The Rosary seems to have originated with the practice of substituting the 150 psalms of the Bible and the monastic Divine Office with groups of 50 or 150 Ave Marias.

Historically, the Desert Fathers and Mothers developed a type of rosary as an aid to their repetitive prayer life. Usually their rosary consisted of a string of beads of varying lengths and materials.

During the Albigensian Heresy in Toulouse, France, around 1221, St. Dominic Gusman besought the help of Our Blessed Mother and preached the rosary to the people. Since that time the rosary has been a popular devotion in the western Church.

The rosary continues to be a major influence for meditating on the mystery of Christ. The regular structure of the rosary consists of the "Our Father," and ten "Hail Mary's," and a "Glory Be to the Father," repeated five times to make the standard five-decade rosary. The Mysteries of the Rosary are The Joyful Mysteries, The Sorrowful Mysteries, The Glorious Mysteries and Luminous Mysteries.

We offer some handcrafted rosaries made from pruned branches of Olive trees growing on the hills of Bethlehem and Jerusalem.