"What is the devotion of the "Three Hail Marys"

The three Hail Marys are recited in honor of the three great priviledges bestowed upon the Blessed Virgin Mary by the most Blessed Trinity - the Power of the Father, the Wisdom of the Son, and the Merciful Tenderness of the Holy Spirit.

When reciting the Rosary, why do we say five decades of the Hail Marys,  Joyful Mysteries,Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries, it is a perfect number or is it a reminder of the 150 Psalms? What is the history of the Rosary?

There is a connection with Mary's Psalter (the Rosary) and the recitation of the 150 Psalm (psalter) of the Bible, as in ancient times, monks and clergy used to recite the entire psalter every day. But, as many people in that day were either illiterate or could not afford a psalter, the practice of saying one hundred and fifty Pater Nosters (Our Fathers in Latin)developed as an alternative to remind them of the 150 Psalms.

Now coming to the Rosary, according to tradition, it was St. Dominic de Guzman (in the 12th century) to whom Our Lady revealed the praying of the 150 Hail Marys along with his preaching of the salvation mysteries to combat the great heresy of his day. (The Dominicans were preachers). Saint Dominic though of the "Rosary"as a crown of roses on the head of the heavenly Queen. With the introduction of the Rosary, a new kind of psalter- the Marian Psalter - the Rosary - came into being. Rosary Beads usually contain 50 beads in groups of ten (the decades), with an additional large bead before each decade. These numbers were chosen to match the 150 Psalms, therefore 159 Hail Marys (the 15 Mysteries

When Greece was threatened by the Turks, back in 1571, the Italian navigators prayed the Rosary. They attributed the victory of the Battle of Lepanto (today Navpaktos) on October 7, 1571to our Lady. Then, in the sixteenth century, the feast of "Our Last of Victory" which was later the feast of "Our Lady of the Rosary" on 7th October was established by Saint (Pope) Pius V to commemorate that victory. The Pope, then, himself a Dominican, issued an apostolic letter establishing the twenty Mystery form of the Holy Rosary as the official, Church-authorized version. This was the prescribed format for the next four centuries. In the year 2002, Pope Jonh Paul II published an apostolic letter that added five more Mysteries (The Luminous Mysteries), making a total of twenty authorized Mysteries.

The Rosary is an "epitome of the whole Gospel." It is a contemplative prayer, and it has great intercessory power and every Catholic should pray it regularly. The Rosary - in Arabic- "misbahah", "praise tool", is NOT at all meant to "praise the Virgin, as if she were a goddess", but to praise the Lord through and with Mary who had sung: "My soul praises the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour." As a master of fact, the "Hail Marys" are preceded by the Lord's Prayer ("Our Father") and always followed by the "Glory" - not to Mary - but to the triun One God. The Muslim world has also a "misbahah", for the praise of Allah, with 33 beads - which, multiplied by three, reach the number of 99, the traditional "best names of Allah" (al-assmaa' al-husana). This is an opportunity to clarify that the Church never worshipped- not ever advocated the woeship of the Virgin Mary as a goddess, though , we might find among individuals, sometimes, some exaggerations in popular devotion, contrary to the Scriptures and also according to the Church directives. [ See CCC 2678 ]

Where are the prayers and Mysteries of the Rosary mentioned in the Bible?

The Rosary is composed of biblical prayers - and meditates mainly on                   biblical events,with the  exception of the Assumption and the Coronation of Our Lady which is accepted by Catholic - Orthodox and even Anglican creeds and traditions. The prayers are:

- The Our Father (Matthew 6)
- The Glory is a wonderful doxology. One finds often similar formulas at the beginning  of Pauline Letters.
- The Hail Mary - the first part of which is taken from the greetings of the Angel Gabriel and of Elizabeth.  

Is the Rosary simply a repetitive prayer?

The repetition of the Hail Mary is not meant to awaken a sleeping god but rather to express our love and devotion, to God and Mary, for how can we forget that the Lord has done mighty things for her? Like the beloved disciples we welcome Jesus' mother into our homes by praying the Rosary. Repetition of prayer is not wrong. The Lord himself repeated the same prayer thrice at Gethsemane. Psalm 136 (135 according to the Greek) repeats "Because eternal is his love (or mercy)"26 times. When bishop Fulton Sheen was asked by a young fiancee: "Why do we repeat the Hail Mary so often?" The Bishop asked him: "How many times do you tell your fiancee that you love her?" Let us not forget that the Rosary is a popular prayer, but not an official one we find in the Holy Mass or in the Breviary. 

By praying the Rosary,doesn't it seem that we are placing Mother Mary higher than God. since the 'Hail Mary' far outnumbers the 'Our Father'and 'Glory Be'?

Of course, our devotion must be to God the Father through Jesus Christ. However, the intercession of our Mother Mary is to take us to Jesus Christ and to God the Father. As John Paul II said,"To Jesus to Mary". Her intercession is not independent of Jesus Christ,like in the normal family the role of the mother is not separated(or should not be) from the one of the father.We venerate the  Virgin Mary (we don't adore her, we adore only God) because she is the Mother of God and she wants us to be with him. Besides, the prayer "Hail Mary" is almost all taken from the Gospel,which, along with the tradition of the Church, is the    source of Jesus Christ's teaching, and we glorify her for the (fruit of thine womb 'Jesus, who is the center of this prayer. Ask the Virgin  Mary to help you to know Jesus Christ better and  she will do it.         

During the season of Lent should we say the Sorrowful Mysteries every day?Or we can say all the mysteries like we normally do?

During Lent we can either recite only the Sorrowful Mysteries or as usual all the Mysteries.The Rosary is a private prayer,so there is no official rule from the Church about it. Personally, I prefer to say all the Mysteries as usual because we have to contemplate on the whole life of Jesus and not only on    one part of it. Even during Lent, we should meditate on his birth and other aspects of his life.The mystery of Jesus has to be concentrated in complete vision, with the help of all the mysteries and at all times of the year.

How are the Saints guide for Prayer?

The saints are our models for prayer by the example of their lives, their writings, and their intense prayer life.Even now in heaven, they contemplate God, praise him and constantly care for those whom they have left on earth. We can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world.Their intercession is their most exalted service to God 's plan. In the communion of saints, throughout the history of the Church, there have developed different types of spiritualities that teach us how to live and to practice the way of prayer.[See CCC 2683-2684]

It is said in the Bible, do not worship or bow before any idols or images,then isn't taking a bow or kissing images going against the Word of God?

As for venerating, not worshipping, of idols and images, the coming of Christ made all the difference in how we worship God. When you read in the Old Testament, the promised people weren't supposed to worship idols because it inspired in them false ideas of what God looked like. For example, they worshipped Baal, an image of a bull and considered it as the god of fertility. The second council of Nicaea defined this matter by stating "Images aren't adored (worshipped in the strict sense), but they are honored, with the honor passing to the One represented. The same is true of images of the Saints, with the lesser honor due to them." This is like the love we express for our near and dear ones when we place photographs