Rosary beads of various colors and sizes, on display at religious stores, catch my attention. I take one as a remembrance of my visit to a shrine or at the end of a retreat. Some prefer to carry the Rosary around the neck, some keep one under their pillow, and some in their pocket, touching the beads from time to time. Religious men and women wear the Rosary on their habits. The Dominicans wear the Rosary on the left side, the side on which soldiers bore the sword. This order of itinerant preachers, moving from place to place, prayed the Rosary, to receive Mother Mary’s help in breaking the strongholds of evil through their preaching.
Here’s how the Rosary originated:
In 1170, Dominic Guzman was born in Spain. As a youth, he acquired a devotion to Mary, imbibing a mix of vocal and mental prayer and hearing stories from his mother about the life of Jesus. In 1214, Dominic, now a priest, faced distress at his lack of success in his preaching to refute the Albigensian heretics in Southern France. These heretics denied the divinity of Christ and renounced the sanctity of marriage and the procreation of children. Dominic turned to the Blessed Virgin Mary for help. Mother Mary appeared to him, revealing the powerful weapon of the Holy Rosary to assist him in his labor to win souls. Dominic promptly obeyed and saw that the effects, piety, faith, and union began to return.
How providential that Mother Mary gave the Church the “Rosary” through St. Dominic Guzman! This tradition has been supported for the last 200 years and encouraged by at least a dozen Popes, upheld in Church history since 1945, and referred to in the Roman Breviary. The artistic depiction of Our Lady handing the Rosary to St. Dominic, prominently displayed at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France, catches the attention of pilgrims as they enter the sacred place. Pope Benedict XIV records that St. Dominic, undoubtedly due to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, became the designer, recorder, promoter, and most illustrious preacher of this admirable and truly heavenly instrument, the Rosary.
Over the centuries, there has been an evolution of the Rosary. Initially, St. Dominic combined his preaching with the Psalter of Our Lady as it existed then, and this eventually evolved into what the Rosary is today. St. John Paul II, in his encyclical Rosarium Virginis Mariae, teaches us that to recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate the face of Christ with Mary. The addition of the five Luminous Mysteries by Pope John Paul II in October 2002 (the Year of the Rosary) has made the Rosary complete, as we experience the intertwining of our lives with Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection. Now, as we pray the Mysteries of Light, we are sanctified through Christ’s public ministry and the gift of His sacramental life to the Church.
The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, celebrated on October 7, reminds us to place our trust in Mother Mary, the Mediatrix of all graces. The feast traces its origin to October 7, 1571, when Christian sailors aboard 200 ships prayed the Rosary together with the faithful across Europe, seeking the Blessed Virgin’s intercession against the advancing Turkish forces that threatened Christianity. Their fervent prayers were answered through Mary’s powerful intercession; victory was miraculously won. The words of the “Memorare” capture this same faith and confidence: in times of danger and distress, let us hasten to Mary, our refuge and help.
Our Blessed Mother has repeatedly reminded us of the need to pray the Rosary. In her apparition in Fatima, Mary exhorted the three children to pray the Rosary as a remedy for overcoming Communism and bringing peace. Indeed, the words of St. Lucia of Fatima, “There is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, in our personal life or our families… that cannot be solved by the Rosary”, are testimony enough. At Lourdes, where St. Bernadette saw Mother Mary, she at once began praying the Rosary. Mary had a Rosary in her hand and joined St. Bernadette in the Glory Be.
How beautiful and blessed is the deep experience of praying the Rosary, a combination of vocal as well as mental prayer.
St. Bernard, in his sermon, honors Mary with these words: “Eve was a thorn, wounding, bringing death to all; in Mary we see a rose, soothing everybody’s hurts, giving the destinies of salvation back to all.” Mary, the highly favored one, leads us through this garden of roses, clothing us with the armor of faith to face life’s storms and giving us light to overcome the evils that trouble us as we reflect on the life of Christ. As the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, she welcomes us into her loving care. When we open our hearts to her Son, Jesus, we find the graces we need, answers to our prayers, freedom from evil, and the gift of peace.
(Severina Peres, a retired banking professional, who lives in Mumbai, contributes regularly to Catholic magazines and is involved in ministry to senior citizens.)
