Women in the Catholic Church inspired vast quantities of Catholic art - notably images of the Madonna and Child—and various Catholic prayers, Marian hymns and devotions (notably Hail Mary): "Ave Maris Stella" (Latin, "Hail Star of the Sea") is a plainsong Vespers hymn to Mary and inspiration for the English hymn "Hail Holy Queen". The "Salve Regina", also known as the Hail Holy Queen, is a Marian hymn and one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons. Its poetic verses portray Mary as a figure of hope in a time of trial: The prominence of Mary in the life of the Church grew gradually.
Prayer beads were presumably used to count repetitions of the Lord's Prayer. Later, Roman Catholics and eventually Anglicans prayed the rosary with strings of 59 beads. The term "rosary" comes from the Latin "rosarium" "rose garden" and is an important and traditional devotion of the Catholic Church, combining prayer and meditation in sequences (called "decades") of the Lord's Prayer, 10 Hail Marys, and a Gloria Patri as well as a number of other prayers (such as the Apostles' Creed and the Salve Regina) at the beginning and end. The prayers are accompanied by meditation on the Mysteries, events in the life and