Reformed Evangelical Rosary

Wyatt Pruitt

The Rosary is a devotion that all protestant traditions share with the western church. Both east and west from the earliest traditions of the church with the desert fathers would count their prayers with rocks and eventually prayer ropes. These repetitive and contemplative prayers to God are in the spirit of 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “pray without ceasing”. The most common prayer being “Lord have mercy”. These prayer ropes were used as tools for the meditation and memorization of psalms and other Christian prayers. The prayer rope tradition began as the Paternoster (Our Father) beads. Slowly a devotion the the blessed and ever virgin Mary began to supplement the Paternoster beads with: “Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum” (Hail Mary). by the 12th century the phrase “pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death” developed. The tradition shifted from being prayers to God to prayers primarily to Our Lady. It became known as the Marian Psalter. According to legend the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Dominic in the 13th century and revealed to him the modern day Roman Rosary. The Rosary became a catechetical tool for the illiterate, a school of meditation, and a devotion for the laity. By the time of the reformation the Rosary had transitioned from a primarily catechetical and devotional aid to a superstitious system of achieving merit before God. Abuses include but are not limited to promises of salvation tied to the Rosary. Dominican preacher Alanus de Rupe taught the flollowing:

Those who trust themselves to me through the Rosary shall not perish.
I shall deliver very promptly from Purgatory the souls devoted to my Rosary.
Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination
I have obtained from my Son that all the members of the Rosary Confraternity shall have as their intercessors, in life and in death, the entire celestial court.

(Alanus de Rupe preaching in the 1460s–1470s).

The following Rosary follows in the reformation tradition of Rosaries that return the Rosary back to its catechetical core. It will continue with its emphasis on the focus of Mary’s role as the Mother of God but shift its devotion to Jesus Christ through the catechetical system of Commandments, Creed, Prayer, Sacraments. This is in order to cultivate a devotion to Jesus Christ and meditate on the Law and Gospel. Below is the prayers of the Reformed Evangelical Catholic Rosary.

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✙ REFORMED EVANGELICAL CATHOLIC ROSARY DEVOTION

(Traditional English Form)

✙ ON THE CROSS

The Protestant Hail Mary

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

We praise God for thee, O Mary,

Mother of Our Lord, Bearer of God incarnate.

Amen.

Make the Sign of the Cross:

In the Name of the Father, ✠ and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

✙ FIRST SINGLE BEAD

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy Name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil. Amen.

✙ THE THREE BEADS

Lord, have mercy upon us.

Christ, have mercy upon us.

Lord, have mercy upon us.

Kyrie Eleison

Christe Eleison

Kyrie Eleison

Repeated on each of the three beads

✙ The Processional Bead (Confession)

I, a poor sinner, confess unto Thee all my sins.

I am heartily sorry for them, and I repent.

For the sake of Jesus Christ, Thy beloved Son,

have mercy upon me, and forgive me.

Amen

(Adapted from Luther’s Catechism)

✙ AT THE MEDAL (OPENING CANTICLE)

The Magnificat (St. Luke 1:46–55)

My soul doth magnify the Lord,

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

For He hath regarded the lowliness of His handmaiden.

For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

For He that is mighty hath magnified me; and holy is His Name.

And His mercy is on them that fear Him throughout all generations.

He hath shewed strength with His arm;

He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat,

And hath exalted the humble and meek.

He hath filled the hungry with good things;

And the rich He hath sent empty away.

He remembering His mercy hath holpen His servant Israel;

As He promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed, for ever.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost:

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

✙ THE DECADES

On each small bead (all 10):

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

I. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Thou shalt have none other gods but Me.
Thou shalt not make to thyself any idol
Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Honour thy father and thy mother.
Thou shalt do no murder.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness.
Thou shalt not covet.

Incline my heart to keep Thy law. Amen.

II. THE NICENE CREED

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth,

And of all things visible and invisible:

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,

Begotten of His Father before all worlds,

God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God,

Begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;

By whom all things were made:

Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven,

And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary,

And was made man;

And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate;

He suffered and was buried:

And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures,

And ascended into heaven,

And sitteth on the right hand of the Father:

And He shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead;

Whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life,

Who proceedeth from the Father [and the Son];

Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified;

Who spake by the prophets.

And I believe one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins.

And I look for the resurrection of the dead, ✠

And the life of the world to come. Amen.

III. THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father in heaven Hallowed be Thy Name
Thy Kingdom come
Thy Will be done
Our daily bread
Forgive us
As we forgive
Lead us not into temptation
Deliver us from evil
Thine is the Kingdom
The Power and the Glory

Each bead:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

IV. THE BENEFITS OF THE SACRAMENTS (SCRIPTURE)

You can memorize all of these scriptures or pray the prayer of the sacraments at the end (or both).

Baptism

Titus 3:5 — “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”

Romans 6:3–4 — “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

Absolution

John 20:23 — “And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.”

Psalm 51:10–12 — “Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; And take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; And uphold me with thy free spirit.”

The Holy Eucharist

Matthew 26:26–28 — ““And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

John 6:51 — ““I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

1 Corinthians 10:16–17 — ““The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.”

Luke 24:30–31 — ““And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.”

Or this prayer

O LORD, who by the font dost save, ✢
And raise from sin’s ensnaring grave,
Renew our hearts by grace outpoured, ✢
And seal us Thine forever, Lord.

Thou gav’st Thy Church the keys of peace, ✢
That contrite souls find sweet release;
Forgive, restore, and cleanse within, ✢
And speak Thy pardon over sin.

Thou breakest Bread as once before, ✢
Thy Body giv’n forevermore;
Thy precious Blood in chalice poured, ✢
Our life, our hope, our risen Lord.

Glory to Father, Spirit, Son, ✢
The Three in One, forever One;
As it was in ages past, ✢
So shall all praise eternal last.

✙ RETURN TO THE MEDAL (CLOSING CANTICLE)

Nunc Dimittis (St. Luke 2:29–32)

Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace,

According to Thy word.

For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation,

Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

To be a light to lighten the Gentiles,

And to be the glory of Thy people Israel.