History of the Rosary
The Rosary is a set of prayers that we offer to Our Lady as a crown of roses.
October is the month consecrated to the Rosary. The devotion to the Holy Rosary was already current among Cistercian monks in the twelfth century under the influence of the Dominicans. You can see paintings of Our Lady of the Rosary in many churches. Our Lady is seen with the Infant Jesus giving a rosary to Saint Dominic (founder of the order of Preachers) and to Saint Catherine of Sienna, famous Dominican nun.
The Rosary contains 153 « Hail Marys». You can say the rosary on your own, with your family or with a group of people. It contains joyful mysteries, sorrowful mysteries and glorious mysteries. To celebrate the year 2000, Pope John II added the luminous mysteries. Each of the different mysteries offers us a subject of meditation on our Faith :
| The Infancy of Jesus | Joyful Mysteries |
| The Passion of Our Lord | Sorrowful Mysteries |
| The Glory of Christ | Glorious Mysteries |
| The Lights of the Gospel | Luminous Mysteries |
In the nineteenth century, when Our Lady appeared in the grotto of Massabielle in Lourdes, this devotion was increased and, in 1886, Pope Leo XIII decided that the month of October would be the month dedicated to the rosary. In 1858, Bernadette Soubirous was praying the rosary when Our Lady appeared to her and told her : « I am the Immaculate Conception ». John Paul II who was elected pope on 16th October 1978 used to pray the rosary every day and wrote an encyclical about it “Rosarium Virginis Mariae“.
In Lourdes, the Blessed Virgin appeared 18 times, always holding a rosary in her hands. At her appearance, a wild rose flourished in February to confirm the presence of Our Lady, the “Rosa Mystica”.
Saint Bernadette said:
“Our Lady had no tiara, no jewels, but on each of Her feet there was a yellow rose and she was devoutly holding a rosary.”
In La Salette, where the Blessed Virgin also appeared in 1846, she was draped with three garlands of roses. In October 1917, while World War One was raging all over Europe, Our Lady appeared to three children in the Portuguese village of Fatima.
The rosary is a special gift from Mary to us.
Many times have we seen the irresistible power of the rosary against the enemies of Jesus Christ.
A Fatima, Marie nous a enseigné que la récitation du Rosaire n’est pas simplement une autre dévotion pieuse mais qu’elle est d’une absolue nécessité pour le salut du monde contemporain.
In 1951, Venerable Pope Pius XII said :
“The Church, strong as David with his sling, will only be able to face the devil without any fear through the recitation of the rosary and not with its own strength, neither with any weapons or human power.”
In Fatima, Our Lady told us that the prayer of the Rosary is not simply another pious devotion but that it is an absolute necessity for the salvation of the world.
In 1951, Venerable Pope Pius XII said :
“The Church, strong as David with his sling, will only be able to face the devil without any fear through the recitation of the Rosary and not with its own strength, neither with any weapons or human power.”
The year 1917 was an important one; it changed the face of the world. It was the year when the four empires that had structured Europe disappeared: the Ottoman empire, the German empire, the Russian empire and the Austro-Hungarian empire. The millions of dead, in the hell of World War One, showed us that Our Lady was right. It was also on 13th October 1917 that, in Fatima, 70,000 people were able to see the miracle of the sun. [Source]
On the 100th anniversary of the last apparition of Our Lady in Fatima (Friday 13th October 1917), Pope Francis asked all Christians to pray the Rosary to obtain peace in the world.
Extracts from the newsletter of the church Saint Laurent en Châtaignerie (France, October 2017)
How to learn to pray to rosary
1. The prayers that make up the rosary
2. Meditation of the Mysteries of the Rosary
