Origin and History of the Rosary and the Chaplet

Origin and History of the Chaplet

The Rosary or the chaplet are two prayers addressed to Mary that are part of the Catholic tradition, which should never be overlooked because of the countless graces received through them. We must look far back in time to understand the origin of this prayer before it spread through the Universal Church. This meditation on the life of Jesus, expressly requested by the Virgin, captivated many saints and inspired popes to promote it.

Learn more about the Rosary and how to use it

An Invention to Assist Religious Communities

We need to go back to the 11th century to discover and understand the origin of the Rosary. The chaplet came much later as the shortened form of the Rosary. To pray the Rosary, one must meditate on three chaplets. At that time, not all religious in their convents could read. During the various daily offices, monks and nuns (still today) recite numerous psalms. We know the Bible is made up of 150 psalms. It is no coincidence, then, that the Rosary consists of 150 Hail Marys. This precious aid—one Hail Mary for each psalm—allowed monks to unite with God in prayer and offer this beautiful gift of 150 Hail Marys to the Virgin.

This new form of prayer spread among the laity of the Middle Ages. This devotion would later be called the “Psalter of Mary.”

A Prayer for the Universal Church

Monks were no longer the only ones praying the Psalter of Mary, so the Church began spreading this practice, enriching it and teaching it to the faithful.

Saint Dominic, Apostle of Mary

Within the Dominican order, the Rosary holds a very important place. According to legend, the Castilian Saint Dominic received the Rosary from the hands of the Virgin Mary. It was Brother Alan de la Roche who attributed the spread of the Rosary to Saint Dominic, but this information is incorrect—Saint Dominic and other monks contributed to the dissemination of the Marian prayer. The Virgin reportedly said to Saint Dominic: “Spread my Rosary; it will be the remedy for so many evils.” The founder of the Dominicans obeyed the Virgin’s instruction without delay. The object spread and assisted Christians in their prayers. Thus, Rosary confraternities were created at the initiative of the Dominicans.

On October 7, 1571, the Battle of Lepanto was won against the Turks. Christendom was saved thanks to the Rosary confraternities gathered in Rome to recite these 150 Hail Marys. Thus, Pope Saint Pius V, a Dominican, instituted the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 7.

The Church’s Teaching on the Rosary and Chaplet

It wasn’t until 1479 that Pope Sixtus IV approved the prayer of the Rosary. Since then, this prayer has been part of Catholic tradition, and the Church has regularly enriched this Marian devotion, notably in 1572 when Saint Pius V established the 15 mysteries of the Rosary: the joyful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries.

Since then, the Church, through various popes, has encouraged the faithful to pray the Rosary or chaplet. Pope Leo XIII wrote an encyclical *Laetitiae sanctae* on September 8, 1893, in which he recommended praying the Rosary:  

“The remedy for these evils must be sought in Mary’s Rosary, which consists of a well-ordered sequence of prayers and meditation on the mysteries of Christ the Savior and His Mother.”

Later, Saint Pope John XXIII shared that he prayed a decade of the Rosary specifically for newborns of the last 24 hours.

In 1974, Pope Paul VI, following the Second Vatican Council, strongly recommended the meditation of the chaplet. He relied on the Council’s work on the history of the Rosary to explain its use to the faithful:  

*“We now want to strongly recommend the recitation of the Rosary within families, in continuity with our predecessors’ intentions.”*  

*“The Rosary is an excellent prayer, one that the faithful should feel serenely free to recite with complete peace of mind, invited to do so by its intrinsic beauty.”* (Apostolic Exhortation *Marialis Cultus*, Paul VI, 1974)

Catholics are not the only ones who use this prayer, as Orthodox Christians also pray the chaplet.

John Paul II was also a great apostle of the Virgin Mary. He enriched the meditation on the Rosary with the luminous mysteries. The chaplet or the Rosary is indeed a meditation on different events in the life of Jesus. Thus, meditating on the four sets of mysteries gives us a summary of the Gospel. In his apostolic letter *Rosarium Virginis Mariae*, published in 2002, the pope shared his teachings on this beautiful prayer by returning to its origins. He concluded with this:  

*“I turn to you, brothers and sisters of all conditions, to you Christian families, to you the sick and elderly, to you young people: take up the Rosary with confidence, rediscovering it in the light of Scripture, in harmony with the liturgy, and within your daily lives.”*

Marian Prayer Through the Centuries

The Blessed Virgin, during her apparitions in France and worldwide, spoke a lot about the chaplet. She encouraged children to pray the chaplet for world peace or for other intentions such as praying for sinners. 

In Lourdes, Mary initially said nothing. She held a chaplet in her hands, and Bernadette followed the example of the Beautiful Lady. Having or making one’s own chaplet or another object for counting the ten Hail Marys is a first step toward prayer.

In Fatima, the Virgin also wore a chaplet on her wrist. We can see it in various depictions of the apparitions.  

In some places of apparitions like Pontmain, although the Virgin didn’t specifically ask for the chaplet, she explicitly asked us to turn to her. The chaplet is the simplest way to spread this devotion around us.

“But pray, my children, God will answer you shortly. My son allows Himself to be touched.” (Message of the Virgin during the apparitions in Pontmain)

Deepen Your Meditation on the Chaplet with Hozana and Rosario

With Hozana, you can deepen your meditation on the chaplet or Rosary through different communities.  

- For nine days, pray the rosary alongside the meditations to Our Lady Untier of Knots.

- You can pray alongside Saint Joseph

The Rosario app, which you can download, allows you to pray the chaplet alone or join a group prayer. It’s an initiative launched by Blessed Pauline Jaricot.  

The Marian chaplet is not the only version of the chaplet, and you can discover others through this community.