On Valentine’s Day, each year, millions of people give a rose or bouquet of roses to their spouse or partner expressing their love for them. In the third century, the early monastics would pray the 150 psalms (today, also known as the Divine Office) found in the scriptures. Those who could not pray the psalms prayed a 150 ‘Our Fathers,’ also known as the poor man’s breviary. The laity were given beads to help them count their prayers. In the 11th century, St Alvery began to pray 150 Hail Mary’s, other Christians did the same. In the prayer, ‘Hail Mary’, we are reminded of both the events of the annunciation, the coming of the Messiah, and the incarnation, God becoming man, the fruit of Mary’s womb. In the 13th century, St Dominic, the founder of the Dominican Order, had a vision of Mary who told him about the Rosary and showed him a set of Rosary beads. He popularised the devotion and encouraged Christians to pray it in small groups. In the 14th century, Dominic of Prussia, developed the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries. In 2002, Pope John Paul II, added the ‘Luminous’ mysteries of the Rosary which focus on Jesus’s ministry on earth. Why is this devotion of prayer represented by a rose? The rose is seen as a symbol of both beauty and purity, two strong images often associated with Mary. Just as a rose's scent attracts us to its flowers, through our prays, Mary attracts us to her Son. Each prayer of the Rosary is seen as offering Mary a single rose. When all 150 ‘Hail Mary’s’ have been completed, just as we give a rose to someone we love, our prayers become a crown of roses or a bouquet of flowers offered to Mary. [Image: Yuval Helfman]