The Rosary or Chaplet called after St. Bridget

A lost devotion for the Carmelite Order is the Brigittine Rosary. This is a very special Rosary that gives Our Lady an extra mystery for the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries. By having a devotion to this Rosary, one gives Our Lady special honor. Carmelites belong in a particular way to Our Lady.

The Brigittine Rosary was instituted and propagated by St. Bridget of Sweden.  She was favored with visions and extacies but remained profoundly humble with a deep devotion to the Passion of Our Lords and His Holy Wounds, and great love for the Blessed Virgin and made a rosary in her honor. When describing the rosary she constructed, she explained it was 63 Hail Mary beads to honour the 63 years of life the Blessed Virgin lived on earth. This is why it has 6 decades.

The six decade rosary, or Brigittine beads, is traditional in the Discalced Carmelite Order as part of the habit.  The reason for its adoption is found in the explanation of these beads.

The Brigittine beads number seven “Our Father” in honor of the sorrows and joys, of the Blessed Virgin, and sixty three “Hail Mary’s” to commemorate the years of her life.”  According to St. Bridget, the introductory “Our Father” and three “Hail Mary’s” of the rosary is like entering the atrium or lobby of a church. It is where you collect your thoughts, clearing away mental clutter and prepare yourself to pray.

There are six mysteries or decades in each of the three parts or divisions.  In the six Joyful Mysteries the first mystery is The Immaculate Conception, the sixth of the Sorrowful Mysteries is  Jesus Taken Down from the Cross and Placed in the Arms of His Mother, the sixth of the Glorious Mysteries is The Patronage of Mary, Queen and Beauty of Carmel.  The other mysteries are the same as in the Rosary in common use.  At the end of each decade, the Apostle’s Creed, not the Glory Be, is recited.

Source: “Way of Perfection for the Laity” by Fr. Kevin, OCD, Imprimatur, 1963, Dublin.

The Eighteen Mysteries of the Brigittine Chaplet Rosary

Joyful Mysteries:

1. The Immaculate Conception
2. The Annunciation of Gabriel to Mary
3. The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth
4. The Birth of Jesus
5. The Presentation of Jesus In The Temple
6. The Finding of Jesus In The Temple

The Sorrowful Mysteries:

1. The Agony of Jesus In The Garden
2. Jesus Is Scourged At The Pillar
3. Jesus Is Crowned With Thorns
4. Jesus Carries His Cross
5. The Crucifixion
6. The Body of the Lord was placed in the Arms of His Sorrowful Mother

The Glorious Mysteries:

1. The Resurrection of Jesus
2. The Ascension of Jesus
3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost
4. The Assumption of Mary into Heaven
5. The Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth
6. The Patronage of Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace (Brigittine Rosary)
   or
   The Patronage of Mary, Queen and Beauty of Carmel (Carmelite Rosary)

To St Bridgett, Queen of Sweden

WITH confident hearts we fly to thee, blessed Bridgett, and ask, in these times of darkness and unbelief,
thy intercession on behalf of those who are separated from the Church of JESUS CHRIST. By the clear
knowledge which thou hadst of the cruel sufferings of our crucified SAVIOUR, the price of our
redemption, we beg of thee to obtain for those who are outside the one fold the grace of faith, so that the
scattered sheep may return to the one true Shepherd.
Through CHRIST our LORD. Amen.
St Bridgett, fearless servant of GOD, pray for us.
St Bridgett, patient in sufferings and humiliations, pray for us.
St Bridgett, wonderful in thy love towards JESUS and Mary, pray for us.
PATER, Ave, Gloria.

RACCOLTA, 300 Days, once a day. Pius X, July 5, 1905.

The Brigittine Rosary was richly indulgenced

Pope Leo X., in his Bull of July 10, 1516, and Pope Clement XI., in his Bull De salute Dominici gregis, of Sept. 22, 1714, granted many Indulgences to all who carry about them, or who say, the Chaplet, called after St. Bridget because she first conceived the idea of it and promulgated the usage of it. These Indulgences were confirmed by Pope Benedict XIV., in his Brief of Jan. 15, 1743, wherein he added others, of all which a summary will now be given.

This Chaplet is said in honour of the sixty-three years which the most holy Mary lived upon this earth, being made up of six divisions, each division consisting of one Pater noster, ten Ave Maria, and one Credo; after these is said one more Pater noster, and three more Ave Maria: thus in all there will be seven Pater noster, to mark the number of her Seven Dolours and Seven Joys; the three Ave Maria being added to make up the full number of sixty-three years. (See the Archivium of the Segretaria of the S. Congr. of Indulgences, tom. vi. p. 144.)

It will be seen in the following summary that the Indulgences may be gained by saying the fifteen decades, or five decades only, as mentioned in the Rosary above.

It is requisite, in order to gain these Indulgences, that the Chaplet, being made, as has been said, of six decades, &c., should be blessed by the superiors of the monastic houses or other priests of the order of St. Saviour, sometimes called the order of St Bridget, deputed for this purpose; and after they have been blessed they cannot be sold, or lent for the purpose of communicating the Indulgences to others, according to the express command of the said Pope Clement XI in the Bull above named, and according to the general decrees of the S. Congr. of Indulgences, confirmed by Benedict XIV., under date Feb. 9, 1743.

SUMMARY OF INDULGENCES ANNEXED TO THE ROSARY OR CHAPLET OF ST. BRIDGET

i. The Indulgence of 100 days for each Pater, 100 days for each Ave, and 100 days for each Credo, to all the faithful who say the Rosary or Chaplet of St. Bridget. Pope Leo X., July 10, 1515.

ii. The Indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines, besides the above, to every one who says the said Rosary or Chaplet of fifteen decades. Grant of the same Pope Leo. (Whenever this Rosary is said with others, each person may gain the Indulgences I. and II. precisely the same as when the said Rosary is said by one person alone. The same Pope Leo.)

iii. The Plenary Indulgence to all who shall say at least five decades daily for a year, on any one day in the year when, after Confession and Communion, they shall pray for the Holy Church. Pope Clement XI., Sept. 22, 1714.

iv. The Plenary Indulgence, on the Feast of St. Bridget (Oct. 8), to all who say the said Rosary of five decades at least once a week, and, after Confession and Communion, visit their own parish church, or any other church, and pray to God there for the Church as above. Benedict XIV., Jan. 15, 1743.

v. The Plenary Indulgence to all who have been accustomed to say this Rosary, as in No. IV., when, in articulo mortis, recommending their soul to God, they say the holy name Jesus with their hearts, if unable to do so with their lips, having at the same time Confessed and Communicated; or, if these conditions are impossible, being contrite of heart. Benedict XIV.

vi. The Plenary Indulgence, once a month, to all who say this Chaplet daily for a month, on any one day when, after Confession and Communion, they visit a church and pray as above. Benedict XIV.

vii. The Indulgence of forty days to all who carry this Rosary with them, if, at the tolling of the bell for a passing soul, they kneel down and pray for that soul. Benedict XIV.

viii. The Indulgence of twenty days, to all who carry this Rosary, whenever they make examination of conscience, and say three Pater noster and three Ave Maria. Ben. XIV. ix. The Indulgence of 100 days to all who carry this Rosary whenever they hear Mass (feast-day or ferial), or assist at a sermon, or accompany the Most Holy Viaticum, or bring back any sinner to his way of salvation, or do any other good work in honour of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin, or St. Bridget, provided they say also three Pater noster and three Ave Maria. Benedict XIV., as before.

Source: RACCOLTA

Briggetine Rosary, Carmelite Rosary, Six Decade Rosary, or Briggetine Crown Chaplet is available from Virgo Sacrata shop. Upon request, it can be produced with semiprecious stone or brown wooden beads.