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The
Rosary in History
Also See:
Holy
Rosary (Topic Page)
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"In
its present form, the rosary was made known to the world by St.
Dominic at the time of the struggles with the Albigensians, that
social war of such ill-omen for the Church. The rosary was then of
more avail than armed forces against the power of Satan; it is now
the Church's last resource. It would seem that, the ancient forms
of social prayer having being no longer relished by the people,
the Holy Spirit has willed by this easy and ready summary of the
liturgy to maintain, in the isolated devotion of these unhappy
times, the essential of that life of prayer, faith, and Christian
virtue, which the public celebration of the Divine Office formerly
kept up among the nations. Before the thirteenth century, popular
piety was already familiar with what was called the psalter of the
laity, that is, the angelical salutation repeated one hundred and
fifty times; it was the distribution of these Hail Marys into
decades, each devoted to the consideration of a particular
mystery, that constituted the rosary. Such was the divine
expedient, simple as the eternal Wisdom that conceived it, and
far-reaching in its effects; for while it led wandering man to the
Queen of Mercy, it obviated ignorance which is the food of heresy,
and taught him to find once more 'the paths consecrated by the
Blood of the Man-God, and by the tears of His Mother.'"
(Liturgical Year)
"For
as the disastrous condition of the Church and of Society proved to
Us the extreme necessity for signal aid from God, it was manifest
to Us that aid should be sought through the intercession of His
Mother, and by the express means of the Rosary, which Christians
have ever found to be of marvelous avail. This indeed has been
well proved since the very institution of the devotion, both in
the vindication of Holy Faith against the furious attacks of
heresy, and in restoring to honor the virtues, which by reason of
the Age's corruption, required to be rekindled and sustained. And
this same proof was continued in all succeeding ages, by a never
failing series of private and public benefits, whereof the
illustrious remembrance is everywhere perpetuated and immortalized
by monuments and existing institutions. Likewise in Our age,
afflicted with that tempest of various evils, it is a joy to Our
soul to relate the beneficent influence of the Rosary." (Pope
Leo XIII, "Iucunda Semper Expectatione", 1894 A.D.)
"Soliman
II, the greatest of the Sultans, taking advantage of the confusion
caused in the west by Luther, had filled the sixteenth century
with terror by his exploits. He left to his Son, Selim II, the
prospect of being able at length to carry out the ambition of his
race: to subjugate Rome and Vienna, the Pope and the emperor, to
the power of the crescent. The Turkish fleet had already mastered
the greater part of the Mediterranean, and was threatening Italy,
when, on October 7, 1571, it came into action in the Gulf of
Lepanto, with the pontifical galleys supported by the fleets of
Spain and Venice. It was Sunday; throughout the world the
confraternities of the rosary were engaged in their work of
intercession. Supernaturally enlightened, St. Pius V watched from
the Vatican the battle undertaken by the leader he had chosen, Don
John of Austria, against the three hundred vessels of Islam. The
illustrious Pontiff, whose life's work was not completed, did not
survive to celebrate the anniversary of the triumph; but he
perpetuated the memory of it by an annual commemoration of our
Lady of Victory. His successor, Gregory XIII, altered this title
to Our Lady of the Rosary, and appointed the first Sunday of
October for the new feast, authorizing its celebration in those
churches which possessed an alter under that invocation. A century
and a half later, this limited concession was made general."
(Liturgical Year)
Regarding
the battle of Lepanto when the pope suddenly (and miraculously) knew
the Christians had won:
"Let us return thanks to God for the great victory which the
Christian army has won." (Pope St. Pius V)
"Whilst
he stretched for the rod of the Rosary, the wicked enemies were
drowned in the sea. And the victory was revealed to Pius (St. Pius
V).
Alleluia." (Responsory, Dominican
Breviary)
"One
who travels through Protestant Germany meets here and there a
little town or hamlet which is entirely Catholic. Like the oasis
in the desert, it remains green and smiling amidst the dreary
waste of heresy which surrounds it. These little towns have always
preserved the faith; and when all around them was withered and
burned by the poisonous breath of heresy, they kept the faith in
its full freshness and vigor. The cause of this miraculous
preservation was their perseverance in the devotion to the Blessed
Mother of God. Every Sunday the good parish priest assembled his
flock, and recited with them the holy Rosary. And when the priest
was banished or had died, the good people assembled of their own
accord and continued to recite the Rosary. Whilst reciting the
beads, they prayed to God and to his holy Mother. They called to
mind the holy lives, the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ and
his blessed Mother. Thus thinking of God, and praying to him, they
could not but help knowing and loving God. Now, those who know and
love God do not go astray, they live up to the truths of faith,
and remain faithful in God's service. The venerable Cure of Ars
declared emphatically that in this century it was the rosary which
restored religion in France, and we know by the testimony of
saints and of our Blessed Lady herself, it was the preaching of
the Rosary which, at two terrible epochs, reanimated and saved the
faith of Southern Europe." (Muller)
"Wherever
the Devotion of the Rosary was introduced by St. Dominic a true
amendment of life could be noticed in the people; so much so, that
if one was seen to live on in sin the people pointed at him with
their fingers, saying: 'Behold, one who does not say the Rosary!'
Even many of the heretics were converted partly by the explanation
of the mysteries of our religion as contained in the Rosary,
partly
by the recital of the prayers of which the Rosary is composed.
Almighty God also showed repeatedly by miracles what pleasure he
takes in this devotion. The heretics and Catholics put together in
writing the strongest arguments in defense of their cause; those
of the Catholics were the work of St. Dominic. It was proposed
that both writings should be committed to the flames, in order
that God might declare by his own interposition which cause he
favored. Accordingly a great fire was made, and the two writings
were cast into it; that of the heretics was immediately consumed
to ashes, while the other remained unhurt after it had been cast
into the fire three times and taken out again." (Muller)
"Number
those, if you can, who, through the devotion of the Rosary, have
recovered from sickness; how many captives have been set at
liberty; how many have been delivered by Mary who were in danger
of perishing by fire, in danger of shipwreck, in danger of war and
pestilence. Go to the sanctuaries of Our Blessed Lady, and see
there the many votive offerings, ornaments of gold and silver and
precious stones, in commemoration of miraculous cures or other
extraordinary favors obtained though the devotion of the Rosary;
for in these sanctuaries of the Blessed Virgin the blind are
restored to sight, the lame walk, the demons are expelled from the
bodies of men. These are authentic facts, attested not only by
persons of note who have heard them from others, but by thousands
of eyewitnesses whose sincerity we cannot doubt; facts so
numerous that, if they were all written, it would take years to
read them. What favor and blessing is there that cannot be
obtained by the devotion of the Rosary?" (Muller)
"Moreover,
we may well believe that the Queen of Heaven herself has granted
an especial efficacy to this mode of supplication, for it was by
her command and counsel that the devotion was begun and spread
abroad by the holy Patriarch Dominic as a most potent weapon
against the enemies of the faith at an epoch not, indeed, unlike
our own, of great danger to our holy religion. The heresy of the
Albigenses had in effect, one while covertly, another while
openly, overrun many countries, and this most vile off spring of
the Manicheans, whose deadly errors it reproduced, were the cause
in stirring up against the Church the most bitter animosity and a
virulent persecution. There seemed to be no human hope of opposing
this fanatical and most pernicious sect when timely succor came
from on high through the instrument of Mary's Rosary. Thus under
the favor of the powerful Virgin, the glorious vanquisher of all
heresies, the forces of the wicked were destroyed and dispersed,
and faith issued forth unharmed and more shining than before. All
manner of similar instances are widely recorded, and both ancient
and modern history furnish remarkable proofs of nations saved from
perils and winning benedictions therefrom. There is another signal
argument in favor of this devotion, inasmuch as from the very
moment of its institution it was immediately encouraged and put
into most frequent practice by all classes of society. In truth,
the piety of the Christian people honors, by many titles and in
multiform ways, the Divine Mother, who, alone most admirable among
all creatures, shines resplendent in unspeakable glory. But this
title of the Rosary, this mode of prayer which seems to contain,
as it were, a final pledge of affection, and to sum up in itself
the honor due to Our Lady, has always been highly cherished and
widely used in private and in public, in homes and in families, in
the meetings of confraternities, at the dedication of shrines, and
in solemn processions; for there has seemed to be no better means
of conducting sacred solemnities, or of obtaining protection and
favors." (Pope Leo XIII, "Octobri Mense", 1891
A.D.)
"The
efficacy and power of this devotion was also wondrously exhibited
in the sixteenth century, when the vast forces of the Turks
threatened to impose on nearly the whole of Europe the yoke of
superstition and barbarism. At that time the Supreme Pontiff, St.
Pius V, after rousing the sentiment of a common defense among all
the Christian princes, strove, above all, with the greatest zeal,
to obtain for Christendom the favor of the most powerful Mother of
God. So noble an example offered to heaven and earth in those
times rallied around him all the minds and hearts of the age. And
thus Christ's faithful warriors, prepared to sacrifice their life
and blood for the salvation of their faith and their country,
proceeded undauntedly to meet their foe near the Gulf of Corinth,
while those who were unable to take part formed a pious band of
supplicants, who called on Mary, and unitedly saluted her again
and again in the words of the Rosary, imploring her to grant the
victory to their companions engaged in battle. Our Sovereign Lady
did grant her aid; for in the naval battle by the Echinades
Islands, the Christian fleet gained a magnificent victory, with no
great loss to itself, in which the enemy were routed with great
slaughter. And it was to preserve the memory of this great boon
thus granted, that the same Most Holy Pontiff desired that a feast
in honor of Our Lady of Victories should celebrate the anniversary
of so memorable a struggle, the feast which Gregory XIII dedicated
under the title of "The Holy Rosary." Similarly,
important successes were in the last century gained over the Turks
at Temeswar, in Pannonia, and at Corfu; and in both cases these
engagements coincided with feasts of the Blessed Virgin and with
the conclusion of public devotions of the Rosary. And this led our
predecessor, Clement XI, in his gratitude, to decree that the
Blessed Mother of God should every year be especially honored in
her Rosary by the whole Church." (Pope Leo XIII, "Supremi
Apostolatus Officio", 1883)
"The
well-known origin of the Rosary, illustrated in celebrated
monuments of which we have made frequent mention, bears witness to
its remarkable efficacy. For, in the days when the Albigensian
sect, posing as the champion of pure faith and morals, but in
reality introducing the worst kind of anarchy and corruption,
brought many a nation to its utter ruin, the Church fought against
it and the other infamous factions associated with it, not with
troops and arms, but chiefly with the power of the most holy
Rosary, the devotion which the Mother of God taught to our Father
Dominic in order that he might propagate it. By this means the
Church triumphed magnificently over every obstacle and provided
for the salvation of her children not only in that trial but in
others like it afterward, always with the same glorious success.
For this reason, now, when human affairs have taken the course
which We deplore, bringing [affliction] to the Church and ruin to the
State, all of us have the duty to unite our voice in prayer, with
like devotion, to the holy Mother of God, beseeching her that we
too may rejoice, as we ardently desire, in experiencing the same
power of her Rosary." (Pope Leo XIII, "Magnae Dei Matris",
1892 A.D.)
"Impelled,
therefore, by a constant desire that Christians should ever be
convinced of the efficacy and dignity of the Rosary of Our Lady,
We first of all pointed out that the origin of this form of prayer
is divine rather than human, showing it to be an admirable garland
woven from the Angelic Salutation, together with the Lord's
Prayer, joined to meditation, and that this form of prayer was
most powerful and particularly efficacious for attaining eternal
life. For besides the special excellence of the prayers, it
affords a powerful protection to faith and conspicuous models of
virtue in the mysteries proposed for contemplation. We showed also
how easy the devotion is and how suited to the people, offering an
absolutely perfect model of domestic life in meditation on the
Holy Family at Nazareth, and that therefore Christendom had never
failed to experience its salutary effects. For these reasons We
have ever repeatedly encouraged the recitation of the Holy Rosary,
and have endeavored to increase its dignity by a more solemn cult,
following in this the footsteps of our predecessors. Pope Sixtus
V, of happy memory, approved the ancient custom of reciting the
Rosary; Gregory XIII dedicated a day under this title, which
Clement VIII afterwards inscribed in the martyrology, and Clement
XI extended to the Universal Church. Benedict XIII inserted the
feast in the Roman Breviary, and We, ourselves, in perpetual
testimony of Our affection for this devotion commanded that the
solemnity with its office should be celebrated in the Universal
Church as a double of the second class, consecrating to this
devotion the entire month of October. Finally we ordered the
addition to the Litany of Loreto of the invocation 'Queen of the
most Holy Rosary,' as an augury of victory in our present
warfare." (Pope Leo XIII, "Diuturni Temporis", 1898
A.D.)
"...when
parts of France and of Italy were unhappily troubled by the heresy
of the Albegenses, which blinded so many of the worldly that they
were raging most savagely against the priests of the Lord and the
clergy, raised his eyes up unto heaven, unto that mountain of the
Glorious Virgin Mary, loving Mother of God. For she by her seed
has crushed the head of [Satan], and has alone
destroyed all heresies, and by the blessed fruit of her womb has
saved a world condemned by the fall of our first parent. From her,
without human hand, was that stone cut, which, struck by wood,
poured forth the abundantly flowing waters of graces. And so
Dominic looked to that simple way of praying and beseeching God,
accessible to all and wholly pious, which is called the Rosary, or
Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in which the same most Blessed
Virgin is venerated by the angelic greeting repeated one hundred
and fifty times, that is, according to the number of the Davidic
Psalter, and by the Lord's Prayer with each decade. Interposed
with these prayers are certain meditations showing forth the
entire life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, thus completing the method
of prayer devised by the by the Fathers of the Holy Roman
Church." (Pope St. Pius V, "Consueverunt Romani", 1569
A.D.)
"Ancient
and modern history and the more sacred annals of the Church bear
witness to public and private supplications addressed to the
Mother of God, to the help she has granted in return, and to the
peace and tranquility which she had obtained from God. Hence her
illustrious titles of helper, consoler, mighty in war, victorious,
and peace-giver. And amongst these is specially to be commemorated
that familiar title derived from the Rosary by which the signal
benefits she has gained for the whole of Christendom have been
solemnly perpetuated. There is none among you, venerable brethren,
who will not remember how great trouble and grief God's Holy
Church suffered from the Albigensian heretics, who sprung from the
sect of the later Manicheans, and who filled the South of France
and other portions of the Latin world with their pernicious
errors, and carrying everywhere the terror of their arms, strove
far and wide to rule by massacre and ruin. Our merciful God, as
you know, raised up against these most direful enemies a most holy
man, the illustrious parent and founder of the Dominican Order.
Great in the integrity of his doctrine, in his example of virtue,
and by his apostolic labors, he proceeded undauntedly to attack
the enemies of the Catholic Church, not by force of arms, but
trusting wholly to that devotion which he was the first to
institute under the name of the Holy Rosary, which was
disseminated through the length and breadth of the earth by him
and his pupils. Guided, in fact, by divine inspiration and grace,
he foresaw that this devotion, like a most powerful warlike
weapon, would be the means of putting the enemy to flight, and of
confounding their audacity and mad impiety. Such was indeed its
result. Thanks to this new method of prayer - when adopted and
properly carried out as instituted by the Holy Father St. Dominic
- piety, faith, and union began to return, and the projects and
devices of the heretics to fall to pieces. Many wanderers also
returned to the way of salvation, and the wrath of the impious was
restrained by the arms of those Catholics who had determined to
repel their violence." (Pope Leo XIII, "Supremi
Apostolatus Officio", 1883)
Also
See: Benefits of the Rosary
|
The Mysteries of the Rosary
|
October / Rosary Month
|
Praise for the Rosary
| Recitation of the Rosary is Recommended
|
The Rosary & Sin
|
The Rosary is a Medicine
|
The Rosary is Pleasing to Mary
|
Misc. / Rosary
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