THEOLOGY

History of the Holy Rosary

Nicole Adri | 12 – STEM

I. Origin of the Rosary

 Religious people have been looking for a system in which people can
count their prayers as it is recited by a group of people. Christian
monks used to throw pebbles, genuflect or do the Sign of the Cross to
keep track of their prayers or acts of worship, and this later evolved to
the usage of stringed pebbles or beads.
 There are psalms to be recited, however not everyone could read, so
they used “Pater Nosters” or the recitation of Our Father instead.
 Hail Mary became more prevalent in use, and was soon recited along
with the Our Fathers, as a salutation to the Blessed Virgin.
 The Rosary then came into common and rudimentary use.

II. Historic People and Events

 St. Dominic
o Changed skepticism on the Rosary
o Hoped to return heretics to Christianity
o Our Lady appeared and explained to St. Dominic how the
Rosary was to be prayed: the 150 Hail Marys were to be
divided by Our Fathers into groupings of 10. As each decade
was said, one of the 15 principal mysteries of the life of Jesus
and Mary was to be the subject of meditation. This was
explained so that people may pray her Psalter as a weapon
against this warfare to return people to the One true Faith
o Mary reiterated that meditation is heart of the prayer: “When
people say 150 Angelic Salutations this prayer is very helpful
to them and is a very pleasing tribute to me. But they will do
better still and will please me even more if they say these
salutations while meditating on the life, death and passion of
Jesus Christ — for this meditation is the soul of this prayer.”
o St. Dominic preached and converted many people, and the
praying of the rosary aided in the victory of the Crusade aided
by Simon de Montfort.
 Bl. Alan de la Roche
o People forgot about the importance of praying the Rosary, so
Bl. Alan was raised to help people return to praying the Rosary.
o Jesus spoke through the host during the Holy Mass: “You are
crucifying Me again now because you have all the learning and
understanding that you need to preach My Mother’s Rosary,
and you are not doing so. If you only did this you could teach
many souls the right path and lead them away from sin — but
 you are not doing it and so you are guilty of all the sins that
they commit.”
o He returned many people to the faith and returned the
prevalence of praying the Rosary through the revelations given
by Mary.
o Mary was so pleased with Bl. Alan that She made him her new
spouse.
 The Battle of Lepanto, 1571
o There was a war being waged by the Mohammedans, or “the
Scourge of God,” as Constantinople was seized, and most of the
Arabian Peninsula that were practicing the Christian faith were
seized.
o Pope Pius V rallied Europe’s leaders to create their own
defense.
o The battles ensued at the sea.
o Rosaries were prayed during the war, and Our Lady helped
Europe win
 La Rochelle, 1628
o Protestants has declared war against Christianity
o King Louis the Just (Louis XIII) began the siege of La Rochelle on
France’s Atlantic coast, the stronghold of the Huguenots. The king
wrote his mother from the field to have public prayers said for
victory.
o Accordingly, from May 20, 1628 until victory was attained on
November 1, Feast of All Saints, the Rosary was recited every
Saturday.
o The Litany of Loreto was also intoned with the reigning queen,
the queen mother, court nobles, high prelates, religious and
laypersons joining in a procession.
o They won the war and the University of Paris proclaimed it a
miracle of the Most Holy Rosary.
 Belgrade, 1717
o The Turks had violated all the peace treaties to which they
were party and were embarked on a campaign of violent
slaughter
o Pope Clement XI raised an army to defend the people against
the Turks. It marched on Peterwardein in Hungary.
o Victory in the battle there was won on August 5, 1716. A few
days later, Temesvar, the last Turkish stronghold in Hungary,
was taken. One year later, on August 1, 1717, the Serbian
capital of Belgrade, occupied and defended by 150,000 Turks,
surrendered to Prince Eugene of Austria after three weeks of
siege.
 o These glorious victories led to the peace treaty of Passarewitz,
with the Turks being forced to accept the terms of the
Christians.
o Pope Clement XI extended the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary to
the Universal Church in thanksgiving to the Blessed Virgin.
Further, when the battle standards captured from the Turks
were sent to Rome, the pope, accompanied by the Sacred
College of Cardinals, placed them on the altar of the Blessed
Virgin in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
 St. Louis de Montfort
o Died during the victory of Pterwardein
o Fought against Jansenism which was aa heresy that
condemned devotions and ignored God’s love. Our Lady, the
angels and saints were cast into obscurity.
o It was in answer to this heresy that Jesus Christ appeared to St.
Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1675 to establish devotion to His
Sacred Heart. The apostolate was able to reawaken the faith.
o When he (St. Louis) arrived there in 1705 the people had sunk
so low they resembled pagans in their way of life. At first, they
greatly resented his coming. By the time he left, however, every
person in the village was once again practicing the Faith and
saying the Rosary daily.
 St. Francis Xavier in Japan
o He performed conversions, sacraments, and helped the sick
through the rosary
o This wonderful gift was to be the chief means whereby many
Japanese Catholics were able to keep the Faith, without the aid
of priests, for 250 years.
o By 1615, a mere 66 years after the Faith was first brought to
the islands, there were 400,000 Catholics in Japan. However
Japan’s rulers turned against them.
o Missionaries were either expelled or martyred, and thousands
of Japanese faithful won the never-fading crown of martyrdom.
o Without the presence of priests, remaining Catholics had but
two sacraments available to them: Baptism (which can be
administered in time of emergency by anyone having the use of
reason) and Holy Matrimony (which is administered by the
couple themselves).
o In 1859, missionaries were finally allowed to return. One of the
first to arrive was Pere Petitjean. He received a great
consolation and surprise on March 17, 1865. That was the date
several Japanese approached him with three questions: 1) Was
he a priest (in order to determine if he was a spy) 2) Was he
married (because priests cannot be married) 3) Where was his
rosary. When he produced the required article, he was told the
 incredible story of how Japanese Catholics had preserved their
faith all those years. There were about 50,000 of them at the
time.
 From Satanist to Saint: Bl. Bartolo Longo
o The rosary can convert the most hardened of sinners, because
these prayers were composed by God Himself.
o He was ordained a priest of Satan but was converted by a
Dominican priest.
o He focused his work with the poor and established the Rosary
Confraternity with him.
o “One who propagates my Rosary shall be saved.” He resolved
that whatever time remained to him on earth, he would spend
it spreading this devotion.”
 Fatima
o In 1917 Our Lady appeared six times to three shepherd
children at Fatima, Portugal. The children were: Lucia de Jesus
dos Santos (age 10) and her cousins, Francisco (9) and Jacinta
(7) Marto, the latter two were made beati of the Church this
year (2000).
o The first apparition was on May 13, at which time Our Lady
asked the children to return every month, on the same day,
through October. She would again appear to them on each
occasion.
o At the apparition on October 13 God worked one of the most
spectacular miracles in history to confirm these visits were
from Heaven.
o The reason Our Blessed Mother appeared at Fatima was to tell
us what we must do in order to have peace. World War I was
raging at the time, and Pope Benedict XV, after all diplomacy
had failed, begged the Queen of Peace to come to the aid of
mankind. She appeared at Fatima for the first time 45 days
after he made his petition.
o Her message, simply put: pray the Rosary every day , do
penance, and have devotion to her Immaculate Heart. She also
had a message for the pope: that he was to consecrate Russia to
her Immaculate Heart.
o In this regard, she said: “If my requests are heeded, Russia will
be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread
her errors throughout the world, causing wars and
persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the
Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be
annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The
Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be
converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.”
 o Thus the have the answer for our times and the fulfillment, it
seems, of the prophecy Our Lady made to St. Dominic so many
centuries ago: “One day through the Rosary and the Scapular I
will save the world.” For now she comes, not simply to save
one sinner, or to convert a nation or win a war, but to tell us
the solution to the problems of the entire world: When enough
Catholics do as Our Lady has asked, the pope will have the
grace to do as God has commanded, through the Most Holy
Virgin Mary.

III. Popes
a. Pope Leo XII – created an encyclical stating the importance of
devotion to the Holy Rosary, given in Rome, at St. Peter’s, on
September 1, 1883 on his sixth year as Pontiff.
b. Pope John Paul II – encouraged people to pray the Rosary everyday
and created Magesterial Documents in line with this, such as
Rosarium Virgis Mariae.
IV. Significance of the Different Parts of the Rosary
a. Apostle’s Creed
 The word creed itself means "I believe". The Apostles' Creed is the
first of the Catholic Rosary prayers because it lists
the important truths taught by Jesus. It summarizes who God is
and how he deals with us, His children. This prayer deals with the
Blessed Trinity.
b. Our Father
 Stresses the importance of prayer. Following Christ's teaching on
prayer we make ours his insistence and disposition with regard to
prayer.
c. Hail Mary
 Is an expression of special communion with God's grace as it
expresses itself in the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity.
This is the spirit in which we should say the rosary: with faith,
hope and charity similar to that of Mary.
d. Glory Be
 Highlights the ultimate meaning of the rosary, Christ's mission,
Mary's pilgrimage on earth as mother and disciple of her Son, and
our own destiny: to give glory to the holy Trinity.
e. Fatima Prayer
 Our Lady of Fatima is said to ask that the Fatima Prayer be added
to the Rosary in 1917.
f. Hail Holy Queen
 Originally known by its Latin name, Salve Regina, is recited at the
end of the Rosary and is also used in night prayers. St. Alphonus
Liguori thought so highly of the Hail Holy Queen that he analyzed
it in great detail in his well-known 18th century book The Glories
of Mary. In this prayer we pay homage to the Blessed Virgin Mary,
our “Mother of Mercy,” and humbly ask for her assistance. Many
religious over the centuries (including quite a few saints!) have
considered her help to be essential for our salvation.
