ROSARY HISTORY - JOURNALING THE BEAD
HISTORY of the ROSARY
WHEN DID THE ROSARY AS WE KNOW IT TODAY, TAKE ITS SHAPE?
CLICK IMAGE BELOW AND FIND OUT!

HISTORY OF THE ROSARY
JOURNALING THE BEAD

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO 'KNOCK ON WOOD'?
It may have grown from the true cross to crucifixes and then to rosaries themselves. It is hard to know as these practices are often regional and not universal.   Check out what Prof Anastasios Zavales Phd ThD (Ecumenical Patriarchate, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of the USA shared with the Rosary Workshop below:

JOURNALING/BEAD   -   MUSEUM   - HISTORY LINKS
BEADSONG   -   ANCIENT PRAYER/MARY (235 ad)

~ "KNOCK on WOOD" ~

Often we use the phrase, "Knock on wood" - and proceed to do just that:  Knock on a table or a door or whatever wood is handy. In some circles it is believed that the origin of the phrase and practice comes from the wood of the rosary. Rosaries in the old days were made of oak wood and were fingered in time of distress or trouble. Thus, holding on to, touching or rubbing the wooden rosary or its wooden crucifix when danger was near became a common way for Christians to deal with hardships and difficulties. The practice  slipped into common use as "Knock on wood."

From "A World of Stories" by William Bausch  -  Shared by Father Ray H. (MI)

A GREATER - 1600 YEAR HISTORY
 When Saint Helen, mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, visiting the Holy Land and seeking the True Cross upon which Jesus was crucified, found the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, the Cross was venerated by all the faithful in many public processions. Many faithful would come to touch the Holy Cross for blesssing and healing. It was customary to touch the Wood of Life three times (as a confession of faith in the Holy Trinity). This act of touching the True Cross became the earliest recorded histories of "knocking on wood." This history, alas, has nothing to do with the Rosary since the Rosary is a much later innovation. Whenever the Holy Cross was put forth for public veneration, touching it, or as English translations render it "knocking," became common liturgical practice. Once the Holy Cross was transferred to Constantinople and placed in the Great Church of the Holy Wisdom (aka Saint Sophia), Christians continued this piety by touching or knocking on any cross or crucifix (wood was the medium of the day) for blessings and healings. This ancient tradition has been with us for over 1,600 years and has been a pious tradition to this day where people tend to touch anything made of wood ... but all interpretations of this behavior point back directly to Jerusalem in the 4th century AD and the True Cross. No doubt, wooden prayer beads may have become a customary item for similar veneration, but historically much later.

Prof Anastasios Zavales Phd ThD
Ecumenical Patriarchate
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of the USA

~ JOURNALING the BEAD ~

 CHRONOLOGY OF THE ROSARY - 9 BC ON

HISTORY

~ ANTIQUE ROSARIES ~

A COLLECTION OF ROSARIES DATING BACK TO THE

17th CENTURY (shown ca 1720)
MUSEUM

~ MORE HISTORY LINKS ~

~ BEADSONG ~

A STORY ABOUT A 6 YEAR OLD AND THE ROSARY

WITNESS

~ WE FLY to YOUR PATRONAGE ~

Most Ancient Prayer To Our Lady - (235 AD)

We fly to your patronage, O Holy Mother of God;
despise not our petitions in our necessities,
but deliver us always from all danger,
O glorious and blessed Virgin.  Amen.

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. (Another original copy of this prayer was found in 1917 written on Egyptian papyrus. This prayer again spread from Egypt where Joseph and Mary had fled with Jesus to Europe and other parts of the Christian World.) Believed to be earliest written prayer to Mary.

Shared by Fr Joseph, from his Grandmother.

... HERESY - Here-say ...
"Heresy is from the Greek word meaning 'choice'.... But we are not permitted to believe whatever we choose, nor to choose whatever someone else has believed. We have the Apostles of God as authorities, who did not...choose what they would believe but faithfully transmitted the teachings of Christ. So, even if an angel from heaven should preach otherwise, he shall be called anathema."
 Saint Isidore of Seville - (c.560 - 636) - Patron of Internet Users

... EVA - AVE ...
Thought I'd share a bit of historical information with you, though you may already know this. You state on your site that the Virgin Mary is sometimes called the "new Eve".  "Eve" in Latin is "Eva". The first word that the Angel Gabriel spoke to Mary at the Annunciation was "Ave", which is Eve backwards. This is just a coincidence of course, but many Medieval songs used this to illustrate how Mary "undid" what Eve had done. One song has this refrain:

Nova! Nova! Ave fit ex Eva! (News! News! "Ave" has been made from "Eve"!)

 Nicholas Churchill (USA)

... your website did the trick! ...
I'm a nineth grade catechism teacher in Troy, MI.  Tomorrow's class and I wanted to give a good overview of the Rosary for my confirmation candidates.  It is surprisingly difficult to find a good chronology of the devotion's development over the centuries.  All of my usual source books seemed incomplete, but your website did the trick!  Thanks so much--I'm going to pass your website address on to the other 14 confirmation catechists in my parish.
Karl Schmidt (MI)

... thank you so much! ...
I've had a long passion for rosaries and have recently began my journey in collecting antique ones. However, I haven't been able to find ANY information until I came across your web page. Thank you so much!  Joseph E. (IN)

... loved the history lesson ...
Loved the history lesson on the Rosary. Look forward to the next chapter.    Bill C (NV)