THE ROSARY

The Rosary is a Marian prayer that depicts the Biblical life of Jesus.

Pope John Paul II calls the Rosary a "compendium of the Gospel message" in his Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, published October 16, 2002. The 5 Mysteries of Light or the Luminous Mysteries were added to the traditional Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries with the publication of this Apostolic Letter. He also states that "Mary constantly sets before the faithful the mysteries of her Son, with the desire that the contemplation of those mysteries will release all their saving power. In the recitation of the Rosary, the Christian community enters into contact with the memories and the contemplative gaze of Mary."

The Rosary was once thought to originate from the ancient prayer beads of the Middle East and Asia, although those beads largely have 33 beads. Others point to the prayer beads of the monks that were used to count the 150 Psalms. But it was St. Dominic in 1208 who began to spread devotion to the Rosary.

Domingo de Guzman was a Spanish preacher who went to southern France to preserve the faith against the Albigensian heresy. In 1208 while he was praying for three days in a chapel in Prouille, Dominic saw Mary, who gave him the Rosary and taught him how to pray the Rosary. St. Dominic founded the Dominican Friars, and established monasteries all over the world. The heresy ended during his lifetime. The most famous Dominican was St. Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274), one of the greatest theologians of the Catholic Church, the author of Summa Theologica.

The Blessed Mother also gave 15 reassuring promises to St. Dominic for those who faithfully recite the rosary:

(1) Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal graces.
(2)    I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. (3)   The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell. It will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat           heresies.
(4)   It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of               God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will             lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
(5)   The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish.
(6)   Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred               mysteries, shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he           shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just, he shall remain in the grace of God, and             become worthy of eternal life.
(7)   Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the            Church.
(8)   Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light         of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the                 merits of the Saints in Paradise.
(9)   I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
(10) The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.
(11) You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.
(12) All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
(13) I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for                         intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.
(14) All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. (15) Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

In addition, the Blessed Virgin Mary, during an appearance on December 10, 1925 to Sister Lucy, one of the three Fatima children, promised the graces necessary for salvation at the hour of death to all those who, for five first Saturdays in a row, went to Confession, Mass, Communion, recited the Rosary, and kept her company for 15 minutes while meditating on the Mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to the Blessed Mother.


See How To Pray For Rosary