversion (cf. Mk 1:15) and forgives the sins of all who draw near to him in humble trust (cf. Mk 2:3-13; Lk 7:47-48): the inauguration of that ministry of mercy which he continues to exercise until the end of the world, particularly through the Sacrament of Reconciliation which he has entrusted to his Church (cf. Jn 20:22-23). The mystery of light par excellence is the Transfiguration, traditionally believed to have taken place on Mount Tabor. The glory of the Godhead shines forth from the face of Christ as the Father commands the astonished Apostles to "listen to him" (cf. Lk 9:35 and parallels) and to prepare to experience with him the agony of the Passion, so as to come with him to the joy of the Resurrection and a life transfigured by the Holy Spirit. A final mystery of light is the institution of the Eucharist, in which Christ offers his body and blood as food under the signs of bread and wine, and testifies "to the end" his love for humanity (Jn 13:1), for whose salvation he will offer himself in sacrifice.In these mysteries, apart from the miracle at Cana, the presence of Mary remains in the background. The Gospels make only the briefest reference to her occasional presence at one moment or other during the preaching of Jesus (cf. Mk 3:31-5; Jn 2:12), and they give no indication that she was present at the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist. Yet the role she assumed at Cana in some way accompanies Christ throughout his ministry. The revelation made directly by the Father at the Baptism in the Jordan and echoed by John the Baptist is placed upon Mary's lips at Cana, and it becomes the great maternal counsel which Mary addresses to the Church of every age: "Do whatever he tells you" (Jn 2:5). This counsel is a fitting introduction to the words and signs of Christ's public ministry and it forms the Marian foundation of all the "mysteries of light".

The Sorrowful Mysteries

22. The Gospels give great prominence to the sorrowful mysteries of Christ. From the beginning Christian piety, especially during the Lenten devotion of the Way of the Cross, has focused on the individual moments of the Passion, realizing that here is found the culmination of the revelation of God's love and the source of our salvation. The Rosary selects certain moments from the Passion, inviting the faithful to contemplate them in their hearts and to relive them. The sequence of meditations begins with Gethsemane, where Christ experiences a moment of great anguish before the will of the Father, against which the weakness of the flesh would be tempted to rebel. There Jesus encounters all the temptations and confronts all the sins of humanity, in order to say to the Father: "Not my will but yours be done" (Lk 22:42 and parallels). This "Yes" of Christ reverses the "No" of our first parents in the Garden of Eden. And the cost of this faithfulness to the Father's will is made clear in the following mysteries; by his scourging, his crowning with thorns, his carrying the Cross and his death on the Cross, the Lord is cast into the most abject suffering: Ecce homo!This abject suffering reveals not only the love of God but also the meaning of man himself.Ecce homo: the meaning, origin and fulfilment of man is to be found in Christ, the God who humbles himself out of love "even unto death, death on a cross" (Phil 2:8). The sorrowful mysteries help the believer to relive the death of Jesus, to stand at the foot of the Cross beside Mary, to enter with her into the depths of God's love for man and to experience all its life-giving power.

The Glorious Mysteries

23. "The contemplation of Christ's face cannot stop at the image of the Crucified One. He is the Risen One!"²⁹ The Rosary has always expressed this knowledge born of faith and invited the believer to pass beyond the darkness of the Passion in order to gaze upon Christ's glory in the Resurrection and Ascension. Contemplating the Risen One, Christians rediscover the reasons for their own faith (cf. 1Cor 15:14) and relive the joy not only of those to whom Christ appeared � the Apostles, Mary Magdalene and the disciples on the road to Emmaus � but also the joy of Mary, who must have had an equally intense experience of the new life of her glorified Son. 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, the anticipation and the supreme realization of the eschatological state of the Church.At the centre of this unfolding sequence of the glory of the Son and the Mother, the Rosary sets before us the third glorious mystery, Pentecost, which reveals the face of the Church as a family gathered together with Mary, enlivened by the powerful outpouring of the Spirit and ready for the mission of evangelization. The contemplation of this scene, like that of the other glorious mysteries, ought to lead the faithful to an ever greater appreciation of their new life in Christ, lived in the heart of the Church, a life of which the scene of Pentecost itself is the great "icon". The glorious mysteries thus lead the faithful to greater hope for the eschatological goal towards which they journey as members of the pilgrim People of God in history. This can only impel them to bear courageous witness to that "good news" which gives meaning to their entire existence.

From "mysteries" to the "Mystery": Mary's way

24. The cycles of meditation proposed by the Holy Rosary are by no means exhaustive, but they do bring to mind what is essential and they awaken in the soul a thirst for a knowledge of Christ continually nourished by the pure source of the Gospel. Every individual event in the life of Christ, as narrated by the Evangelists, is resplendent with the Mystery that surpasses all understanding (cf. Eph 3:19): the Mystery of the Word made flesh, in whom "all the fullness of God dwells bodily" (Col 2:9). For this reason the Catechism of the Catholic Church places great emphasis on the mysteries of Christ, pointing out that "everything in the life of Jesus is a sign of his Mystery".³⁰ The "duc in altum" of the Church of the third millennium will be determined by the ability of Christians to enter into the "perfect knowledge of God's mystery, of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col 2:2-3). The Letter to the Ephesians makes this heartfelt prayer for all the baptized: "May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith, so that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power... to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" (3:17-19).

The Rosary is at the service of this ideal; it offers the "secret" which leads easily to a profound and inward knowledge of Christ. We might call it Mary's way. It is the way of the example of the Virgin of Nazareth, a woman of faith, of silence, of attentive listening. It is also the way of a Marian devotion inspired by knowledge of the inseparable bond between Christ and his Blessed Mother: the mysteries of Christ are also in some sense the mysteries of his Mother, even when they do not involve her directly, for she lives from him and through him. By making our own the words of the Angel Gabriel and Saint Elizabeth contained in the Hail Mary, we find ourselves constantly drawn to seek out afresh in Mary, in her arms and in her heart, the "blessed fruit of her womb" (cf Lk 1:42).

Mystery of Christ, mystery of man

25. In my testimony of 1978 mentioned above, where I described the Rosary as my favourite prayer, I used an idea to which I would like to return. I said then that "the simple prayer of the Rosary marks the rhythm of human life".³¹

In the light of what has been said so far on the mysteries of Christ, it is not difficult to go deeper into this anthropological significance of the Rosary, which is far deeper than may appear at first sight. Anyone who contemplates Christ through the various stages of his life cannot fail to perceive in him the truth about man. This is the great affirmation of the Second Vatican Council which I have so often discussed in my own teaching since the Encyclical Letter Redemptor Hominis: "it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man is seen in its true light".³² The Rosary helps to open up the way to this light. Following in the path of Christ, in whom man's path is "recapitulated",³³ revealed and redeemed, believers come face to face with the image of the true man. Contemplating Christ's birth, they learn of the sanctity of life; seeing the household of Nazareth, they learn the original truth of the family according to God's plan; listening to the Master in the mysteries of his public ministry, they find the light which leads them to enter the Kingdom of God; and following him on the way to Calvary, they learn the meaning of salvific suffering. Finally, contemplating Christ and his Blessed Mother in glory, they see the goal towards which each of us is called, if we allow ourselves to be healed and transformed by the Holy Spirit. It could be said that each mystery of the Rosary, carefully meditated, sheds light on the mystery of man.At the same time, it becomes natural to bring to this encounter with the sacred humanity of the Redeemer all the problems, anxieties, labours and endeavours which go to make up our lives. "Cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you" (Ps 55:23). To pray the Rosary is to hand over our burdens to the merciful hearts of Christ and his Mother. Twenty-five years later, thinking back over the difficulties which have also been part of my exercise of the Petrine ministry, I feel the need to say once more, as a warm invitation to everyone to experience it personally: the Rosary does indeed "mark the rhythm of human life", bringing it into harmony with the "rhythm" of God's own life, in the joyful communion of the Holy Trinity, our life's destiny and deepest longing.

"FOR ME, TO LIVE IS CHRIST"

The Rosary, a way of assimilating the mystery

26. Meditation on the mysteries of Christ is proposed in the Rosary by means of a method designed to assist in their assimilation. It is a method based on repetition. This applies above all to the Hail Mary, repeated ten times in each mystery. If this repetition is considered superficially, there could be a temptation to see the Rosary as a dry and boring exercise. It is quite another thing, however, when the Rosary is thought of as an outpouring of that love which tirelessly returns to the person loved with expressions similar in their content but ever fresh in terms of the feeling pervading them.In Christ, God has truly assumed a "heart of flesh". Not only does God have a divine heart, rich in mercy and in forgiveness, but also a human heart, capable of all the stirrings of affection. If we needed evidence for this from the Gospel, we could easily find it in the touching dialogue between Christ and Peter after the Resurrection: "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Three times this question is put to Peter, and three times he gives the reply: "Lord, you know that I love you" (cf. Jn 21:15-17). Over and above the specific meaning of this passage, so important for Peter's mission, none can fail to recognize the beauty of this triple repetition, in which the insistent request and the corresponding reply are expressed in terms familiar from the universal experience of human love. To understand the Rosary, one has to enter into the psychological dynamic proper to love.One thing is clear: although the repeated Hail Mary is addressed directly to Mary, it is to Jesus that the act of love is ultimately directed, with her and through her. The repetition is nourished by the desire to be conformed ever more completely to Christ, the true programme of the Christian life. Saint Paul expressed this project with words of fire: "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Phil 1:21). And again: "It is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal 2:20). The Rosary helps us to be conformed ever more closely to Christ until we attain true holiness.

A valid method...

27. We should not be surprised that our relationship with Christ makes use of a method. God communicates himself to us respecting our human nature and its vital rhythms. Hence, while Christian spirituality is familiar with the most sublime forms of mystical silence in which images, words and gestures are all, so to speak, superseded by an intense and ineffable union with God, it normally engages the whole person in all his complex psychological, physical and relational reality.This becomes apparent in the Liturgy. Sacraments and sacramentals are structured as a series of rites which bring into play all the dimensions of the person. The same applies to non-liturgical prayer. This is confirmed by the fact that, in the East, the most characteristic prayer of Christological meditation, centred on the words "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner"³⁴ is traditionally linked to the rhythm of breathing; while this practice favours perseverance in the prayer, it also in some way embodies the desire for Christ to become the breath, the soul and the "all" of one's life.

... which can nevertheless be improved

28. I mentioned in my Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte that the West is now experiencing a renewed demand for meditation, which at times leads to a keen interest in aspects of other religions.³⁵ Some Christians, limited in their knowledge of the Christian contemplative tradition, are attracted by those forms of prayer. While the latter contain many elements which are positive and at times compatible with Christian experience, they are often based on ultimately unacceptable premises. Much in vogue among these approaches are methods aimed at attaining a high level of spiritual concentration by using techniques of a psychophysical, repetitive and symbolic nature. The Rosary is situated within this broad gamut of religious phenomena, but it is distinguished by characteristics of its own which correspond to specifically Christian requirements.In effect, the Rosary is simply a method of contemplation. As a method, it serves as a means to an end and cannot become an end in itself. All the same, as the fruit of centuries of experience, this method should not be undervalued. In its favour one could cite the experience of countless Saints. This is not to say, however, that the method cannot be improved. Such is the intent of the addition of the new series of mysteria lucis to the overall cycle of mysteries and of the few suggestions which I am proposing in this Letter regarding its manner of recitation. These suggestions, while respecting the well-established structure of this prayer, are intended to help the faithful to understand it in the richness of its symbolism and in harmony with the demands of daily life. Otherwise there is a risk that the Rosary would not only fail to produce the intended spiritual effects, but even that the beads, with which it is usually said, could come to be regarded as some kind of amulet or magic object, thereby radically distorting their meaning and function.

Announcing each mystery

29. Announcing each mystery, and perhaps even using a suitable icon to portray it, is as it were to open up a scenario on which to focus our attention. The words direct the imagination and the mind towards a particular episode or moment in the life of Christ. In the Church's traditional spirituality, the veneration of icons and the many devotions appealing to the senses, as well as the method of prayer proposed by Saint Ignatius of Loyola in the Spiritual Exercises, make use of visual and imaginative elements (the compositio loci), judged to be of great help in concentrating the mind on the particular mystery. This is a methodology, moreover, which corresponds to the inner logic of the Incarnation: in Jesus, God wanted to take on human features. It is through his bodily reality that we are led into contact with the mystery of his divinity.

This need for concreteness finds further expression‎ in the announcement of the various mysteries of the Rosary. Obviously these mysteries neither replace the Gospel nor exhaust its content. The Rosary, therefore, is no substitute for lectio divina; on the contrary, it presupposes and promotes it. Yet, even though the mysteries contemplated in the Rosary, even with the addition of the mysteria lucis, do no more than outline the fundamental elements of the life of Christ, they easily draw the mind to a more expansive reflection on the rest of the Gospel, especially when the Rosary is prayed in a setting of prolonged recollection.

Listening to the word of God

30. In order to supply a Biblical foundation and greater depth to our meditation, it is helpful to follow the announcement of the mystery with the proclamation of a related Biblical passage, long or short, depending on the circumstances. No other words can ever match the efficacy of the inspired word. As we listen, we are certain that this is the word of God, spoken for today and spoken "for me".

If received in this way, the word of God can become part of the Rosary's methodology of repetition without giving rise to the ennui derived from the simple recollection of something already well known. It is not a matter of recalling information but of allowing God to speak. In certain solemn communal celebrations, this word can be appropriately illustrated by a brief commentary.

Silence

31. Listening and meditation are nourished by silence. After the announcement of the mystery and the proclamation of the word, it is fitting to pause and focus one's attention for a suitable period of time on the mystery concerned, before moving into vocal prayer. A discovery of the importance of silence is one of the secrets of practicing contemplation and meditation. One drawback of a society dominated by technology and the mass media is the fact that silence becomes increasingly difficult to achieve. Just as moments of silence are recommended in the Liturgy, so too in the recitation of the Rosary it is fitting to pause briefly after listening to the word of God, while the mind focuses on the content of a particular mystery.

The "Our Father"

32. After listening to the word and focusing on the mystery, it is natural for the mind to be lifted up towards the Father. In each of his mysteries, Jesus always leads us to the Father, for as he rests in the Father's bosom (cf. Jn 1:18) he is continually turned towards him. He wants us to share in his intimacy with the Father, so that we can say with him: "Abba, Father" (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6). By virtue of his relationship to the Father he makes us brothers and sisters of himself and of one another, communicating to us the Spirit which is both his and the Father's. Acting as a kind of foundation for the Christological and Marian meditation which unfolds in the repetition of the Hail Mary, the Our Father makes meditation upon the mystery, even when carried out in solitude, an ecclesial experience.

The ten "Hail Marys"

33. This is the most substantial element in the Rosary and also the one which makes it a Marian prayer par excellence. Yet when the Hail Mary is properly understood, we come to see clearly that its Marian character is not opposed to its Christological character, but that it actually emphasizes and increases it. The first part of the Hail Mary, drawn from the words spoken to Mary by the Angel Gabriel and by Saint Elizabeth, is a contemplation in adoration of the mystery accomplished in the Virgin of Nazareth. These words express, so to speak, the wonder of heaven and earth; they could be said to give us a glimpse of God's own wonderment as he contemplates his "masterpiece" � the Incarnation of the Son in the womb of the Virgin Mary. If we recall how, in the Book of Genesis, God "saw all that he had made" (Gen 1:31), we can find here an echo of that "pathos with which God, at the dawn of creation, looked upon the work of his hands".³⁶The repetition of the Hail Mary in the Rosary gives us a share in God's own wonder and pleasure: in jubilant amazement we acknowledge the greatest miracle of history. Mary's prophecy here finds its fulfilment: "Henceforth all generations will call me blessed" (Lk 1:48).The centre of gravity in the Hail Mary, the hinge as it were which joins its two parts, is the name of Jesus. Sometimes, in hurried recitation, this centre of gravity can be overlooked, and with it the connection to the mystery of Christ being contemplated. Yet it is precisely the emphasis given to the name of Jesus and to his mystery that is the sign of a meaningful and fruitful recitation of the Rosary. Pope Paul VI drew attention, in his Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus, to the custom in certain regions of highlighting the name of Christ by the addition of a clause referring to the mystery being contemplated.³⁷ This is a praiseworthy custom, especially during public recitation. It gives forceful expression‎ to our faith in Christ, directed to the different moments of the Redeemer's life. It is at once a profession of faith and an aid in concentrating our meditation, since it facilitates the process of assimilation to the mystery of Christ inherent in the repetition of the Hail Mary. When we repeat the name of Jesus � the only name given to us by which we may hope for salvation (cf. Acts 4:12) � in close association with the name of his Blessed Mother, almost as if it were done at her suggestion, we set out on a path of assimilation meant to help us enter more deeply into the life of Christ.From Mary's uniquely privileged relationship with Christ, which makes her the Mother of God, Theot�kos, derives the forcefulness of the appeal we make to her in the second half of the prayer, as we entrust to her maternal intercession our lives and the hour of our death.

The "Gloria"

34. Trinitarian doxology is the goal of all Christian contemplation. For Christ is the way that leads us to the Father in the Spirit. If we travel this way to the end, we repeatedly encounter the mystery of the three divine Persons, to whom all praise, worship and thanksgiving are due. It is important that the Gloria, the high-point of contemplation, be given due prominence in the Rosary. In public recitation it could be sung, as a way of giving proper emphasis to the essentially Trinitarian structure of all Christian prayer.

To the extent that meditation on the mystery is attentive and profound, and to the extent that it is enlivened � from one Hail Mary to another � by love for Christ and for Mary, the glorification of the Trinity at the end of each decade, far from being a perfunctory conclusion, takes on its proper contemplative tone, raising the mind as it were to the heights of heaven and enabling us in some way to relive the experience of Tabor, a foretaste of the contemplation yet to come: "It is good for us to be here!" (Lk 9:33).

The concluding short prayer

35. In current practice, the Trinitarian doxology is followed by a brief concluding prayer which varies according to local custom. Without in any way diminishing the value of such invocations, it is worthwhile to note that the contemplation of the mysteries could better express their full spiritual fruitfulness if an effort were made to conclude each mystery with a prayer for the fruits specific to that particular mystery. In this way the Rosary would better express its connection with the Christian life. One fine liturgical prayer suggests as much, inviting us to pray that, by meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary, we may come to "imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise".Such a final prayer could take on a legitimate variety of forms, as indeed it already does. In this way the Rosary can be better adapted to different spiritual traditions and different Christian communities. It is to be hoped, then, that appropriate formulas will be widely circulated, after due pastoral discernment and possibly after experimental use in centres and shrines particularly devoted to the Rosary, so that the People of God may benefit from an abundance of authentic spiritual riches and find nourishment for their personal contemplation.

The Rosary beads

36. The traditional aid used for the recitation of the Rosary is the set of beads. At the most superficial level, the beads often become a simple counting mechanism to mark the succession of Hail Marys. Yet they can also take on a symbolism which can give added depth to contemplation.Here the first thing to note is the way the beads converge upon the Crucifix, which both opens and closes the unfolding sequence of prayer. The life and prayer of believers is centred upon Christ. Everything begins from him, everything leads towards him, everything, through him, in the Holy Spirit, attains to the Father.As a counting mechanism, marking the progress of the prayer, the beads evoke the unending path of contemplation and of Christian perfection. Blessed Bartolo Longo saw them also as a "chain" which links us to God. A chain, yes, but a sweet chain; for sweet indeed is the bond to God who is also our Father. A "filial" chain which puts us in tune with Mary, the "handmaid of the Lord" (Lk 1:38) and, most of all, with Christ himself, who, though he was in the form of God, made himself a "servant" out of love for us (Phil 2:7).A fine way to expand the symbolism of the beads is to let them remind us of our many relationships, of the bond of communion and fraternity which unites us all in Christ.

The opening and closing

37. At present, in different parts of the Church, there are many ways to introduce the Rosary. In some places, it is customary to begin with the opening words of Psalm 70: "O God, come to my aid; O Lord, make haste to help me", as if to nourish in those who are praying a humble awareness of their own insufficiency. In other places, the Rosary begins with the recitation of the Creed, as if to make the profession of faith the basis of the contemplative journey about to be undertaken. These and similar customs, to the extent that they prepare the mind for contemplation, are all equally legitimate. The Rosary is then ended with a prayer for the intentions of the Pope, as if to expand the vision of the one praying to embrace all the needs of the Church. It is precisely in order to encourage this ecclesial dimension of the Rosary that the Church has seen fit to grant indulgences to those who recite it with the required dispositions.

If prayed in this way, the Rosary truly becomes a spiritual itinerary in which Mary acts as Mother, Teacher and Guide, sustaining the faithful by her powerful intercession. Is it any wonder, then, that the soul feels the need, after saying this prayer and experiencing so profoundly the motherhood of Mary, to burst forth in praise of the Blessed Virgin, either in that splendid prayer the Salve Regina or in the Litany of Loreto? This is the crowning moment of an inner journey which has brought the faithful into living contact with the mystery of Christ and his Blessed Mother.

Distribution over time

38. The Rosary can be recited in full every day, and there are those who most laudably do so. In this way it fills with prayer the days of many a contemplative, or keeps company with the sick and the elderly who have abundant time at their disposal. Yet it is clear � and this applies all the more if the new series of mysteria lucis is included � that many people will not be able to recite more than a part of the Rosary, according to a certain weekly pattern. This weekly distribution has the effect of giving the different days of the week a certain spiritual "colour", by analogy with the way in which the Liturgy colours the different seasons of the liturgical year.

According to current practice, Monday and Thursday are dedicated to the "joyful mysteries", Tuesday and Thursday to the "sorrowful mysteries", and Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday to the "glorious mysteries". Where might the "mysteries of light" be inserted? If we consider that the "glorious mysteries" are said on both Saturday and Sunday, and that Saturday has always had a special Marian flavour, the second weekly meditation on the "joyful mysteries", mysteries in which Mary's presence is especially pronounced, could be moved to Saturday. Thursday would then be free for meditating on the "mysteries of light".

This indication is not intended to limit a rightful freedom in personal and community prayer, where account needs to be taken of spiritual and pastoral needs and of the occurrence of particular liturgical celebrations which might call for suitable adaptations. What is really important is that the Rosary should always be seen and experienced as a path of contemplation. In the Rosary, in a way similar to what takes place in the Liturgy, the Christian week, centred on Sunday, the day of Resurrection, becomes a journey through the mysteries of the life of Christ, and he is revealed in the lives of his disciples as the Lord of time and of history.

CONCLUSION

"Blessed Rosary of Mary, sweet chain linking us to God"

39. What has been said so far makes abundantly clear the richness of this traditional prayer, which has the simplicity of a popular devotion but also the theological depth of a prayer suited to those who feel the need for deeper contemplation.

The Church has always attributed particular efficacy to this prayer, entrusting to the Rosary, to its choral recitation and to its constant practice, the most difficult problems. At times when Christianity itself seemed under threat, its deliverance was attributed to the power of this prayer, and Our Lady of the Rosary was acclaimed as the one whose intercession brought salvation.

Today I willingly entrust to the power of this prayer � as I mentioned at the beginning � the cause of peace in the world and the cause of the family.

Peace

40. The grave challenges confronting the world at the start of this new Millennium lead us to think that only an intervention from on high, capable of guiding the hearts of those living in situations of conflict and those governing the destinies of nations, can give reason to hope for a brighter future.

The Rosary is by its nature a prayer for peace, since it consists in the contemplation of Christ, the Prince of Peace, the one who is "our peace" (Eph 2:14). Anyone who assimilates the mystery of Christ � and this is clearly the goal of the Rosary � learns the secret of peace and makes it his life's project. Moreover, by virtue of its meditative character, with the tranquil succession of Hail Marys, the Rosary has a peaceful effect on those who pray it, disposing them to receive and experience in their innermost depths, and to spread around them, that true peace which is the special gift of the Risen Lord (cf. Jn 14:27; 20.21).

The Rosary is also a prayer for peace because of the fruits of charity which it produces. When prayed well in a truly meditative way, the Rosary leads to an encounter with Christ in his mysteries and so cannot fail to draw attention to the face of Christ in others, especially in the most afflicted. How could one possibly contemplate the mystery of the Child of Bethlehem, in the joyful mysteries, without experiencing the desire to welcome, defend and promote life, and to shoulder the burdens of suffering children all over the world? How could one possibly follow in the footsteps of Christ the Revealer, in the mysteries of light, without resolving to bear witness to his "Beatitudes" in daily life? And how could one contemplate Christ carrying the Cross and Christ Crucified, without feeling the need to act as a "Simon of Cyrene" for our brothers and sisters weighed down by grief or crushed by despair? Finally, how could one possibly gaze upon the glory of the Risen Christ or of Mary Queen of Heaven, without yearning to make this world more beautiful, more just, more closely conformed to God's plan?

In a word, by focusing our eyes on Christ, the Rosary also makes us peacemakers in the world. By its nature as an insistent choral petition in harmony with Christ's invitation to "pray ceaselessly" (Lk 18:1), the Rosary allows us to hope that, even today, the difficult "battle" for peace can be won. Far from offering an escape from the problems of the world, the Rosary obliges us to see them with responsible and generous eyes, and obtains for us the strength to face them with the certainty of God's help and the firm intention of bearing witness in every situation to "love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony" (Col 3:14).

The family: parents...

41. As a prayer for peace, the Rosary is also, and always has been, a prayer of and for the family. At one time this prayer was particularly dear to Christian families, and it certainly brought them closer together. It is important not to lose this precious inheritance. We need to return to the practice of family prayer and prayer for families, continuing to use the Rosary.

In my Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte I encouraged the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours by the lay faithful in the ordinary life of parish communities and Christian groups;³⁹ I now wish to do the same for the Rosary. These two paths of Christian contemplation are not mutually exclusive; they complement one another. I would therefore ask those who devote themselves to the pastoral care of families to recommend heartily the recitation of the Rosary.

The family that prays together stays together. The Holy Rosary, by age-old tradition, has shown itself particularly effective as a prayer which brings the family together. Individual family members, in turning their eyes towards Jesus, also regain the ability to look one another in the eye, to communicate, to show solidarity, to forgive one another and to see their covenant of love renewed in the Spirit of God.

Many of the problems facing contemporary families, especially in economically developed societies, result from their increasing difficulty in communicating. Families seldom manage to come together, and the rare occasions when they do are often taken up with watching television. To return to the recitation of the family Rosary means filling daily life with very different images, images of the mystery of salvation: the image of the Redeemer, the image of his most Blessed Mother. The family that recites the Rosary together reproduces something of the atmosphere of the household of Nazareth: its members place Jesus at the centre, they share his joys and sorrows, they place their needs and their plans in his hands, they draw from him the hope and the strength to go on.

... and children

42. It is also beautiful and fruitful to entrust to this prayer the growth and development of children. Does the Rosary not follow the life of Christ, from his conception to his death, and then to his Resurrection and his glory? Parents are finding it ever more difficult to follow the lives of their children as they grow to maturity. In a society of advanced technology, of mass communications and globalization, everything has become hurried, and the cultural distance between generations is growing ever greater. The most diverse messages and the most unpredictable experiences rapidly make their way into the lives of children and adolescents, and parents can become quite anxious about the dangers their children face. At times parents suffer acute disappointment at the failure of their children to resist the seductions of the drug culture, the lure of an unbridled hedonism, the temptation to violence, and the manifold expressions of meaninglessness and despair.

To pray the Rosary for children, and even more, with children, training them from their earliest years to experience this daily "pause for prayer" with the family, is admittedly not the solution to every problem, but it is a spiritual aid which should not be underestimated. It could be objected that the Rosary seems hardly suited to the taste of children and young people of today. But perhaps the objection is directed to an impoverished method of praying it. Furthermore, without prejudice to the Rosary's basic structure, there is nothing to stop children and young people from praying it � either within the family or in groups � with appropriate symbolic and practical aids to understanding and appreciation. Why not try it? With God's help, a pastoral approach to youth which is positive, impassioned and creative � as shown by the World Youth Days! � is capable of achieving quite remarkable results. If the Rosary is well presented, I am sure that young people will once more surprise adults by the way they make this prayer their own and recite it with the enthusiasm typical of their age group.

The Rosary, a treasure to be rediscovered

43. Dear brothers and sisters! A prayer so easy and yet so rich truly deserves to be rediscovered by the Christian community. Let us do so, especially this year, as a means of confirm‎ing the direction outlined in my Apostolic LetterNovo Millennio Ineunte, from which the pastoral plans of so many particular Churches have drawn inspiration as they look to the immediate future.

I turn particularly to you, my dear Brother Bishops, priests and deacons, and to you, pastoral agents in your different ministries: through your own personal experience of the beauty of the Rosary, may you come to promote it with conviction.

I also place my trust in you, theologians: by your sage and rigorous reflection, rooted in the word of God and sensitive to the lived experience of the Christian people, may you help them to discover the Biblical foundations, the spiritual riches and the pastoral value of this traditional prayer.

I count on you, consecrated men and women, called in a particular way to contemplate the face of Christ at the school of Mary.

I look to all of you, brothers and sisters of every state of life, to you, Christian families, to you, the sick and elderly, and to you, young people: confidently take up the Rosary once again. Rediscover the Rosary in the light of Scripture, in harmony with the Liturgy, and in the context of your daily lives.

May this appeal of mine not go unheard! At the start of the twenty-fifth year of my Pontificate, I entrust this Apostolic Letter to the loving hands of the Virgin Mary, prostrating myself in spirit before her image in the splendid Shrine built for her by Blessed Bartolo Longo, the apostle of the Rosary. I willingly make my own the touching words with which he concluded his well-known Supplication to the Queen of the Holy Rosary: "O Blessed Rosary of Mary, sweet chain which unites us to God, bond of love which unites us to the angels, tower of salvation against the assaults of Hell, safe port in our universal shipwreck, we will never abandon you. You will be our comfort in the hour of death: yours our final kiss as life ebbs away. And the last word from our lips will be your sweet name, O Queen of the Rosary of Pompei, O dearest Mother, O Refuge of Sinners, O Sovereign Consoler of the Afflicted. May you be everywhere blessed, today and always, on earth and in heaven". From the Vatican, on the 16th day of October in the year 2002, the beginning of the twenty-fifth year of my Pontificate.

 Plaisir D'amour (사랑의 기쁨)  

♬Plaisir D'amour(사랑의 기쁨) / Nana Mouskouri


Plasir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment
Chagrin d'amour dure toute lavie
The joys of love are but the moment's long
The pain of love endure the whole life long

Your eyes kissed mine, I saw the love in them shine
You brought me heaven right then when your
eyes kissed mine

My love loves me and all the wonders I see
A rainbow shines in my window, my love loves me
And now he's gone, like a dream that fades into dawn
But the words stay locked in my heart strings,
my love loves me
사랑의 기쁨은 한 순간에 사라지고
사랑의 슬픔은 영원히 남았네.
사랑의 기쁨은 한 순간에 것
사랑의 아픔만이 영원한 것이라오.
당신의  눈이 나에게 입을 맞추면 나는
그 눈속에서 반짝이는 사랑을 보았지.
당신의 눈이 나에게 입을 맞추면
내 마음은 천국을 날았네.
나의 사랑이 나를 사랑하니 모든 것이 신비로워라
무지개는 내 창을 반짝이고, 내 사랑 나를 사랑하네.
그리고 지금, 동이 터 사라지는 꿈결처럼  당신은 떠났네.
그러나 그 언약만은 내 가슴에 끊어지지 않는
현으로 남았네내 사랑 나를 사랑하나니.
  

The Hail Mary or Ave Maria, a prayer; also the time of day

in Italy when the church bells toll. A musical rendition of

the Ave Maria prayer by Gounod (set to Prelude #1 from

Well-Tempered Clavier). See:Sibelius score A choral

rendering of the prayer by Franz Biebl  A composition by

Franz :Schubert  a) set by himself to Adam Storck's German

rendering of Sir Walter Scott's (Hymn to the Virgin from

The Lady of the Lake, that has the greeting Ave Maria  for

its opening words and refrain, but had been entitled by

Schubert himself  Ellens dritter Gesang; (b) in a later

adaptation where Schubert's original Scott/Storck text

has been substituted with the complete Latin text of the

traditional Ave Maria prayer, the version perhaps most

frequently performed and best known today.  A song by

Chloe Agnew. A song by Caccini ;A song by Celine Dion ;A

song by Charles Aznavour ;A song by E Nomine;A song by

David Bisbal ;A song by Hayley Westenra ;A song by In

Extremo;A song by Morten Lauridsen

 

매일 묵주기도를 봉헌하면서 정성껏 바치는 기도문:

주님께서는 다른 기도 보다도 성모님의 전구를 가장 잘 들어주십니다.

흔히 우리는 어려운 일을 당할 때 목사님이나 신부님을 찾아가 기도를

부탁합니다. 그러나 주님은 주님을 낳아주시고 누구보다도 십자가상의

고통을 가장 많이 간직하신 성모님의 통고를 생각하게 됩니다.

Ave Maria(The Hail Mary in Latin, as the Ave Maria) has

been set to music numerous times. Among the most

famous settings is the version by Charles Gounod (1859),

adding  melody and words to Johann Sebastian Bach's

first prelude from the Well-Tempered  Clavier. Antonín

Dvořák's version was composed in 1877. Another

setting of Ave Maria was written by Giuseppe Verdi for

his 1887 opera Otello. Russian composer César Cui, who

was raised Roman Catholic, set the text at least three

times: as the "Ave Maria," op. 34, for 1 or 2 women's

voices with piano or harmonium (1886), and as part of

two of his operas: Le Flibustier (premiered 1894) and

Mateo Falcone (1907). In Slavonic, the text  was also

a popular subject for setting to music by Eastern

European composers. These  include Rachmaninov,

Stravinsky, Bortniansky and several others. This text

was also very often set by composers in the Renaissance,

including Jacques Arcadelt, Josquin  Desprez, Orlando

di Lasso, and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Before the

Council of  Trent there were actually different versions

of the text, so the earlier composers in the

period sometimes set versions of the text different

from the ones shown above. Josquin Desprez, for

example, himself set more than one version of the

Ave Maria. Here is an example of a text set by Josquin

which begins with the first six words above, but 

continues with a poem in rhymed couplets:

Kepa(Sukho Mun)님의 인기글

   Pope John Paul II (1920. 5.18 -2005. 4. ..

   마냐니따

   성체조배의 의미 성체강복 성시간 Glo..

   HOLY GOD, WE PRAISE THY NAME

   Via Dolorosa

Kepa(Sukho Mun)님의 최신글

   성모 성월

   In the world

   Forever with you

   The Lily of the Valley

   잠자리에서 아이에게 들려주면 좋은 말

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