Codex Rosarii Cartusiani

The History of the Carthusian Rosary

Portal :

A Tactic of the Carthusian Weapon can be found here on this other Archive : https://www.lifeofchristrosary.com/.

Lore :

Formation of the Carthusian Rosary :

Likely parallel with the preaching of the Dominicans, in 1365, Henry of Kalkar also broke up the Angelic Psalter into 15 decades and placed an Our Father before each one. Around the mid-1400s, the Carthusians Adolf of Essen and the mystic Dominic of Prussia, his novice, created the Life of Christ Rosary, which was composed in two forms, one with 50 Salutations and the other with 150.

Rather than the 15 Mysteries of the Dominicans, Dom Dominic of Prussia developed a Rosary with 50 Mysteries, each Mystery having an individual Hail Mary. Together, these Mysteries accompany the whole Life of Jesus, and hence it was called the Life of Christ Rosary. These 50 Salutations are grouped into decades, regarding His Birth, His Youth and Public Ministry, His Passion, His Crucifixion, and His Resurrection.

Because the Life of Christ Rosary, or Carthusian Rosary, retained the ancient formula of the Angelic Salutation rather than its final form of 1568, the second part of the Hail Mary is only optional, and the introductory and concluding prayers to the whole Rosary are slightly different.

The Carthusian Ave :

An example of a Mystery in the Carthusian Rosary follows. These Mysteries are meant to be savored, and so the orant (person praying, the pray-er) should hover over or repeat the same Salutation for as often or long as helpful. The full Tactic can be found on the link above. There are 50 Mysteries / Salutations.

Hail Mary, full of grace ; the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women, and Blessed is the Fruit of Thy Womb, Jesus, to Whom Thou, perpetually Virgin in body and soul, joyfully gave birth.

(Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.) Amen.

Some Carthusians also wear a 6-Decade Rosary on their belts with white beads, like what Mary held at Lourdes, not because they pray the 6-Decade Rosary of the Immaculate Conception, but because it is more symmetrical for them to have on their cinctures.