It also instructs them to baptize ‘In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,’ ‘in living water’. If it is not available they are to use ‘other water,’ ... and if the water is not ‘cold, then warm,’ if neither available, they are to ‘pour water on the head 3 times’ for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

~ 79 AD ~ ITALY ~ Mt. Vesuvius erupts in Naples Bay and swallows Pompeii. Centuries later when excavated, a small home altar is discovered with signs of a cross above it. (as seen in a 20 c book, a photo essay on Pompeii - title unknown)

~155 AD ~ St. Polycarp is allowed to complete his prayers and ‘pronounce the word Amen’ before the fire was lit beneath him.

~ 235 AD - MOST ANCIENT PRAYER TO OUR LADY ~  Found in a book of prayers to Mary, published in 1921, 'The Key of Heaven' quoting from a fledgling church still in the throes of Roman persecution and dated 235 AD.  (see note below)

~ 248 AD ~ NORTH AFRICA ~ Cyprian is elected Bishop of Carthage. In an early church document he warns the people that they are to respect the command of God by saying the Paternoster (Lord’s Prayer) lest you‘establish your own tradition’.

~ 251-356 AD ~ EGYPT ~ St. Anthony the Great is Founder of Christian monasticism. He was also given credit for bringing the Byzantine Rosary into the church by knotting a woolen cord for the counting of prayers. On the death of his wealthy parents, he inherited all at 20. Inspired by the Apostles and the words  "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all thou hast"he gave his property away and devoted his life to religious exercises. (For more, see New Advent)

~ 300s ~ EGYPT ~ The mumified remains of St Thais a legendary courtesan along with an ascetic Serapion found and exhibited in the early 1900s confirmed the following.  Along with iron instruments of penance there was a cribbage board like apparatus pierced with holes.  It was called a 'compte-priere' - a counter of prayers. St Thais was a public sinner in Egypt in the 300s who was converted by St. Paphnutius - (See October 8 Butlers Lives of the Saints, also New Advent - St Thais)

~ 330 AD ~ TURKEY ~ Constantine is taken with Christianity after winning a battle where a cross in the sky spoke to him. It becomes the official religion of the empire. He  re-names the small town of Byzantium, Constantinople. He sends his mother, St Helen'  to Jerusalem to find the true cross. This Christian influence is reflected by the wearing of the cross and molded glass amulets representing droplets of Christ's blood and other symbols of the Christians such as 'fish, doves and faees of Christ' (see pg 70 of HISTORY OF BEADS by Lois Sherr Dubin)

~ 331AD ~ TURKEY ~ Constantinople becomes the seat of the Roman Empire and the people come on pilgrimages from North Africa, Spain, Denmark, and other far away places. From all this wealth there are signs of the Church beginning to discourage the wearing of jewelry, and 'beads will be increasingly limited to rosaries.'  (see pg.195 HISTORY OF BEADS by Lois Sherr Dubin)

~ 341AD ~ EGYPT ~ Early records state (Abbot) Paul of Thebes (c. 234 - 347), a hermit, who was simply 'prayingin the manner old and beyond memory', said his 300 daily Paternosters by moving pre-counted pebbles from one pile to another.

~ 354 - 430 ~ HIPPO ~ St Augustine admonished the faithful, 'God is a circle whose center is everywhere'  He said, '[returning] within yourself, for it is the inward man that truth dwells'  (See more information pg 81 in HISTORY OF BEADS by Lois Sherr Dubin) Prayer Beads were not known to be circular during his life time but it speaks clearly to the rosaries of today that are)

~ 387AD ~ SCOTLAND ~ St Patrick is born near Dumbarton (died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, 17 March, 461)

~ 430 AD ~ The prayer and the bead is connecting. They are mentioned by St. Augustine and adopted into the church as a counting device but have little resemblance to the Rosary of today. He is quoted as saying that when we devoutly say the Our Father, ‘Our venial sins are forgiven’.

~ 431 AD ~ TURKEY ~ The Council of Ephesus declares Mary as Theotokos (God-bearer). This is in response to heretics of the time who say Mary is, ‘Mother of Christ,’ not God. Tradition tells us the people of Ephesus riot. Taking to the streets and carrying torches they shout, ‘Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners ...’

~ 523d - IRELAND - St Bridgit of Kildare aided her prayers using a small string of little wooden or stone beads such as was 'customary among hermits' (p35 The Rose-Garden Game)

~ 550s ~ WALES ~ St David brings country to the Christian faith and the crucifix becomes a symbol to the people.

~ 600s ~ RUSSIA ~ It is recorded that the Byzantine Church has embraced a knotted woolen prayer cord called a 'Chotki' chaplet). This Byzantine Rosary has varying numbers of knots (33-100 or 300, some with larger knot at the beginning of each decade). The mantra or prayer said on each knot varies but generally it is, 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner' or 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner'Adapted from the parable of the Pharisee (Luke 18:9-14), and the tax collector, in which the latter was 'justified through humility'. It is also know as the Jesus Prayer.

~ 600s ~ CONTINENTAL EUROPE ~ People are beginning to use the knots to count 150 ‘Ave’s’, but only saying the Angel’s greeting, ‘Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you.’ (Elizabeth’s greeting will become more universally used in the 12th century.)

~ 659 AD ~ BELGIUM ~ The Abbess Gertrude of Nivelles is discovered with fragments of prayer beads in her tomb. It seems to be custom as many from this period on are found buried during this time with beads wrapped around their fingers. 

~ 665 AD ~ IRELAND ~ Saint Fechin of Fore  (Naomh F?ch?n Fabhar). a native of Connaught, settled at Fore in Westmeath as a hermit. Many followed him because of his example.  His little hermatage became a monastery with Fechin as the abbot.  It is said, 'he hew a bluff of solid rock to bring water to the mill he built so the monks could grind their grain.' He also founded a monastery near Galway on the island of Immagh, where they converted many to the faith.  Each night he would recite the entire Psalter of 150 Psalms. (see MAGNIFICAT, January 20 2003.)

~ 782 AD ~ It is traditional for the monks of St. Apollinaris to say 300 Kyrie Eleisons (Lord have mercy), Christe Eleison (Christ have mercy) twice a day in gratitude for the pope’s benefactors. (see the privilege of Hadrian I, A.D. 782, in Jaffe-L?wenfeld, n. 2437), suggesting that a counting apparatus of some kind would be  necessary to keep track of prayers.. (for more information see New Advent, Catholic Encyclopedia)

~ 1014 AD ~ GERMANY ~ Blessed Herman is born a cripple - deformed from birth. (1014 - 1054) The monks at the Abbey of Reichenau take care of him from birth. He will become a Benedictine monk in 1034 at the age of 20. He will make musical instruments and when he becomes blind, he will write hymns.   The Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen) will be his best known.  He knows well the suffering - as he writes ‘…to you we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears’  (is believed he suffered from cerebral palsy, a cleft palate and spina bifida). It will be recited as a standard prayer at the conclusion of the rosary centuries later. (His feast day is 25 September.)

~ 1040 AD ~ EUROPE ~ Wooden and clay beads are replacing knotted cords among the people in many regions of Europe.

~ 1075 AD ~ENGLAND ~ Countess Godgifu (Lady Godiva) wife of Leofric, wills her beads to the monks at the Monastery in Coventry, to be hung on the statue of 'Our Layde of Coventry' (Virgin Mary) after her death. It is described as a  'A circlet of gems which she had threaded on a string in order that by fingering them one by one, as she successively recited her prayers, she might not fall short of the exact number".  (pg 88 The History of Beads - Lois Sherr Dubin)

~ 1088 AD ~ ITALY - Cardinal Bishop Odo of Siliac, is elected Pope Urban II.  (during the Synod of Bishops), he required the clergy to make sure that not only was the Creed and the Pater being recited but to add the Ave.  This created a new interest and soon it is being included in the councils of many other countries to do the same.  It becomes very very popular into the next century.

~ 1096 AD ~ IRELAND ~ In the ‘Ancient Customs of Cluny’, it says that it is common for priests to offer Mass and the Laity to say 50 Psalms or repeat the Paternoster 50 times for ‘brothers far and away’.

~ 1109 AD ~ ENGLAND ~ St. Amselm of Canterury makes a 'Rosary'or 'Rosarium' to honor of Mary. The prayers are composed of Psalms praising her and is fashioned after the traditional 150 'Psalms of David'

~ 1100s ~ Paternoster Cord ~ It is becoming more common to see people carry a ‘Paternoster cord’ (50 count or ‘fifties’ to be repeated 3 times instead of traditional longer strand of 150 (called ‘Na-tri-coicat’). By the second half of the century, the full scriptural half of the Ave is becoming a formula of prayer, adding‘Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.’ (The petition or second half is still not a formal part of prayer on beads.)

~ 1128 AD ~ The Knights Templar ~  (known for protecting pilgrims) if unable to attend the choir are to repeat the Lord’s Prayer (normally sung) 57 times. When one of the bretheren dies, they say the Pater Noster 100 times a day for 7 days. (This is called two fifties’.)

~ 1140 AD ~A contemporary of St. Albert’s, wrote how he (Albert), bent his knees in prayer 100 times a day and prostrated himself ‘raising his body by his fingers and toes’ 50 times while repeating the Annunciation part of the Hail Mary. There are general instructions for various physical exercises or signs of devotion while praying. It is a familiar custom during this century.

~ 1160 AD ~ITALY ~ Palermo - Saint Rosalia (Virgin - 1132 - 1166), a relative of Emperor Charlemagne, became a hermit in love of Jesus as a young girl.  In 1625, her remains would be accidentally found by a hunter in the cave on Mt Palermo where she lived.  She was found 'witha little string of little beads that ended in a cross'. Palermo was suffering under a terrible epidemic of the plague in 1625.  Her remains were carried through the city and the plague disappeared that day. In thanksgiving, Palermo celebrates this event for 3 days, 13 to the 15th of July. It is said she would weave garlands of mountain flowers and wild roses, offering them to the Lord as she hung them on a terra cotta crucifix.

~ 1172 ~ ENGLAND ~ It is told that an English Saint whose name is lost, counted prayers on pebbles / stones kept in a pouch.

A contemporary of St. Francis, he is deeply loved as a man of God and for his good works which included encouraging all to pray the Rosary for the conversion of sinners and those who had left the faith. He is credited with the ‘Militia of Jesus Christ’ in which members recited the Psalter of Our Lady daily.

~ 1213 AD ~FRANCE ~ A crucial battle of Muret is victorious for the Christian army because of recitation of the Rosary by the soldiers under the instruction of St Dominic.

~ 1216 AD ~FRANCE ~ The Dominican order is confirmed, growing to 30,000 within 15 years after Dominic's death. 5 years after his death there are 90 convents. Today, this order carries on the tradition of the Rosary in a powerful way.

~ 1223 AD ~FRANCE ~ Blessed Romee, companion of Dominic, is documented to have died with a little knotted cord, held tightly in his hands, ‘on which he said his ‘Ave’s’.

~ 1244 AD ~ ITALY  ~ From 1233 to 1244 A group of seven men, who had devoted themselves to the 'Holy Mother of God' were gathered in prayer when Mary appears to them asking the to retire from the world and dedicate themselves to prayer and service to God which they did. they adopted the religious habit of the Dominicans and the rule of Augustine. They call themselves the  Servites. (By the 14th cnetury they had over 100 convents throughout Europe, India, and Crete. The Servite Rosary (Rosary of the Seven Sorrows) was formed and prayed as a regular devotion.

~ 1254 - 1325 AD ~ ITALY ~ Venetian traveler Marco Polo, on trip to visit the court of Kublai Khan, relates how the king of Malabar, wore a silken thread around his neck with ‘104 faire pearls as beads to number his prayers said daily’. (See more in New Advent - Catholic Encyclopedia)

~ 1259 AD ~ ITALY ~ After Dominics death, Dominicans in Piacenza establish the ‘Confraternity of Prayer’

~ 1261 AD ~ FRANCE ~ Rosaries are becoming so elegant with their gold and silver that the Dominicans are forbidding lay brothers to ‘give themselves airs’by using excessively grand beads in their prayer beads. (see page 90 - HISTORY OF BEADS by Lois Sherr). Mediterranean and Italian Coral has become the choice bead for rosaries by the wealthy and is seen more and more in portraits of the rich and famous..

~ 1263 AD ~ Saint Bonaventure, Minister General of the Franciscan Order, encourages liturgical devotion to honor the mystery of the Visitation.

~ 1261-64 AD ~ ITALY ~ It is believed that Pope Urban IV is the one who added the name of 'Jesus' to the Angelic Salutation during this century.

~ 1268 AD ~ FRANCE ~ Stephen Boyleau's, "Livre des m?tiers" (Book of the Trades) he describes the 4 guilds of ‘Paten?triers’ in Paris.

~ 1279 AD ~ BAVARIA ~ Records indicate good business as 'Bavarian communities are sending men to Venice to purchase glass canes for Paternoster Beads for rosaries.' (see page 113 - HISTORY OF BEADS by Lois Sherr)

~ 1292 AD ~ ITALY ~ Venetian glass beadmakers are moved to an island in the lagoon (Murano) as the city fathers were fearful the glass furnaces would catch Venice on fire. This also gave the bead makers better control over their secret recipes for making glass cane to create their 'millefiore' beads. Venice was the main supplier and exporter of glass beads for rosary making.  In the mid 1400s  the bead industry moved to Bohemia (Czechoslovakia),  hurting the Venetian glassmaking industry.

~ 1350s AD ~TUNISIA - ITALY ~ coral is highly prized for prayer beads.

~ 1350s AD ~ GERMANY ~ An Augustinian canon from Osnabruck outlaws the wearing of coral rosaries around the neck. They are now being worn in some areas as both adornment and devotion.

~ 1373 AD ~ EUROPE ~  Earliest recorded information on a flower named for Mary, Marigolds (Saint Mary’s Golds) was set into an herbal recipe to destroy pestilence.

~ 1376 AD ~ EUROPE ~ Between 1376 and 1417 several popes opposed one another creating a Schism. It involved the whole church and unity was to be found in the praying of the rosary, which still was not uniform in count or prayer. The Dominicans and Benedictines along with their brotherhoods encouraged prayer and by the end of the 15c, there was also more unity in the prayer and bead sequence. (See pg 141 of GLASS BEADS FROM EUROPE by Sibylle Jargstorf)

~ 1380 AD ~ FRANCE ~ Royal inventories list Rosaries of enameled gold encrusted with jewels. One inventory of King Charles V reads, ‘nineteen Rosaries made of ‘rose tinted amber and coral with pearls for markers’.There were gold beads, Jet beads with eleven gold crosses and black coral and pearls alternating with silver. There were also gold beads of Damascus work (metal wire laid on top of metal or in this case may suggest a type of filigree) which were filled with musk.’ (see page 90 - HISTORY OF BEADS by Lois Sherr Dubin)

~ 1410 AD ~ A Carthusian from Cologne, Dominic of Prussia forms a Marian Psalter for the faithful which has only 50 Aves. Highly received, it grew in popularity through the 15c. Depending on the region, many bible references were added depending on popular devotions. Upwards of 300 were added in some areas.
 

~ 1420 ~ ‘The Merode Altar Piece’, a Triptych from the Cloisters collection (Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y.), pictures a woman and man kneeling before an open door. The woman, looking down, is holding a long string of coral prayer beads with a large silver bead at each end.

~ 1427 AD ~ ITALY ~ A sermon, which included "Ave Maria Sancta Maria, mater Dei, ora pro nobis" (Hail Mary, Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us")  by St. Bernard of Sienna was preached. Interest in this prayer  began to grow into the next century.

~ 1439 AD ~ BELGIUM ~ Painting by Jan Van Eyk ‘The Virgin of the Fountain’ pictures the baby Christ in Mary’s arms holding coral prayer beads. This, like the one above is a string not a circle. (Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp)

~ 1450’s ~BOHEMIA ~ Craftsmen begin to make their own glass beads, mostly for prayer beads, instead of importing glass canes from Venetian merchants, hurting the exports of Venetian glass in Europe.

~ 1422 ~ The Franciscan Crown, also known as the Franciscan Rosary is officially established. (developed in the latter part of the 15th c).  It consists of 7 decades (Hail Mary's) instead of 5 and meditates on the 7 Joys of Mary in the life of her son, Jesus. The Franciscans are also credited for the latter part of the Ave, (Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death). In 1263, Saint Bonaventure, Minister General of the Order, encouraged liturgical devotion honoring the mystery of the Visitation.

~ 1460 AD ~Blessed Alanus de Rupe ~ preaches the ‘Dominican Rosary' which is divided up into three groups of 50 beads and three groups of mysteries (Incarnation, Passion and Resurrection). It is called the 'Marian Psalter.' The Paternoster is still being recited by others.

~ 1470 AD ~ Blessed Alanus encourages people to pray in groups. This forever changes the way people use the Rosary in prayer.

~ 1475 AD ~ GERMANY ~ Cologne is miraculously saved from an attack by the Burgundian Troops. The credit for the miracle was given to the Dominican Prior of the city, Jacob Springer who encouraged the prayer of the Psalter of Our Lady. Thus the Confraternity of the Rosary was set into place with the celebration of a Pontifical Mass held at the Dominican Church of St. Andreas in Cologne.

~ 1483 AD ~ Use of the second part of the Ave 'Holy Mary... and the use of the name Jesus in the first part are becoming more universally used.

~ 1483 AD ~ ULM ~ The first picture rosary is published in Ulm by Conrad Dinckmut. This manual, 'Our Lady's Psalter', shows 3 woodcuts, one for each of the 3 mysteries of the rosary. Each shows five medallions. The Joyful Mysteries are the 'White Rosary' the Sorrowful Mysteries, the 'Red Rosary' and the glorious - 'Gold Rosary'. It becomes so popular that it had been printed in at least 7 editions by 1503. Visual aids for religious devotions are becoming very popular. 

~ 1484 AD ~NETHERLANDS ~ A rosary manual encouraged the reader, 'Those who cannot read should look at the illustrations while repeating the Ave Maria and think of the life and passion of Our Lord'. 

~ 1485 AD ~ GERMANY ~ The municipal council of Regensburg decreed that none should possess more than three or four rosaries and that these should not exceed the value of 10 gulden. (three fat oxen could be purchased for 12 gulden at that time)

~ 1489 AD ~ A book now lists the ‘Mysteries’ in almost the same way they are written today. There is a growing sense of needing more than the prayer mantra or repeated prayer and may be 'Our Lady's Psalter' as it travels to other areas of Europe. (see 1483 insert above). 

~ 1495 AD ~ ITALY ~ Only three years after Columbus lands in the new world, Pope Alexander VI urges the faithful to pray the Rosary.

~ 1521 AD ~ Alberto da Castello, a Dominican, began to simplify the rosary and is credited with 15 evangelical passages for meditation.  This included a short prayer at the end of each Hail Mary.

~ 1521 - 24 AD ~ GERMANY ~ Tilman Riemenschneider - a master woodcarver creates the magnificent 'Madonna im Rosenkranz' showing Mary holding the Christ child and surrounded by a wreath of 50 flowers (Aves) divided by 5 larger flowers (Paters) as a  teaching aid for those who could not read to pray the rosary. See image below.

~ 1530 - 1540 AD ~ GERMANY ~ A chronicle from the city of Biberach relates that everyone ‘carries a Paternoster’or is taken to be non Christian. Carrying a rosary wrapped around one’s hand or upper arm is considered a sign of respectability. 'It was a badge of religion.' (see pg 90 - HISTORY OF BEADS by Lois Sherr Dubin) 

16c WOODCUTS  OF 2 ORNATE ROSARIES

~ 1547 AD ~ Webster’s Dictionary dates the word Rosary at 1547.

~ 1550 ~ ENGLAND ~ From 1550 to 1660, 'Decade Rings' became popular because of the persecution of Catholics in England. (Rosaries and chaplets gave your religion away.) 10 nobs surrounded the outside of the ring (Aves) for counting and the front of the ring became the Pater. Once freedom of religious was restored by King Charles II, they continued to be made because of convenience.  (Today, we see them more as a larger  'thumb ring' because of sizing.)

~ 1550s ~ By mid century, a Rosary called the ‘Three Fifities’, is beginning to take shape. The longer Rosary, using 150 Ave beads, is divided into groups of 10 separated by 15 larger Paternoster beads. It is now attached to form a circle, called ‘the garden’. A pendant, hanging from one of the large beads has 3 small and 1 large bead and ends in a cross and is considered the ‘pathway or gateway to the garden’.

The Rosary receives official recognition by the Church through the work of the Rosary Confraternity.

~ 1568 AD ~ ITALY ~ The Rosary prayers - Ave - are now approved and incorporated into the reformed Roman Breviary by Pope Pius V with the bull Consueverunt Romani Pontifices. This followed their usage by the Mercedarians (1514), the Camaldolese (1515) and the Franciscans in (1525)

~ 1569 AD ~ ITALY ~ Pope Pius V (1566 - 1572) officially establishes the fifteen mysteries, 'the rosary or the Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary' as used today, calling it the 'Dominican' Rosary.

~ 1571 AD ~ ITALY ~ Admiral Doria carries a copy of the image of Our Lady of (Mexican) Guadalupe aboard ship into the sea battle of Lepanto and Pius V, a Dominican, also devoted to Our Lady, calls for a public recitation of the Rosary throughout Europe against the unbeatable Turks. The Christian ships (from Venice, Genoa and Spain) are surrounded by the Turks (Saracens) but the European fleet over run them, driving them back. Christian Europe is saved.

~ 1572 AD ~ ITALY ~ Pope Pius V commemorates an annual remembrance of the Battle of Lepanto in honor of ‘Our Lady of Victory’.

~ 1573 AD ~ COUNCIL of TRENT ~ The Rosary as we know it today (Dominican Rosary), becomes standardized. (50 Aves ? 4 Paters dividing 5 decades on the loop with a connector Pater that leads to the pendant. The pendant now includes 3 Aves or 'Antiphon Beads' along with the Pater(s) and the crucifix. Many will include a 'Credo' (Creed) cross above the crucifix.  In the 6th Session of the Council (Chapter X on the 'Increase of Justification Received', it reads 'and this increase of justification holy Church begs when she prays, "Give unto us, O Lord, increase of faith, hope and charity." (Mary is the model of faith, hope and charity, thus we pray to her to intercede for us on these 3 beads.) It will take time for this standardization to reach all of Christianity and the 'Credo' cross will eventually be dropped.

~ 1573 AD ~ITALY ~ Pope Gregory XIII sets aside the first Sunday in October calling it the ‘Feast of the Holy Rosary’.

see Rosary Workshops inspired Zehners

~ 1590s ~ Neck Rosaries ~ More and more men and women are wearing Rosaries around the neck. Some for ornamental purposes (adornment) while others for spiritual reasons. Often worn to identify love of God or organizations and confraternities.

~ 1593 AD ~EUROPE ~ Sees a more universal organization and use of Paternoster guilds for making Rosaries all over Europe, especially in Germany, Austria and England.

~ 1673 AD ~ FRANCE ~ St. Louis DeMontfort is born in Brittany. He will be the founder of two religious orders and many of his sermons are now in book form. ‘True Devotion to Mary,’‘The Secret of Mary’ and the ‘Secret of the Rosary’ are the most popular. Today these books guide those who choose to Consecrate their lives to Jesus through Mary.

~ 1683 AD ~AUSTRIA ~ Again the Saracens tried to invade. Their navy is broken but their army is strong. They try to take over the Balkan area by going into Vienna. King Leopold turns to Our Lady of the Rosary and the city is miraculously saved.

~ 1694 AD ~ NORTH AMERICA ~ Father Gravier writes from the Illinois country about giving beads to the children, 'It is true that the hope of getting a red bead - which is a fruit the size of a small bean (Oh that I had a bushel of them!) incites the children to answer well, but he adds, 'they must answer very well for several days to obtain either a rosary or the red bead or a cross' (See pg 274 of HISTORY OF BEADS by Lois Sherr.)

          2. (175 mm): 6 decades of turned eagle-wood [a rare, aromatic wood - from the Far East also known as Agarwood] beads with silver caps are linked together with an ‘s’ chain. They are separated by 6 smaller gold filigree beads. The circle is completed by the addition of 3 more eagle-wood beads . A small, plain gold cross hangs from a ‘center’ cross of twisted and coiled wire. This is attached directly to to the Ave beads of the Rosary. There are no beads on the pendant. (Museu de Art Antiga - Lisbon).

       3. (174 mm): Five decades of small filigree Ave beads are separated by 4 medium filigree Pater Nosters, all set on a chain. The filigree cross hangs from a flat medallion. The medallion is attached to the Rosary by 2 large filigree beads. There are no beads on the medallion. (Museu de Art Antiga - Lisbon)

~ 1829 AD ~ PRAGUE ~ The first recorded showing of pressed glass beads was at a trade show in Prague. By 1850, glass beads were being produced by the millions, and exported all over the world. Pressed glass beads became very popular because of interesting shapes including faceted surfaces.

~ 1834 AD ~ One Eustace Sirena authors hymns of the Rosary which are to be sung at 1st Vespers, Matins, Lauds and 2nd vespers. They include the mysteries and end with an invitation for one to ‘weave a crown of flowers’ from the prayers of the Rosary for Mary.

~ 1846 AD~ FRANCE ~ InLa Salette, two children, Melanie (15) and Maximin (11) are asked by the Blessed Lady if they say their prayers well. ‘Hardly at all’, they replied, at which she firmly and lovingly suggests they say at least an ‘Our Father’ or a ‘Hail Mary’ at night and in the morning.

~ 1852 AD ~ ITALY ~ From the diary of John Thomes Hymes (1843 - 1868):  December 7th -  'Bought some rosary rings and mosaic ornaments to amount of $55 to serve as presents on my return to the West Indies .. '

~ 1858 AD ~ FRANCE ~  When Bernadette of Lourdes sees the Lady - she reaches for her Rosary beads in fear, but is made motionless. Mary makes the sign of the cross with the Rosary she has in her hand and immediately, Bernadette is able to do the same. ‘Once I made the sign of the cross,... fear left’ she said, and prayed the Rosary in the Lady’s presence. When Bernadette tells Abbe (Father) Peyramale that Mary says, ‘I am the Immaculate Conception’, this simple peasant girl could hardly pronounce it. (A term is known only to the hierarchy).

~ 1862 - 1886 AD ~ SYDNEY ~ A complete dried berry rosary was excavated from under the floor boards of the Hyde Park Asylum.  Nuns would string berries by hand and in this rosary added 'gilt and copper'.It probably belonged to one of the patients/inmates as the Catholic population was well represented in the barracks.  .

~ 1871 AD ~ FRANCE ~ The apparition of Mary in Pontmain is in fullness when pastor Abbe Guerin begins to recite the Rosary. ‘The stars on her navy blue gown grew larger and larger until she appears clothed in gold.’ The result of her apparition is that the invading army of Prussia withdraws. Some Prussian soldiers on the outskirts of the city see the Virgin too, ‘... guarding the country and forbidding us to advance’.

~ 1879 AD ~ IRELAND ~ When Mary appears in Knock with St. Joseph and St. John, her silent mission gives hope and comfort to the people afflicted with the deadly potato famine and for a people who are often denied the right to attend Mass. During her visit, the people recite the Rosary, which they call the ‘Irish Catechism’.

~ 1883 - 1894 AD ~ ITALY ~ In his encyclical of September 2 1883, Pope Leo XIII promotes the Rosary as the ‘most glorious and effective prayer’ for those who want to reach Jesus through Mary. He encourages the Family Rosary and writes 12 encyclicals and many apostolic exhortations and letters on the Rosary, more than any Pope before him.

~ 1884 AD ~ ITALY ~ VISION OF POPE LEO XIII ~ During Mass he stared fixedly at something in the air and with a terrible look on his face, collapsed to the floor. As one rendition of the story tells it: 'he suddenly heard voices - two voices, one kind and gentle, the other guttural and harsh. They seemed to come from near the tabernacle. As he listened, he heard the following conversation: The guttural voice, the voice of Satan in his pride, boasted to Our Lord: "I can destroy your Church." The gentle voice of Our Lord:  'You can? Then go ahead and do so.'  Satan: 'To do so, I need more time and more power.' Our Lord: 'How much time?How much power?' Satan: '75 to 100 years, and a greater power over those who will give themselves over to my service.' Our Lord: 'You have the time, you will have the power. Do with them what you will.'" (This event prompted the writing of the prayer to St Michael the Archangel. 

~ 1888 AD ~ ITALY ~ St Michael the Archangel prayer written and release by Pope XIII on September 25 1888 against the evils of Satan and war. 'Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.' (see prayer below)

~ 1892 AD ~ NEW YORK ~ (Ellis Island): becomes a center for immigration. Hundreds of thousands of Immigration Rosaries are entering the new country at an unprecedented rate in the pockets and hands of people from Germany, Italy, Spain, France and other countries. America is receiving a new blessing from these people.

~ 1898 AD ~ ITALY ~ Leo XIII ~ issues a new charter of sorts, in the Apostolic Constitution on the Rosary Confraternity.

~ 1917 ~ PORTUGUAL ~  In Fatima, the aroma of roses is present. Mary has a Rosary in her hand and calls herself ‘The Lady of the Rosary’ and encourages the children to ‘Say the rosary every day, to obtain peace for the world and an end to the war.’ The children, saddened by the anger their parents have shown over the story of the first apparition, decide not to take their usual short cut in saying only the titles ‘Our Father’ and ‘Hail Mary - Holy Mary’ on each bead of the Rosary any more. They agree to say the whole prayer on each bead in hopes of making things better.

~ 1917 ~ EUROPE ~ WW I breaks out

~ 1931 ~ POLAND ~ DIVINE MERCY ~ (Feb 22) St Faustina receives instructions from Jesus to have an image painted of him with two rays of light streaming from his heart, one red and the other white and the words 'Jesus I trust in you'. For next 7 years she obediently wrote his messages in a diary (“Divine Mercy in My Soul”. He made known to her that it was her job toprepare the world for His final coming. Jesus told her: “Write: before I come as a just Judge, I first open wide the door of My mercy. He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice…” (Diary 1146) ...  "My hand is reluctant to take hold of the sword of justice. Before the Day of Justice I am sending the Day of Mercy”(Diary 1588).

~ 1941 ~ EUROPE ~ WW II begins

~ 1953 ~ ROME ~ From the Raccolta:  Indulgence for carrying the rosary: "The faithful who devoutly carry about their person [to wear] a Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary that has been properly blessed may gain an Indulgence of 500 days once a day, if they kiss the Rosary and at the same time devoutly recite these words of the Angelic Salutation: "Hail Mary, full of grace; the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus."(Pius XII, Audience March 12, 1953.)

~ 1982 ~ YUGOSLAVIA ~ (Bosnia-Hercegovina) ~ Mary appears to 6 children, Ivan, Jakov, Marija, Mirjana, Vicka, and Ivanka. in Medjugorge (not approved by the Church to date) and becomes a major pilgrim site.

~ 1992 ~  YUGOSLAVIA ~ (Bosnia-Hercegovina) ~ - The Siege of Sarajevo) - (April 6,)  A war termed the worst in Europe since the end of WW II broke out as the  Serbs began to fight the Muslims. Most of the towns fell, except for Sarajevo. The people of the war zone begin to understand why she came to their country.
 

~ 2002 ~ VATICAN ~ Pope John Paul II introduces the fourth Mystery to the prayers of the rosary, the Mystery of Light or the Luminous Mysteries.  It embraces the public ministry of Christ: 1. Baptism of Jesus, 2. Wedding at Cana, (first sign of public ministry) 3. Proclamation of the Kingdom (call for our conversion), 4. Transfiguration (glory of the Lord) and 5. Eucharist (becoming one body in Christ).

~ 2003 ~ USA GOES TO WAR AGAINST TERRORISM - Troops begom to receive rosaries called 'Ranger Rosaries' created by a group from St Mary's Parish in Annapolis Md. led by Sgt Frank V Ristaino  - for more information see below. 

~ 2016 ~ USA ~  PRESIDENTAL ELECTION: Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton encourages Catholics to incorporate into a new group calling themselves "Catholic Spring". Removing themselves from the church ruled by middle ages ideas and people. More of a ("social group") Rosaries were prayed for God's response ~~~ Trump won by an unexpected landslide to become the 45th President Elect. 
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