Garry Wills is one of the most respected writers on religion today. His biography of Saint Augustine was a New York Times Notable Book. In this conservative overview of the Catholic faith, the author points to the value of the rosary as an aid to contemplation and a boost to the devotional life.
The physical object itself consists of a circlet containing five groups of beads with a pendant string of beads and a crucifix. As one says each subdivision of beads, they relate to aspects of Christ's life: five glad events — annunciation, visitation, nativity, presentation in the Temple and finding in the Temple; five mysterious events — baptism of Jesus, marriage at Cana, Sermon on the Mount, transfiguration, Last Supper (these were recently added by Pope John Paul II); five sad events — agony in the garden, scourging, crowning with thorns, carrying the cross, crucifixion; and five glorious events — resurrection, ascension, Pentecost, assumption of Mary, and coronation of Mary.
Although Catholics have sometimes been accused of not focusing enough on the Bible, using the rosary as a means of contemplating the essentials of Christ's life is a sturdy way back into the Scriptures. Wills explains that the history of the rosary is rooted in "an effort of laypeople to have their own extended prayer, an equivalent to the Divine Office said and sung by monks and friars." Wills presents brief commentaries on each of these sections along with texts from the Bible. A special added treat is a series of paintings by the Venetian artist Tintoretto.
