The Rosary is the traditional devotion in honor of the Mother of God, combining vocal and mental prayer. It is composed of 15 decades which are divided into 3 parts of 5 decades, each of which recall Our Lord's Life, Passion, and Glory.

The Rosary is the prayer which is most pleasing to Our Lady. The word, rosary, means a garland or wreath of roses, thus each prayer said in the Rosary is a spiritual rose offered to our Blessed Mother.

In its present form the Rosary is due to St. Dominic [see Part 2 for more explanation], of the Order of Friars Preachers which he propagated in obedience to a revelation received from the Blessed Virgin in the year 1206. To him we owe also the spread of the devotion which for many centuries has produced the most marvelous results in the Christian world: heresies have been uprooted, morals reformed, misfortunes averted, wars ended.

In keeping with tradition the complete set of Mysteries------15 decades has 150 Hail Marys, the number of Psalms and there are 15 Promises attached to the faithful recitation of the Rosary. The Psalms, found in the Old Testament are hymns of praise to God. One of the best ways to praise God to praise His Holy Mother, Mary, by honoring her in the manner she requested renders homage to the Blessed Trinity Who created her free of Original Sin, the most pure and beautiful of all creatures, above even the Angels. With God there is no such thing as a "coincidence". Thus we know that there is a parallel between 15 Mysteries and 15 Promises and 150 Hail Marys in the decades of the whole Rosary [we do not include the first 3 in the count, which are for an increase in the virtues of faith, hope and love, but the decades themselves, and the number of Psalms: each Hail Mary is a hymn of praise, begun by the Angel Gabriel and added to by Mary's cousin, St. Elizabeth.