Saint Dominic received from the Virgin a simple rosary that seems to have been much changed over the centuries; however, I don't believe that improving upon what has been received directly from heaven is a good thing. In Matthew 6:7 the Lord gave us this warning:
“And when you are praying, speak not much, as the heathens. For they think that in their much speaking they may be heard”
This says that our prayers need not be exceedingly long or complicated; however, in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 the bible does tell us to pray unceasingly. There is no contradiction; we should pray many simple prayers like the rosary used to be.
In the year 1214 when Saint Dominic was praying for help to Mary, the Virgin told him:
“Wonder not that you have obtained so little fruit by your labors, you have spent them on barren soil, not yet watered with the dew of Divine grace. When God willed to renew the face of the earth, He began by sending down on it the fertilizing rain of the Angelic Salutation. Therefore preach my Psalter composed of 150 Angelic Salutations and 15 Our Fathers, and you will obtain an abundant harvest.”
This revelation was affirmed by Pope Leo XIII.
When praying the angelic salutation, we are receiving of the same rain of divine grace that fell upon the earth at that time.
Saint Dominic’s Rosary Prayers were just two:
The Our Father
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 debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
And the Angelic Salutation
Hail full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women.
Inspired by the Holy Spirit Pope Pious V “set in stone” the Rosary by defining it in the Papal Bull Consueverunt Romani Pontifices 1569 this way:
"And so Dominic looked to that simple way of praying and beseeching God, accessible to all and wholly pious, which is called the Rosary, or Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in which the same most Blessed Virgin is venerated by the angelic salutation repeated one hundred and fifty times, that is, according to the number of the Davidic Psalter, and by the Lord's Prayer with each decade. Interposed with these prayers are certain meditations showing forth the entire life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, thus completing the method of prayer devised by the Fathers of the Holy Roman Church.“
Blessed Alan had this vision regarding the importance of having fifteen decades:
Alan saw celestial spirits offering the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary in groups of a hundred and fifty at a time, and an angel told him:
“This number is sacred. It is found in the ark of Noah, in the tabernacle of Moses, in the temple of Solomon
Il Salterio di Gesu e di Maria, di Beato Alano de La Roche.
This is what the Roman Breviary says about the Rosary:
The Rosary "is a certain form of prayer wherein we say fifteen decades or tens of Hail Marys with an Our Father between each ten, while at each of these fifteen decades we recall successively in pious meditation one of the mysteries of our Redemption.“
1913 Catholic encyclopedia volume 13, page 184
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