Rosary of the Blessed Virgin

Roman Catholicism

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

July 16, 2026

Quick Summary

The Rosary of the Blessed Virgin is a popular Marian devotion in Roman Catholicism. It is a religious exercise where prayers are recited and counted on a string of beads, also called a rosary. This practice is centered on the Hail Mary and involves meditating on events from the lives of Jesus Christ and Mary, known as mysteries.123

The rosary beads are arranged in five decades, with each decade separated by a larger bead. Traditionally, the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin involves reciting 15 decades of Hail Marys, along with other prayers like the Gloria Patri and Our Father, while contemplating the joyous, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries. In 2002, Pope John Paul II added the luminous mysteries, celebrating events from Jesus' ministry. The devotion is associated with St. Dominic and was officially approved by Pope Leo X in 1520.13

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

3 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

Mariology
Devotions
…aid of a chaplet, or rosary, and center on the Hail Mary. Its origin is not certain, though it has been associated with St. Dominic, founder of the Dominican order in the early 13th century. It reached its definitive form in the 15th century through the preaching of the Dominican…
Read More
…aid of a chaplet, or rosary, and center on the Hail Mary. Its origin is not certain, though it has been associated with St. Dominic, founder of the Dominican order in the early 13th century. It reached its definitive form in the 15th century through the preaching of the Dominican…
Read More

novena
Some Marian novenas, most notably the 54-day miraculous novena, involve the recitation of an entire rosary. In addition to novenas that culminate on specific feast days, novena prayers for the dead and novenas for specific petitions or as a form of thanksgiving are also common practices.
Read More
Some Marian novenas, most notably the 54-day miraculous novena, involve the recitation of an entire rosary. In addition to novenas that culminate on specific feast days, novena prayers for the dead and novenas for specific petitions or as a form of thanksgiving are also common practices.
Read More

rosary
In Christianity
…one devoted to Mary, the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin, the prayers of which are recited with the aid of a chaplet, or rosary. The beads of the chaplet are arranged in five decades (sets of 10), each decade separated from the next by a larger bead. The two ends…
Read More
…one devoted to Mary, the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin, the prayers of which are recited with the aid of a chaplet, or rosary. The beads of the chaplet are arranged in five decades (sets of 10), each decade separated from the next by a larger bead. The two ends…
Read More