A Ladder Made of Roses

A ladder of roses? What is that supposed to mean? Perhaps it's the title of a fairy tale, the most intriguing one ever written. Perhaps it is a poet's muttered rhyming, a fluid phrase designed to spark the heart and make the eyes shine. Perhaps it's just an odd phrase, designed to make the reader pause and ponder over it.

To Catholics, like me, it is something else. Something more.

Something better.

It is a string of beads, laid out in "decades" of ten beads, and given to St Dominic - and from him to us - by our Lady in the early 1200's. It is a prayer that will not fail, a strong weapon against the devil, the simplest, easiest prayer to say. When it was first given us, it was actually comprised of fifteen decades: five Joyful Mysteries, five Sorrowful Mysteries, and five Glorious Mysteries. Now, most Rosaries made these days contain only five of the fifteen decades, and only one of the Mysteries per day is said.

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Mondays and Thursdays are the days the five Joyful Mysteries are said.

Tuesdays and Fridays are the days the five Sorrowful Mysteries are recited.

Wednesdays and Saturdays are the days the five Glorious Mysteries are prayed.

On Sundays, depending on the time of year, the Rosary for that season is said.

In St. Dominic's day, this glorious psalter was used to defeat the Albigensian heresy. Now, it is used in our battle against the devil and his darkness.

So what is a Ladder Made of Roses?

It is the beads.

It is the Rosary.

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