The Rosary is probably the best known and, outside of the Mass, widely prayed prayer of the Catholic Church. The origins of the rosary are vague, although there is evidence of it having been said in some form from the early years of the church.
One of the more plausible explanations links the number of Hail Mary’s for the three Mysteries to the total number of Psalms, being 150. The suggestion is that the early monks would pray the psalms constantly but had difficulty in doing so when they journeyed anywhere by foot. So they substituted one Our Father for each psalm and kept a record of how many they had prayed by moving 150 pebbles from one pocket to the other.
Tying them on to one piece of cord was a logical progression. The structure of the rosary gradually evolved between the 12th and 15th centuries, with the Hail Mary replacing the Our Father and the decades and mysteries giving focus for the meditative aspect of the prayer. The addition of the Creed and Salve Regina came later and complement the beauty of this devotional prayer.
The date of the Feast of the Holy Rosary is based on the date, 7 October 1571, on which the Moslem Turks, who had invaded Eastern Europe, were overthrown by a much smaller naval fleet of Christians. Before and during the battle, Pope Pius V asked all of the faithful to say the rosary and implore our Blessed Mother’s prayers, under the title Our Lady of Victory, that our Lord would grant victory to the Christians.
Tuesday of next week is the 13th October, the date on which the miracle of the sun occurred at Fatima in Portugal. Mary has always implored us to pray the rosary for the healing of this world and the salvation of souls. I encourage you to get out your rosary and, especially during this very confusing time in our history, pray. Pray for peace and healing; for the millions of suffering souls of both the living and the dead; for families which have been damaged or ripped apart by unholy influences; and for an end to this Covid-19 pandemic.
Mary, Our Mother, pray for us.
God bless and stay safe. Dc Mike & the team.
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