A further series of three beads and a medal are also attached to the chain (before the first "sorrow") and these are dedicated to prayer in honour of Mary's Tears, as well as to indicate the beginning of the chaplet.
This devotion to the Our Sorrowful Mother was originated in the thirteenth century, when seven professional men from Florence, which was an important commercial center of Europe, were influenced by the penitential spirit common to the Brothers of Penance with whom they were in close contact.
In 1240 they withdrew from the world to pray and serve the Lord, leading a life of penance, prayer and service to Mary.
[2] The chaplet recalls the Sorrows the Virgin Mother of God endured in compassion for the suffering and death of her Divine Son.
Each sorrow is announced, (and in some versions of the recitation, a meditative prayer is said, or a segment from the Hymn Stabat Mater Dolorosa).
[5]On July 2, 2001, the Holy See released a declaration by Augustin Misago, Bishop of Gikongoro, on Marian apparitions that took place in 1981-83 in Kibeho, Rwanda indicating that they were “worthy of belief”.
The visionaries, three local schoolgirls, reported seeing the Virgin Mary who identified herself to them as Nyina wa Jambo (Kinyarwanda for “Mother of the Word”).
After research, the Church investigation commissions have not found any evidence that Marie Claire knew this rosary before the beginning of the apparitions.