A prayer in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which repeats the privileged Marian prayer Ave Maria, or Hail Mary, in "decades" of ten prayers, each preceded by the Pater Noster ("Our Father") and concluded by the Gloria Patri (Glory Be to the Father), accompanied by meditation on the mysteries of Christ's life. The rosary was developed by mediaeval piety in the Latin church as a popular substitute for the liturgical prayer of the Hours (2678, 2708; cf. 1674).