Rose Bead Paternoster - Lionsdale Winter Tourney AS XLIV

“The ordinary arts we practice everyday at homes are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.” ~Sir Thomas More

The ordinary arts we practice everyday at home…

Herbalism is an ‘art’ that would have been practiced by most women, rather than men, especially midwives. The knowledge would have been passed from mother to daughter. Gardening would also have been an art that noble women would have practiced on a regular basis. Roses were readily available within surrounding gardens and were used for poultices, tinctures and perfumes.

…are of more importance to the soul…

For the majority of Catholics within the 15^th century, the praying of the rosary/pater noster was part of their daily routine. According to Miller, such tradition may have begun in the 12^th century with Peter the Hermit, though the more commonly held belief is that the rosary was given to St. Dominic by the Virgin Mary herself in 1214, but there is no documented origin. The praying of the rosary would have been of great importance within the era of my persona as the Reconquista ,the reclamation of the area we know as Spain from the Moors, would have just been victorious and this was the era just prior to the Spanish Inquisition, which sought to punish all those who were not ‘true’ Christians. My persona comes from within the state that is home to one of the holiest pilgrimage sites within Europe (Santiago de Compostela) at the time.

Praying the rosary was a way for people to focus their minds on prayer, the beads used as a means of keeping track of the number of prayers. Their length has varied over the centuries from 2 to 200 beads, many being 150 to represent the Psalms. The variation I have made is seen within the Jan Van Eyck painting The Arnolfini Marriage as it is a clear representation of paternosters of the time (see copy at the end).

…than their simplicity might suggest.

A strand of beads made from ground up rose petals, flour and water, very simple and easy to create. They do not need to be baked, only left to ‘cure’. This method eliminates the need for any specialized training or access to a bake oven, neither of which my persona would not have had.

What is the difference between a paternoster and a rosary?

The paternoster is an earlier version of what we now know as the rosary. The Pasternoster was named for the ‘Our Father’ prayer (the Pater Noster). The Ave Maria prayer was added in the late 12^th century. It is unclear when the names became interchangeable.

Why roses?

While there is no evidence to support that roses were indeed used to make beads due to the fact that they were not baked and would have been very fragile, there is much to be said about the symbolism of the rose in relation to the rosary.

~“The name ‘rosary’ (referring to a rose garden or a wreath) comes from legend. In this legend, a band of robbers observed how a monk was telling his beads by the roadside. Each prayer fell from his lips as a rose, and the Virgin Mary herself gathered up the roses and formed them into a garland for her head.” The Medieval Rosary by Aelflaed of the Weald

~Mary is the ‘rose of roses’. “Cantiga X” from the Cantigas de Santa Maria

~ In the Middle Ages, the symbol of joy was the rose. To crown one's head with a garland of roses (a chaplet) was a sign of joy. The Virgin Mary was even called "a garden of roses." In medieval Latin, a garden of roses is rosarium. The salutations were conceived of as so many spiritual roses presented to the Virgin Mary by fashioning for her a crown, a chaplet. In return, our Lady would place upon the heads of her children an invincible diadem of roses, of spiritual graces. http://olrl.org/sacramental/rosary.shtml

~St. Gregory, at the end of the fourth century, spoke of such a method of devotion in veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This pious bishop thought a wreath of spiritual r6ses would be more pleasing to the blessed Virgin than the natural roses with which the faithful adorned her altar. He selected, therefore, a number of prayers, in praise of the blessed Virgin, and united them into a wreath. And this was the origin of the Rosary, woven by pious hands for the veneration of Mary, the mystical rose. http://philomena.org/origins.asp

Materials used

5 parts Dried full-bloom rose petals

2 parts Boiled water

1 part Flour

~Boil the 2 parts water then pour over 2 parts of dried rose petals and let steep for 15 minutes, strain and cool.

~Take the other 3 parts of the petals and rub over a fine metal screen. Do not worry if there are some small chunks left, they add texture.

~Mix together the ground up petals and one part flour. Slowly add the rose tea until you have a cohesive, not runny, paste. Form into small beads, making sure to pierce a hole.

~Leave in a cool, dark place to cure for a minimum of three days.

Sources

Miller, John D. Beads and Prayers: The Rosary in History and Devotion. Burns and Oates: London, 2002.

Winston-Allen, Anne. Stories of the rose: the making of the rosary in the Middle Ages. Pennsylvania University Press: University Park, 1997.

The Medieval Rosary by Aelflaed of the Weald

Universal Living Rosary Association http://philomena.org/rosary.asp

Our Lady of the Rosary Library http://olrl.org/sacramental/rosary.shtml