The term ‘Rosary’ comes from the Latin rosarium that alternately implies a rose garden, a bed of roses, a garland of flowers, and a collection of nice quotes. So, when we pray the Rosary, we are giving beautiful flowers to Mary and to God. The Rosary is a string of beads or a knotted cord used to count prayers. The term is also applied to the prayers themselves. Rosaries are used in many religions but most often associated with Roman Catholics in a unique and outstanding way. In Roman Catholic practice, the Rosary is a string of beads made in the form of a circle, with a pendant crucifix. The standard Marian Rosary consists of five sets of beads called decades, each composed of one large and ten smaller beads. On the large beads, the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father), is said; on the smaller beads, the Hail Mary, or Ave Maria. In between the decades the “Glory be,” a doxology, is recited. As the prayers are said, the person reciting the Rosary may meditate on a series of New Testament events, called the “Mysteries” of the Rosary, from the lives of Christ and His Mother, Mary. The Mysteries of the Rosary are virtually a summary of the church’s liturgical year. Before Pope St. John Paul II added the Luminous Mysteries, it was traditionally believed that the 15 Mysteries (150 Hail Marys) were the summary of the 150 psalms for Christians who could not read and write.
Traditionally, the rosary was ascribed to the Spanish theologian St. Dominic early in the 13th century. The Rosary dates to a revelation in a vision by Our Lady to this saint who is the founder of the Order of Preachers. St. Dominic had been praying on finding ways to combat the Albigensian Heresy and the Rosary was given him in a vision by the Blessed Virgin Mary as a weapon against that heresy. Other heresies have equally been defeated with this same tool. The Rosary was popularized by Alan de la Roche while Pope Leo X accorded the month of October the month of the Rosary. As early as 2nd C, the struggle against Satan was already ascribed to Mary (cf. Rev. 12:1-17, Gen 3:15, Rom 5:1-6:1ff, 1Cor. 15:20-21, 54-57). Mary is the terror of demons, she will crush the head of any of our enemies. It was on 7th October 1571 that the great naval battle of Lepanto was fought, the victory of Christian Europe saved Christian civilization against the invading Muslim Turks. It was to gratefully commemorate Mary’s role in this victory (for the soldiers often prayed the Rosary before going to fight) that Pope St. Pius V instituted the Feast of Our Lady of Victory on this day.
Later popes, in keeping with the fact that victory was basically the fruit of the Rosary, termed it the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. The feast was officially and permanently placed on the liturgical calendar of the universal church in 1716 when Pope Eugene won another important victory over the same enemy in Hungary still with the greatest tool, The Rosary. On 13th May 1917, in the third year of WWI which was to cost eight million lives, important events were taking place simultaneously. The Mother of God Herself deigned to appear in the first six apparitions to three children to make through to them one final appeal to our materialistic, war-torn world. “In a spirit of sacrifice to our Lord, are you willing to accept everything He may send you as reparation for the sins by which His Majesty is offended, as a means for converting all sinners, and as atonement for the blasphemies offered to the Immaculate Heart of Mary?” a simple “yes” being the reply, she urged: “Then pray the Rosary often and devoutly, for the peace of the world!” “Recite the Rosary daily, and after the Gloria Patri of each decade add: O my Jesus, forgive us our sins! Save us from the fires of hell! Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who most need thy mercy!”
A community like ours, needs to uphold Mary’s Queenly role whereby she carries our prayers to Jesus, our Lord and King, absorbing them into her own and leaving aside whatever may be unworthy. This is one of the best Marian devotions. With Mary as listener, we develop the art of praising the Triune God. The Rosary is a perfect form of prayerful tribute to the Trinity, commencing as it does with the recitation to the Apostles’ Creed and the others. The Rosary possesses great power to enlighten and sanctify those who pray it, having a special efficacy of intercession. It is the best means of perfection for it helps us reflect and copy the lives of our models (as we pray in the “Let us Pray” after the “Hail Holy Queen,” … that we may both imitate what it contains and obtain what it promises), it is the wealth of sanctification, sublime prayer, means of salvation, the best weapon against the greatest enemy, it is used for transforming any group, contemplating Jesus with Mary, etc. The ‘Hail Holy Queen’ acknowledges Mary’s ongoing role in our salvation as only next to that of Jesus. Let priests, religious, fathers, mothers and children pray the Rosary in season and out of season for whatever thing one has to do and it will be successful.
A very big warning: Do not try to dissuade or discourage others from preaching, praying or sharing the Rosary because by so doing, you become an enemy of souls. Don’t try to discourage/fight it, please. When we pray the Rosary attentively with a lot of devotion, perseverance, penance and remorse for our sins, fighting distractions, with purity of intention, etc, the following effects, blessings or benefits are received: sinners are forgiven, souls that thirst are refreshed, those under satanic attacks and possessions are freed from their bonds, those who weep find happiness, those who are tempted overcome the temptations, the poor find help, religious are reformed, ignorant are instructed, the living learn how to overcome pride, the dead (the Holy Souls) have their pains eased, people gain plenary indulgence particularly at the hour of death, some sicknesses are healed, etc. Try it and share the results with others! Mary needs you to propagate her devotion. “I have never yet found a man who was not converted, if previously I had time to pray the Rosary” (St Clement). “Never will anyone who prays his Rosary everyday be led astray. This is a statement that I would gladly sign with my blood” (St. Louis de Monrfort).
Read: The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis De Montfort, Rosarium Virginis Mariae by Pope John Paul II.
