Rosary

(ro'za-re.) [From L. rosarium, a rose-garden.] (Eccl.) In the Rom. Catholic Church, a string of beads, or a chaplet consisting of 5 or 15 decades of beads. It is used for counting theAve Marias, or prayers addre ed to the Virgin Mary; one paternoster, or Lord's Prayer, being said for every 10Ave Marias. The Festival of the R. is celebrated on the first Sunday in Oct. [s. 778]