Our Lady of the Rosary
Feast Day October 7
Many religions use beads to keep track of prayers. Our
Rosary, a circle of beads, is like a garland offered to Mary because we pray a
prayer on each bead. This well-loved prayer has its roots in the 150 psalms.
People who couldn’t read began praying 150 Hail Marys instead, the equivalent
of three of our modern rosaries covering the original three sets of mysteries.
The story of the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is an
interesting one. In the 16th century Pope Pius V was having trouble with the
Ottoman Turks, who were a real danger to Christianity. After months of
disagreements and bickering, he was able to unite Spain, Venice, and the States
of the Church in a naval expedition to fight the Turks.
The two navies met in the Gulf of Lepanto in Greece on
October 7, 1571. On the same day, the Rosary Confraternity of Rome was meeting
at the Dominican headquarters there. The group recited the Rosary for the
special intention of the Christians at battle. The Christians defeated the
Turks in a spectacular victory and believed it was the intercessory power of
the Blessed Virgin that won the victory. Pope Pius V dedicated the day as one
of thanksgiving to Our Lady of Victory. Pope Gregory XIII later changed the
name to the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. The story of the feast of Our Lady
of the Rosary focuses on the intercessory power of Mary. It shows that when
Christians are in danger, they can go to Mary. And when an individual is in
pain, discouraged, or having trouble accepting God’s will, he or she can also
go to Mary. She will pray to her Son for anyone who calls on her. Anyone who
prays to Mary no longer feels alone because she prays with them and for them.
Mary encouraged praying the Rosary in her apparitions. At Lourdes when she
appeared to Saint Bernadette, Mary had a Rosary. As Bernadette prayed it, Mary
joined in on the Glory Be prayers. At Fatima Mary exhorted the three children
who saw her to pray the Rosary for peace.
The Rosary is a deep prayer because as we recite the Our
Fathers, Hail Marys, and Glory Bes, we meditate on the mysteries in the lives
of Jesus and Mary. No wonder it pleases Our Lady when we pray the Rosary.
***
Importance: The word Rosary means “Crown of Roses,” and each prayer in the Rosary is considered a flower presented to Mary. It is called the “Breviary of the common people” and the “Psalms of the Illiterate.” The prayers we repeat are Biblical and hence “inspired,” and the mysteries we meditate upon are taken from the lives of Jesus and Mary.
The prayer “Our Father” was taught by Jesus himself. The
“Hail Mary” is also rooted in the Scriptures. Its first half echoes the words
of the Archangel Gabriel and those of Elizabeth, both addressed to Mary. The
third prayer — the “Glory be to the Father” — ancient in its wording, surely
reflects the unceasing prayer of adoration and praise found in the Book of
Revelation. The various events in the lives of Jesus and Mary on which we
meditate during the Rosary are expressions of the Paschal Mystery, that is, the
suffering, death and Resurrection of Jesus, in which Mary shared.
History: Prayer using beads is as old as
mankind. The Hindus in India used to recite the thousand names of their
gods and goddesses and their “mantra” prayers using multi-bead strings, and
their sages wear such strings around the neck, constantly rolling the beads in
prayer. The Jews used bead-strings to repeat the Psalms, the Laws of
Moses and the memorized sayings of the prophets. The Muslims use strings with a
hundred beads for their prayer. In the ninth century, the Christian monks
who recited the 150 psalms instructed the illiterate common people to recite
the Our Father 150 times. It was in the eleventh century
that the Europeans added the Hail Mary to the Our
Father. According to a legend, in 1214, the Blessed Virgin Mary
appeared to St. Dominic Guzman and instructed him to pray the bead-string in a
new form as an effective antidote against the Albigensian heresy. The
Rosary devotion attained its name and present form by 1500 A.D. An additional
boost to the Rosary devotion was given in 1917, on the thirteenth of May, when
our Blessed Mother, in her sixth apparition to the three shepherd children,
demanded, “Say the Rosary every day… Pray, pray a lot and offer
sacrifices for sinners… I’m Our Lady of the Rosary.” The “Fatima prayer”
“O, my Jesus” was added in the twentieth century. Pope John Paul II enriched
the Rosary by adding the “Luminous Mysteries” (Rosarium Virginis
Mariae)
How to pray the Rosary: The ideal is to
recite at least five decades of the rosary (and if possible, the entire
twenty), with one’s whole family daily. We need to say the Rosary slowly
enough to make its recitation devout and reverent. We are to reflect for a
minute or two on the mystery, and then concentrate on the meaning of the
prayers as we say them, to avoid distractions. Besides saying the rosary with
others in the family before bedtime, let us make it a habit of reciting the
rosary during our journey to the workplace and during our exercises. (LP)
Oct 7: THE FEAST OF OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY
The feast in memorial of a rosary miracle: The
first major Rosary miracle, and one of the most impressive, is the one that
occurred at the Battle of Lepanto. This historic battle took place on 7 October
1571 when a fleet of the Holy
League, a coalition of southern European Catholic maritime
states, decisively defeated the main fleet of the Ottoman
Empire in five hours of fighting at Lepanto, on the northern edge of
the Gulf
of Corinth, off western Greece.
The defeat was attributed to the effect rosaries recited by the soldiers and
their respective countrymen for the sole purpose of preventing the Muslim army
invading Europe and destroying Christianity as they did in the Byzantine
Empire. The Turks had nearly three times more troops. The winds were against
the Christians and the conditions were poor. But after the rosary recitals by
the soldiers ended, the winds aided the Christians who gained a colossal
victory against the Turks. This was one of the greatest naval upsets in history
from which the Turks never fully recovered and their threat in the
Mediterranean Sea ended. Following this victory, Pope Pius V established
the Feast of Our Lady of Victories on October 7th. The name
was later changed to its present form – the Feast of Our Lady of the
Rosary. The purpose was to thank God for the victory of Christians over the
Turks at Lepanto—a victory attributed to the praying of the rosary. Pope
Clement XI extended the feast to the universal Church in 1716 and it is
celebrated on the 7th of October, observing October as the month of the
rosary.
Importance: The word Rosary means “crown
of roses” or “garland of roses” in medieval Latin, and each prayer in the
Rosary is considered a flower presented to Mary. In the opening pages of his
spiritual classic, The Secret of the Rosary, St. Louis Marie de
Montfort describes the Rosary as “a veritable school of Christian life” because
of its beauty, power and value. It is a humble, a practical and a powerful
means of contemplation, and a great source of blessing for those who pray and
for the whole world. It is called the “Breviary of the common people” and the
“Psalms of the Illiterate.” The prayers we repeat are Biblical and, hence,
“inspired,” and the mysteries we meditate upon are taken from the lives of
Jesus and Mary. As we are saying the Rosary, we are, in fact, in contact
with two of the most basic prayers in our Christian tradition: the Lord’s
Prayer (the Our Father), and the Angelic Salutation (the Hail Mary). The
first is fully rooted in the Scriptures, taught by Jesus Himself. The second is
largely rooted in the Scriptures, its first half echoing the words of the
Archangel Gabriel and of Elizabeth as each addressed Mary. The third
prayer — the “Glory be to the Father” — ancient in its wording — surely
reflects the unceasing prayer of adoration and praise found in the Book of
Revelation.
The Rosary is described as a compendium of the life of Jesus
and Mary and a summary of the liturgical year. During the recitation of the
Rosary, we meditate on the saving mysteries of our Lord’s life and the faithful
witness of our Blessed Mother. Journeying through the Joyful, Luminous,
Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries of the Rosary, we bring to mind our Lord’s
Incarnation, His public ministry, His passion and death, and His Resurrection
from the dead. The various events in the lives of Jesus and Mary on which we
meditate during the Rosary are expressions of the one basic and foundational
mystery of the Christian faith: the Paschal Mystery, that is, the suffering,
death and Resurrection of Jesus in which Mary shared. Hence, by praying
the Rosary, we come to live out the Paschal Mystery in our lives, thereby
becoming authentic disciples of Jesus, people who really follow in his
footsteps, dying with him so as to rise with him. We also ask for the prayers
of our Blessed Mother, the exemplar of faith, who leads all believers to her
Son. Hence, we as modern-day Catholic Christians need to pray the Rosary
and live the Rosary.
History: Prayer using beads is as old as
mankind. The Hindus in India used to recite the thousand names of their
gods and goddesses and their “mantra” prayers using multi-bead strings and
their sages wear such bead-strings around their necks, constantly rolling the
beads in prayer. The Jews used beads to repeat the Psalms, the Laws of
Moses and the memorized sayings of the prophets. The Muslims use bead-strings
with a hundred beads for their prayer. In the ninth century, the
Christian monks who recited the 150 psalms instructed the illiterate common
people to recite the “Our Father” 150 times using beads. These strings of beads
became known as Paternosters, the Latin for “Our Father.” It was in
the eleventh century that the Europeans added “Hail Mary” to “Our Father.”
According to legend, in 1214, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Dominic
Guzman and instructed him to pray with the bead-string in a new form as an
effective antidote against the Albigensian heresy. At least a dozen Popes
have mentioned St. Dominic’s connection with the Rosary in various Papal
pronouncements, sanctioning his role as at least a “pious belief.” But in 1922,
Dom Louis Gougaud stated, “The various elements which enter into the
composition of that Catholic devotion commonly called the Rosary are the
product of a long and gradual development which began before St. Dominic’s
time, which continued without his having any share in it, and which only
attained its final shape several centuries after his death.” Historians agree
that St. Dominic preached its use to convert sinners and those who had strayed
from the Faith. Dominic of Prussia, a Carthusian monk, in 1409 popularized the
practice setting 50 phrases about the lives of Jesus and Mary with 50 Hail
Marys. Henry Kalkar (d. 1408), another Carthusian monk, divided the 150 Hail
Marys into groups of 10, with each group marked by an Our Father. The structure
of the five-decade Rosary based on the three sets of mysteries — Joyful,
Sorrowful and Glorious – was later introduced. The Rosary devotion had attained
its present form and gotten its name the rosarium (“rose
garden”), by AD 1500. An additional boost to the Rosary devotion was given in
1917, on the thirteenth of May, when our Blessed Mother, in her sixth
apparition to the three children at Fatima, demanded, “Say the Rosary every
day… Pray, pray a lot and offer sacrifices for sinners… I’m Our
Lady of the Rosary.” She advised them to say the Rosary rightly, daily and
devoutly for a holier life and world peace. The “Fatima prayer”
“O, my Jesus” was added in the twentieth century. Pope John Paul II enriched
the Rosary by adding the “Luminous Mysteries” in 2002. Fr. Roche and Fr.
Patrick Peyton, C.S.C. (died in 1992), were mainly responsible for the
widespread practice of this devotion in modern times.
Devotion encouraged by the Popes: Pope
Pius V instituted the Feast of the Queen of the Rosary in the sixteenth
century, in thanksgiving for the Lepanto victory. The Battle of
Lepanto took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy
League, a coalition of southern European Catholic maritime
states, decisively defeated the main fleet of the Turkish forces of Ottoman
Empire in five hours of fighting on the northern edge of the Gulf
of Corinth, off western Greece ,
thus preventing the Islamic invasion of Europe. This famous naval victory won
by the Christian fleet at Lepanto was attributed to the help of the Holy Mother
of God whose aid was invoked through the intensive, united, joint force of
praying the Rosary at that critical time. Pope Leo XIII in 1891 declared
October as the month of the Rosary. For Pope Pius VII the Rosary was “an
antidote against the evils of the day.” “It is the sure means of God’s
blessings to families” (Pius XII). “Recite the Rosary devoutly; you will
have peace in your families” (Pius X). In his Mirabilis
Cultus, Pope Paul VI reminded us that we are praying “Bible-based
prayers” in the Rosary. Pope John Paul II described the Rosary as
“looking into the mysteries of Christ’s life through the eyes of Mary.”
In his Apostolic letter on the rosary, Rosarium Virginis Mariae,
Pope John Paul II emphasized that this prayer is meant to focus our attention
on Jesus Christ: Although the repeated Hail Mary is addressed directly to Mary,
it is to Jesus that the act of love is ultimately directed (RVM 26).
A favorite prayer of eminent Catholics:
Blessed Mother Teresa was always seen reciting the Rosary. Daniel
O’Connor, the “Father of the Nation” of Ireland recited the Rosary in his
private room before each session of the parliament, and it is no wonder that
Ireland is called “The Land of the Rosary.” The famous proponent of the
Rosary, Fr. Peyton, challenges us: “Set apart ten minutes for Rosary at home,
you will make your home a heaven of peace.” The great scientist, William
Ampere, in his old age inspired and converted Frederick Osanam (the founder of
the St. Vincent de Paul Society), by his daily recital of the Rosary at a
grotto. The last words of Louis Pasteur to his nurse before his death far
away from his home were: “Tell my wife that I died reciting the Rosary.”
What about repetitions of Hail Marys? Is
it not this the kind of repetitious prayer Jesus condemned—a superficial,
mechanical way of praying to God, characteristic of pagans -while true prayer
is talking to God and listening to Him? The answer is no. Jesus taught a
prayer: “Our Father,” and he intended that we repeat it. In the garden of
Gethsemane, he said the same prayer three times (Matt. 26:44). In the
Old Testament, parts of Psalm 118 are structured around the
repeated phrase “His steadfast love endures forever,” and the book of Daniel
presents the three men in the fiery furnace constantly repeating the phrase
“Sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever” (Dan. 3:52–88). In the
New Testament, the book of Revelation describes how the very worship of God in
heaven includes words of holy praise that are repeated without end. The four
living creatures, gathered around God’s throne, “never cease to sing, ‘Holy,
holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’” (Rev.
4:8). Although trying to manipulate God by vain repetition is always wrong,
proper repetitious prayer is very Biblical and pleasing to God.
How to pray the Rosary: The ideal is to
have the whole family recite at least five decades of the Rosary daily. We need
to say the Rosary slowly enough to make its recitation devout and reverent. We
are to reflect for a minute on the mystery and then concentrate on the
meaning of the prayers as we say them to avoid distractions. Besides saying the
Rosary with others in the family before bedtime, let us make a habit of
reciting the Rosary during our journey to the workplace and during our
exercises. If we do so, we shall experience for ourselves the truth of
these words: “Meditating on the mysteries of the most holy Rosary of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, may we imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise.”
Amen. Fr. Tony. Supplement to XXVIII Sunday “Scriptural Homilies”)
Reasons why the rosary should be prayed often, even
daily(http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/prayers/rosary/#ixzz2gWmOWe8r
- “Among
all the devotions approved by the Church none has been so favored by so
many miracles as the devotion of the Most Holy Rosary” (Pope Pius IX).
- “Say
the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world” (Our Lady of Fátima).
- “There
is no surer means of calling down God’s blessings upon the family . . .
than the daily recitation of the Rosary” (Pope Pius XII).
- “We do
not hesitate to affirm again publicly that we put great confidence in the
Holy Rosary for the healing of evils of our times” (Pope Pius XII).
- “No
one can live continually in sin and continue to say the Rosary: either
they will give up sin or they will give up the Rosary” (Bishop Hugh
Doyle).
- “The
Rosary is a magnificent and universal prayer for the needs of the Church,
the nations and the entire world” (Pope John XXIII).
- “The
Rosary is the compendium of the entire Gospel” (Pope Paul VI quoting Pope
Pius XII).
- “Meditation
on the mysteries of the Rosary . . . can be an excellent preparation for
the celebration of those same mysteries in the liturgical actions [i.e.
the Mass] and can also become a continuing echo thereof” (Pope Paul VI).
- “My
impression is that the Rosary is of the greatest value not only according
to the words of Our Lady at Fátima, but according to the effects of the
Rosary one sees throughout history. My impression is that Our Lady wanted
to give ordinary people, who might not know how to pray, this simple
method of getting closer to God” (Sister Lucia, one of the seers of
Fátima).
- “How
beautiful is the family that recites the Rosary every evening” (Pope John
Paul II).
- Pope
John Paul II has called the Rosary his “favorite prayer,” after the Mass
and the Liturgy of the Hours.
- Louis
de Montfort warns us against both the ignorant and scholars who regard the
Rosary as something of little importance…”the Rosary is a priceless
treasure inspired by God.” L-13
2) The Family Rosary Crusade organized and
directed by Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., sought to revive the practice of
families reciting the Rosary daily within their homes. The Crusade has the
encouragement and support of Pope Pius XII and it is succeeding admirably in
realizing the desire of the Pope that no family would allow a day to pass
without the recitation of the Rosary
3) Is rosary a “vain repetition” condemned by
Jesus? The Rosary is contemplative prayer, designed to encourage
meditation on fundamental elements of the life of Jesus and his Mother. Keating
summarizes: If Catholics merely recite the prayers, whether vocally or
silently, they’re missing the whole point of the Rosary. It isn’t just a
recitation of prayers, but a recitation borne on meditation of the life of
Christ and his mother. Critics, not knowing about the meditation part, say the
Rosary seems boring, uselessly repetitious, and meaningless. Their criticism
carries weight if you reduce the Rosary to such a formula. It is the meditation
on the mysteries that gives the Rosary its power and its staying power. Jesus
himself… prayed the third time” (Mt 26:44, “So, he… prayed for the third time,
saying the same words.” Also Lk 11:5-13 on persistence in prayer). –
People sometimes complain that the repetition in the Rosary
is ‘boring’. Did you know that this type of repetition is a style of
prayer called meditation and it is meant to focus one’s attention on the words
of the phrase and tune out everything else? The words of the Hail Mary
are oddly comforting and as you focus on repeating them, they bring stillness
to the mind and the spirit. The words of the Hail Mary are directly from
scripture when we witness Gabriel greet Mary at the Annunciation. So, in
this case, repetition is a good thing. As you repeat the prayer, greeting
Mary literally becomes part of you. Educators know that repetition
schools the mind in a way that nothing else can accomplish. So this type
of repetitive prayer is healing in more ways than one. In addition, the
twenty meditations of the Rosary are all straight from scripture. They
are events that trace Jesus life and as we recall each we are really looking
through Mary’s eyes. Of course the Our Father and the Glory Be are prayers that
Jesus himself taught. There is not one shred of the Rosary that is not
directed toward bringing us closer to Jesus with the able assistance of his
Mother. Bishop Fulton J. Sheen called the Rosary the perfect prayer
because in addition to engaging the mind and the spirit, our fingers touch the
beads and we are engaged in a physical way also. See more at: http://www.sfacatholic.net/index.cfm?load=page&page=329#sthash.05FcpHrG.dpuf.
Jews repeated the psalms in their prayer. We repeat “responsorial psalm” in the Mass.
A very helpful version of the Rosary is The Scriptural Rosary. Also, very useful is to meditate on the sorrowful mysteries and how they help us to “love our wife (husband) as Jesus loved the Church” (Eph. 5:21,25). – See more at: http://www.sfacatholic.net/index.cfm?load=page&page=329#sthash.05FcpHrG.dpuf (October, 2018)LP From Fr. Tony)