Feast of the Holy Rosary - October 7th

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Feast of the Holy Rosary

Taken from the 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia

Apart from the signal defeat of the Albigensian heretics at the battle of Muret in 1213 which legend has attributed to the recitation of the Rosary by St. Dominic, it is believed that Heaven has on many occasions rewarded the faith of those who had recourse to this devotion in times of special danger. More particularly, the naval victory of Lepanto gained by Don John of Austria over the Turkish fleet on the first Sunday of October in 1571 responded wonderfully to the processions made at Rome on that same day by the members of the Rosary confraternity. St. Pius V thereupon ordered that a commemoration of the Rosary should be made upon that day, and at the request of the Dominican Order Gregory XIII in 1573 allowed this feast to be kept in all churches which possessed an altar dedicated to the Holy Rosary. In 1671 the observance of this festival was extended by Clement X to the whole of Spain, and somewhat later Clement XI after the important victory over the Turks gained by Prince Eugene on 6 August, 1716 (the feast of our Lady of the Snows), at Peterwardein in Hungary, commanded the feast of the Rosary to be celebrated by the universal Church. A set of "proper" lessons in the second nocturn were conceded by Benedict XIII. Leo XIII has since raised the feast to the rank of a double of the second class and has added to the Litany of Loreto the invocation "Queen of the Most Holy Rosary". On this feast, in every church in which the Rosary confraternity has been duly erected, a plenary indulgence toties quoties is granted upon certain conditions to all who visit therein the Rosary chapel or statue of Our Lady. This has been called the "Portiuncula" of the Rosary.

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October 7 – Feast of the Most Holy Rosary

Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Guéranger  (1841-1875)

It is customary with men of the world to balance their accounts at the end of the year, and ascertain their profits. The Church is now preparing to do the same. We shall soon see her solemnly numbering her elect, taking an inventory of their holy relics, visiting the tombs of those who sleep in the Lord, and counting the sanctuaries, both old and new, that have been consecrated to her divine Spouse. But today’s reckoning is a more solemn one, the profits more considerable: she opens her balance sheet with the gain accruing to our Lady from the mysteries which compose the Cycle. Christmas, the Cross, the triumph of Jesus, these produce the holiness of us all; but before and above all, the holiness of Mary. The diadem which the Church thus offers first to the august Sovereign of the world, is rightly composed of the triple crown of these sanctifying mysteries, the causes of her joy, of her sorrow, and of her glory. The joyful mysteries recall the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Birth of Jesus, Mary’s Purification, and the Finding of our Lord in the Temple. The sorrowful mysteries bring before us the Agony of our blessed Lord, his being scourged, and crowned with thorns, the carrying of the Cross, and the Crucifixion. While in the glorious mysteries, we contemplate the Resurrection and Ascension of our Savior, Pentecost, and the Assumption and Coronation of the Mother of God. Such is Mary’s Rosary; a new and fruitful vine, which began to blossom at Gabriel’s salutation, and whose fragrant garlands form a link between earth and heaven.

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 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.” (Leo XIII, Epistle encycl. Magnæ Dei Matris, de Rosario Mariali. Sept. 8, 1892)

Thus speaks the great Pontiff who, in the universal sorrow of these days, has again pointed out the means of salvation more than once experienced by our fathers. Leo XIII, in his Encyclicals, has consecrated the present month to this devotion so dear to heaven; he has honored our Lady in her Litanies with a new title, Queen of the most holy Rosary; (Supremi Apostolatus Officio, Sept. 1, 1883) and he has given the final development to the solemnity of this day by raising it to the rank of a second class Feast, and by enriching it with a proper Office explaining its permanent object. (Decret. Sept. 11, 1887, Aug. 5, 1888) Besides all this, the Feast is a memorial of glorious victories which do honor to the Christian name.

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 the 7th of October, 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 now 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 altar under that invocation.

A century and a half later, this limited concession was made general. As Innocent XI in memory of the deliverance of Vienna by Sobieski, had extended the Feast of the most holy Name of Mary to the whole Church; so, in 1716, Clement XI inscribed the Feast of the Rosary on the universal Calendar, in gratitude for the victory gained by Prince Eugene at Peterwardein, on the 5th of August, under the auspices of Our Lady of the Snow. This victory was followed by the raising of the siege of Corfu, and completed a year later by the taking of Belgrade.

Mass

The joys experienced on the other Feasts of the Mother of God are all gathered up and resumed in this one, for us, for the Angels, and for our Lady herself. Like the Angels, then, let us offer, together with Mary, the homage of our just delight to the Son of God, her Son, her King and ours.

Introit
Gaudeamus omnes in Domino, diem festum celebrantes sub honore beatæ Mariæ Virginis: de cujus solemnitate gaudent angeli, et collaudant Filium Dei.
Let us all rejoice in the Lord, celebrating a festival day in honor of the blessed Virgin Mary, on whose solemnity the angels rejoice, and give praise to the Son of God.

Ps. Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum: dico ego opera mea Regi. ℣. Gloria Patri. Gaudeamus.
Ps. My heart hath uttered a good word: I speak my works to the King. ℣. Glory, &c. Let us all.


The mysteries of the Son and of the Mother are our instruction and our hope. The Church prays in the Collect that they may be also our rule of life and our pledge of eternal happiness.

Collect
Deus, cujus Unigenitus per vitam, mortem, et resurrectionem suam nobis salutis æternæ præmia comparavit: concede quæsumus; ut hæ mysteria sanctissimo beatæ Mariæ Virginis Rosary recolentes, et imitemur quod continent, et quod promittunt assequamur. Per eumdem Dominum.
O God, whose only-begotten Son, by his life, death, and resurrection, procured for us the rewards of eternal salvation; grant, we beseech thee, that commemorating these mysteries in the most holy Rosary of the blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain, and possess what they promise. Through the same Lord &c.

Then is made a commemoration of the occurring Sunday.


Epistle
Lesson from the Book of Wisdom. Ch. viii.

The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways, before he made any thing from the beginning. I was set up from eternity, and of old before the earth was made. The depths were not as yet, and I was already conceived. Now therefore, ye children, hear me: Blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth me, and that watcheth daily at my gates, and waiteth at the posts of my doors. He that shall find me, shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord.

Our Lady’s mysteries are before all time in God’s sight, like those of her divine Son; like these they will endure for all eternity; like them they rule the ages, which circle round the Word and Mary, preparing for both in the days of figures, perpetuating their presence by the incessant glorification of the most holy Trinity, in whose name all Christians are baptized. Now the Rosary honors all this series of mysteries; today’s Feast is a glance back upon the Cycle as it draws to its close. From these mysteries, from this view of them, we must draw the conclusion formulated by our Lady herself in this passage from Proverbs, which the Church applies to her: “Now therefore, my children, consider my ways; imitate me, that you may find happiness.” Blessed is he that watcheth at her gate! Let us pray to her, rosary in hand, considering her at the same time, meditating on her life and her greatness, and watching, were it but for a quarter of an hour, at the entrance of the palace of this incomparable Queen. The more faithful we are, the more assured will be our salvation and our progress in true life.

In the Gradual, let us congratulate the Queen of the holy Rosary on her perfect life, all truth, and justice, and meekness, which won her the love of the supreme King. In the Alleluia Verse, let us proclaim the nobility of her race, unequalled in the whole world.

Gradual
Propter veritatem et mansuetudimen, et justitiam, et deducet te mirabiliter dextera tua.
Because of truth and meekness and justice: and thy right hand shall lead thee marvellously.

℣. Audi filia, et vide, et inclina aurem tuam: quia concupivit Rex speciem tuam.
℣. Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear: for the king hath greatly desired thy beauty.

Alleluia, alleluia.
Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Solemnitas gloriosæ Virginis Mariæ ex semine Abrahæ, ortæ de tribu Juda, clara ex stirpe David. Alleluia.
℣. It is a festival of the glorious Virgin Mary of the seed of Abraham; sprung from the tribe of Juda, from David’s renowned lineage. Alleluia.


The Gospel is the same as on the Feast of the most holy Name of Mary.

“At that time, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God, into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a Virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the Virgin’s name was Mary. And the Angel being come in, said to her: Hail, full of grace! the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women.”

Blessed art thou among women, repeated Elizabeth a few days later, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.—These two salutations, with the name of Mary added to the Angel’s greeting and the name of Jesus to Elizabeth’s, constituted the Ave Maria in the time of St. Dominic, the promulgator of the Rosary. The prayer, Holy Mary Mother of God which now so beautifully completes the formula of praise, received the sanction of the Church in the sixteenth century. No better Gospel could then have been chosen for today, for it gives the original text of the Rosary, and describes the first of its mysteries.

All grace, all light, all life, are to be found in our Lady; by her holy Rosary she, as we sing in the Offertory, has multiplied flowers and fruits in the garden of the Church. Every offering acceptable to God comes from Mary, with and by Jesus.

Offertory
In me gratia omnis viæ et veritatis; in me omnis spes vitæ et virtutis; ego quasi rosa plantata super rivos aquarum fructificavi.
In me is all grace of the way and of truth: in me is all hope of life and of virtue: I have flowered forth like a rose planted by the brooks of water.


As the Secret tells us, the Rosary, piously meditated, prepares us for the Sacrifice of the Altar, that supereminent and august memorial of the mysteries which it imprints in the heart and mind of the Christian.

Secret
Fac nos, quæsumus Domine, his muneribus offerendis convenienter aptari: et per sanctissimi Rosarii mysteria sic vitam, passionem, et gloriam Unigeniti tui recolere, ut ejus digni promissionibus efficiamur. Qui tecum.
Do thou, we beseech thee, O Lord, render us fit suitably to offer up these gifts: and by means of the mysteries of the most holy Rosary, so to call back to mind the Life, the Passion, and the Glory of thine only-begotten Son, as to be made worthy of his promises: Who with thee liveth and reigneth &c.


The Preface as on the 8th of September, substituting in solemnitate, on the solemnity, for in Nativitate, on the Nativity, of the Blessed Virgin Mary.


After the sacred Banquet, our soul must not remain barren. The fragrance of virtue’s flowers must embalm all that surrounds us, and prove to the Spouse that his visit has not been made in vain.

Communion
Florete flores quasi lilium, et date odorem, et frondete in gratiam, collaudate canticum, et benedicite Dominum in operibus suis.
Flower ye forth like the lily, and yield ye a sweet smell, and bring forth leaves in grace: sound forth a canticle of praise, and bless ye the Lord in his works.


In the Postcommunion, the Church prays that our Lady may, by her intercession, sound the effects of this Sacrifice, and of the mysteries in which she played so great a part.

Postcommunion
Sanctissimæ Genitricis tuæ, cujus Rosarium celebramus, quæsumus Domine, precibus adjuvemur: ut et mysteriorum, quæ colimus, virtus percipiatur, et sacramentorum, quæ sumpsimus, obtineatur effectus. Qui vivis.
We beseech thee, O Lord, to help us through the prayers of thy most holy Mother, the feast of whose Rosary we are celebrating: that we may both experience the virtue of the mysteries of which we meditate, and also obtain the effect of the Sacrament which we have received. Who livest and reignest &c.

Then is added the Postcommunion of the Sunday, and the Gospel of the same is read at the end of the Mass.

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Our Lady Instructs St. Dominic to Preach the Rosary

by St. Louis de Montfort

The miraculous way in which the devotion to the holy Rosary was established is analogous to the way in which God gave His Law to the world on Mount Sinai, and it obviously proves its value and importance.

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, instructed by the Blessed Virgin as well as by his own experience, St. Dominic preached the Rosary for the rest of his life. He preached it by his example as well as by his sermons, in cities and in country places, to people of high station and low, before scholars and the uneducated, to Catholics and to heretics.

The Rosary, which he said every day, was his preparation for every sermon and his little tryst with Our Lady immediately after preaching.

One day he had to preach at Notre Dame in Paris, and it happened to be the feast of St. John the Evangelist. He was in a little chapel behind the high altar prayerfully preparing his sermon by saying the Rosary, as he always did, when Our Lady appeared to him and said:

“Dominic, even though what you have planned to say may be very good, I am bringing you a much better sermon.” St. Dominic took in his hands the book Our Lady proffered, read the sermon carefully and, when he had understood it and meditated on it, he gave thanks to her.

When the time came, he went up into the pulpit and, in spite of the feast day, made no mention of St. John other than to say that he had been found worthy to be the guardian of the Queen of Heaven. The congregation was made up of theologians and other eminent people, who were used to hearing unusual and polished discourses.

But St. Dominic told them that it was not his desire to give them a learned discourse, wise in the eyes of the world, but that he would speak in the simplicity of the Holy Spirit and with His forcefulness.

So he began preaching the Rosary and explained the Hail Mary word by word as he would to a group of children, and used the very simple illustrations which were in the book given him by Our Lady. …

Carthagena, the great scholar, quoting Blessed Alan de la Roche in De Dignitate Psalterii, describes how this took place. … He goes on to say:

“Then St. Dominic explained the Angelic Salutation to them, using simple comparisons and examples from everyday life.”

Blessed Alan, according to Carthagena, mentioned several other occasions when Our Lord and Our Lady appeared to St. Dominic to urge him and inspire him to preach the Rosary more and more in order to wipe out sin and convert sinners and heretics.

In another passage Carthagena says:

“Blessed Alan said Our Lady revealed to him that, after she had appeared to St. Dominic, her Divine Son appeared to him and affirmed:

“Dominic, I rejoice to see that you are not relying on your own wisdom and that, rather than seek the empty praise of men, you are working with great humility for the salvation of souls.

“But many priests want to preach thunderously against the worst kinds of sin at the very outset, failing to realize that before a sick person is given bitter medicine, he needs to be prepared by being put into the right frame of mind to really benefit from it.

“That is why, before doing anything else, priests should try to kindle a love of prayer in people’s hearts and especially a love of my Angelic Psalter. If only they would all start saying it and would really persevere, God in His mercy could hardly refuse to give them His grace. So, I want you to preach my Rosary. ” (2)

In another place Blessed Alan says:

All priests should say a Hail Mary with the faithful before preaching, to ask for God’s grace. (3) They do this because of a revelation that St. Dominic had from Our Lady.

“My Son,” she said one day, “do not be surprised that your sermons fail to bear the results you had hoped for. You are trying to cultivate a piece of ground that has not had any rain. Now, when God planned to renew the face of the earth, He started by sending down rain from heaven – and this was the Angelic Salutation. In this way God reformed the world.

“So when you give a sermon, urge people to say my Rosary, and in this way your words will bear much fruit for souls.”

St. Dominic lost no time in obeying, and from then on he exerted great influence by his sermons.” (4)

I have been very pleased to quote these well-known authors word for word for the benefit of those who might otherwise have doubts as to the marvelous power of the Rosary. As long as priests followed St. Dominic’s example and preached devotion to the Holy Rosary, piety and fervor thrived throughout the Christian world and in those religious orders which were devoted to the Rosary. But since people have neglected this gift from Heaven, all kinds of sin and disorder have spread far and wide.


1. Alan de la Roche, De dignit. Psalt., ch. 18; quoted by Carthagena in De Sacris Arcanis Deiparae, bk. 16, hom. 1.
2. Alan de la Roche, De Dignit. Psal., ch. 17; Carthagena, De Sacris Arcanis, bk. 16, hom. 1.
3. St. Antoninus, Part 4, Tit. 15, ch. 14, quoted by P. A. Spinelli in Maria Deipara Thronus Dei, ch. 29, No. 38.
4. This last quotation is from “The Book of Miracles of the Holy Rosary,” written in Italian, also found in Justin’s works, Sermon 143 in P. A. Spinelli, ibid., who quotes a text borrowed from Alan de la Roche.


Excerpt from "The Secret of the Rosary," in God Alone: The Collected Writings of St. Louis Marie de Montfort, Bay Shore, NY: Montfort Publications, 1995

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The Fifteen Promises of Mary to Christians Who 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 men 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 sons, and brothers of my only Son Jesus Christ.

15. Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

(Given to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan)

Imprimatur: Patrick J. Hayes, D.D. Archbishop of New York

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The Importance of the Family Rosary

This article is taken from the booklet "Our Glorious Faith and How To Lose It" written by Fr. Hugh Thwaites, S.J.
It contains different stories of how we can lose our faith but this paper will deal only with the Holy Rosary.
Fr. Thwaites' words on this subject are as follows:

Without delay now, I want to talk about my theme. It seems to me that a principal cause of the loss of faith is the dropping off in the practice of the family rosary.

In Austria, after World War II, there was a complete collapse of vocations. One year, apparently, no one at all entered the seminaries. So the bishops held a synod, to find out how it could be that this had happened. The conclusion they reached was that the war had so disrupted family life that the centuries-old practice of the rosary in the home had stopped, and had just not started up again. This is my experience, too; when the rosary goes, the faith soon collapses.

I remember someone telling me of a friend of his, a great Catholic, the pillar of the parish, whose children had all lapsed, one after the other. They had all fallen away from the sacraments and from attending Mass. So I said to him, "I wouldn't mind betting that your friend had been brought up to recite the family rosary when he was a boy, and that his children haven't." The next time I saw him, he said that this was indeed true. His friend had recited the family rosary at home when he was a boy, and when he had got married and started his own family they all said the rosary. But then, one evening when they were about to start the rosary, one of the children switched on the television, and that was that. The custom of the family rosary was dropped, and in due course, they gave up the practice of the faith.

After this life, that one unrebuked action will be seen to have affected the eternity of many people. God sent His Mother to Fatima to tell us that we had to say the rosary every day. There were no other prayers She asked us to say. Accordingly, we should do what She asked.

A layman I met once who did not say his rosary told me that he read the breviary every day. That is fine. It is what priests have to do. It is the prayer of the Church. So in a way it is better than the rosary. But it is not what Our Lady asked for. She asked for the rosary. If a mother sends her child to the shop for a bottle of milk, and he comes back instead with ice cream, is she pleased? In a way, ice cream is better than milk, but it is not what she asked for.

In that most holy home at Nazareth, do you think that Our Lady had to ask for anything twice? If we want in any way to be like Jesus, we must do what His Mother asks. If we do not, can we expect things to go right? We cannot with impunity disobey the Mother of God. She knows better than we the dangers of this spiritual warfare. She sees more clearly than we do the dangers that beset us. She warns us: You must say your rosary every day.

If the garage mechanic warns you that your car needs repairing or else it will break down, surely you would heed that warning. If the gas gauge warns you that you need more gas, do you do nothing about it? And if Our Lady comes to Fatima and tells us, not just once but six times, that we must say the rosary every day, do we disregard that warning? If we do, we have only ourselves to blame when we find that our children have lapsed from the faith.

I know that Fatima is only a private revelation, but nevertheless the Church has endorsed it, and that makes it rash for us to disregard it. If the Church informs us that Our Lady really did come to Fatima and tell us these things, then we must harken to her words. It really seems to me that those Catholics who do not take Fatima seriously and say the rosary every day in their homes are very akin to the Jews who laughed at Jeremiah. If God sends us His prophets and we do not take them seriously – well, we have the whole of the Old Testament to tell us what happens as a result. But at Fatima, God sent us, not His prophets, but His Immaculate Mother.

So I think that the abandonment of the family rosary is a main reason why so many Catholics have lost the faith. It seems to me that the Church of the future is going to consist solely of those families who have been faithful to the rosary. But there will be vast numbers of people whose families used to be Catholic.

In my work of going round visiting homes, I have seen this conclusion borne out time and again. Homes can be transformed by starting the recitation of the daily rosary. I remember a woman telling me that she could not thank me enough for having nagged her into starting it; it had united her family as never before. And I remember another home where I called. There was a strange tension there: the children were silent and the wife seemed withdrawn, but the husband was willing to start the family rosary. When I called back again a couple of months later, the atmosphere was quite different. The children were chatty and the wife was friendly, and the husband walked down the road with me afterwards and said how amazing it was that the home was so much happier.

One reason, I think, why the daily rosary makes for a happy home, is this. From what some possessed people have said, and from what some of the saints have said, it seems certain that demons fear the rosary. It makes their hair stand on end, so to speak. Holy water certainly drives them out, but they come back again. The daily rosary drives them out and keeps them out. It is rather like living in an old house where there are mice everywhere. The only way to get rid of them is to bring cats. If you get a couple of cats, after a week or two there simply will not be any more mice. Mice fear the very smell of cats. And in a home where the rosary is said every day, after a time the demons realize they are impotent in front of Our Lady, and go elsewhere.

This must be one reason why, as they say, "the family that prays together stays together." In that home, utterly free of evil spirits, there is an atmosphere one does not find outside. In a demon-infested city like London, where I live, such a home is an oasis of God's grace, and people find a comfort and peace there which they enjoy greatly. We human beings are not meant to live in the company of demons, but with God and with the angels and saints in heaven.

So, as I see it, in this effort we are making to keep the faith and pass it on, the practice of the rosary is absolutely indispensable. Whatever else a person may do, even though they go to Mass every day, they still need to say the rosary in their home. It is the medicine our Mother has told us to take, to keep our faith strong and healthy.



The Power of the Rosary

The most holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or, above all, spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world, or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations, that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the holy Rosary. With the holy Rosary, we will save ourselves; we will sanctify ourselves; we will console our Lord, and obtain the salvation of many souls. Conversation between Sr. Lucy of Fatima and Fr. Fuentes, Dec. 26, 1957

"The Rosary is a powerful weapon to put the demons to flight and to keep oneself from sin…If you desire peace in your hearts, in your homes, and in your country, assemble each evening to recite the Rosary. Let not even one day pass without saying it, no matter how burdened you may be with many cares and labors." Pope Pius XI

"Among all the devotions approved by the Church, none has been so favored by so many miracles as the Rosary devotion." Pope Pius IX

"The Rosary is the most excellent form of prayer and the most efficacious means of attaining eternal life. It is the remedy for all our evils, the root of all our blessings. There is no more excellent way of praying." Pope Leo XIII

St. Dominic prayed to Our Lady that she would force the devils who possessed a man to reveal the truth about devotion to her. The devils were forced by Our Lady to reveal: "Now that we are forced to speak we must also tell you this: Nobody who perseveres in saying the Rosary will be damned, because she obtains for her servants the grace of true contrition for their sins and by means of this they obtain God's forgiveness and mercy."


Miracles of the Rosary

Battle of Lepanto, 1571 - On Sunday, October 7, the Christian and Turkish fleets met in Lepanto Gulf, off the coast of Greece. The bitter battle finished with a brilliant victory of the Christians who where vastly outnumbered. That very evening Pope St. Pius V had at Rome a clear knowledge of this success. The same afternoon, the Confraternities of the Rosary, particularly in Rome, had marched through the streets in procession reciting the Rosary. This victory put an end to the naval power of the Turks and saved Christian Europe. To this day this victory has been attributed to the praying of the Rosary. The feast of “The Most Holy Rosary” is celebrated on October 7 now and the month of October is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary.

Rosary Miracle at Hiroshima - August 6th, 1945 There was a home eight blocks (about 1 kilometer) from where the A-Bomb went off in Hiroshima Japan. This home had a church attached to it which was completely destroyed, but the home survived, and so did the eight German Jesuit missionaries who prayed the rosary in that house faithfully every day. These men were missionaries to the Japanese people, they were non-military, but because Germany and Japan were allies during WWII they were permitted to live and minister within Japan during the war. Not only did they all survive with (at most) relatively minor injuries, but they all lived well past that awful day with no radiation sickness, no loss of hearing, or any other visible long term defects or maladies. Naturally, they were interviewed numerous times (Fr. Schiffer, a survivor, said over 200 times) by scientists and health care people about their remarkable experience and they say "we believe that we survived because we were living the message of Fatima. We lived and prayed the rosary daily in that home." Of course the secular scientists are speechless and incredulous at this explanation - and they are sure there is some "real" explanation - but at the same time over 55 years later the scientists are still absolutely bamboozled when it comes to finding a plausible scenario to explain the missionaries’ unique escape from the hellish power of that bomb.

Russians Pullout of Austria, 1948 - After World War ll, the Allies turned over Catholic Austria to communist Russia. For three years the Austrian people endured this tyranny. Then, a Franciscan priest, Father Petrus, remembered how the Christians although greatly outnumbered had defeated the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto through the Rosary, and he launched a Rosary crusade. Through it 70,000 people, one tenth of the Austrian population, pledged to say the Rosary daily for the Soviets to leave their country. Austria was valuable to the Russians because of its strategic location, rich mineral deposits and oil reserves. Yet on May 13, 1955, the anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady at Fatima, the Russians signed the agreement to leave Austria, and they did so without one person being killed and without one shot being fired. It is the only time that the militant atheistic forces of Marxism have ever peacefully left a country in which they held power. Military strategists and historians are baffled as to why the Russians pulled out. But we are not - it was the power of the Rosary.

The Country That Saved Itself - Brazil 1962 - In 1962 there was a looming threat of communist takeover in Brazil. A woman there named Dona Amelia Bastos was known to have formed a Rosary rally among the Brazilian women there to do their part in opposing the looming threat. Their goal was simply to pray the Rosary in large groups asking the Virgin Mary for help in opposing the Communist takeover which the President of Brazil was leaning toward at the time. In Belo Horizonte 20,000 women reciting the rosary aloud broke up a Communist rally. In Sao Paulo, 600,000 women praying the rosary in one of the most moving demonstrations in Brazilian history, caused the President of Brazil to flee the country and not a single death was encountered, sparing the country from Communist takeover.

The above accounts are just a few of the countless examples of The Power of the Rosary!

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Excerpts shared in this Our Lady of Fatima Chapel email for the Feast of the Holy Rosary [adapted]: 

When the Blessed Virgin appeared at Fatima for six consecutive months, she chose the last apparition in October to reveal herself as "The Lady of the Rosary." The revelation of her glorious title during the October apparition is very significant, in that our Blessed Lady brings special attention to the Church's longstanding tradition of consecrating this month to the Holy Rosary. 

It has, in fact, been known as the Month of the Holy Rosary since 1571. The feast day, originally designated for the First Sunday of October, is presently celebrated on October 7th. For, it was on this day that the Catholic League overcome the Ottoman Empire who were seeking to conquer Italy for Islam and thereby move into the heart of Catholic Europe.

Prior to the ships sailing off towards battle, the Dominican Pope St. Pius V prayed the Rosary, earnestly beseeching the Holy Virgin's intercession, all the while every man on board went to Confession and prayed the Rosary as well.

Victorious in battle, the saintly Papa Ghislieri declared a feast day for Our Lady of Victory. A procession marched through St. Peter’s Square and in time, the whole month became associated with the Holy Rosary. Then in 1884, Pope Leo XIII officially decreed October as the month consecrated to the Holy Rosary.
 
The principle means Almighty God gives us to save our souls are the Church's Sacraments. However, secondarily He gives us sacramentals - which are so beneficial because they can lead us to the Sacraments more often and more fervently. Now, the greatest of all sacramentals is the Holy Rosary.

Ever since the Blessed Virgin gave her Rosary to St. Dominic, it has been zealously preached by the Dominican Order. One great Third Order Dominican, St. Louis Grignon de Montfort, who was especially renown for his ardent love for and fiery sermons on the Rosary, gave to us the following account of the devotion's marvelous origin:

Since the Holy Rosary is composed, principally and in substance, of the Prayer of Christ and the Angelic Salutation, that is, the Our Father and the Hail Mary, it was without doubt the first prayer and the first devotion of the faithful and has been in use all through the centuries from the time of the Apostles and disciples down to the present.

But it was only in the year 1214, however, that Holy Mother Church received the Rosary in its present form and according to the method we use today. It was given to the Church by Saint Dominic who had received it from the Blessed Virgin as a powerful means of converting the Albigensians and other sinners. I will tell you the story of how he received it, which is found in the very well-known book: "De Dignitate Psalterii" by Blessed Alan de la Roche.

Saint Dominic, seeing that the gravity of people’s sins was hindering the conversion of the Albigensians, withdrew into a forest near Toulouse where he prayed unceasingly for three days and three nights. During this time he did nothing but weep and do harsh penances in order to appease the anger of Almighty God. He used his discipline so much that his body was lacerated, and finally he fell into a coma. At this point Our Lady appeared to the saint, accompanied by three angels. She asked him:

“Dear Dominic, do you know which weapon the Blessed Trinity wants to use to reform the world?" Saint Dominic answered, “Oh, my Lady, you know far better than I do because next to your Son Jesus Christ you have always been the chief instrument of our salvation.” Then Our Lady replied: “I want you to know that, in this kind of warfare, the battering ram has always been the Angelic Psalter which is the foundation stone of the New Testament. Therefore, if you want to reach these hardened souls and win them over to God, preach my Psalter.”

So he arose comforted, and burning with zeal for the conversion of the people in that district, he made straight for the Cathedral. At once unseen angels rang the bells to gather the people together and Saint Dominic began to preach. At the very beginning of his sermon an appalling storm broke out! The earth shook, the sun was darkened, and there was so much thunder and lightning that all were very much afraid. Even greater was their fear when looking at a picture of Our Lady exposed in a prominent place they saw her raise her arms to heaven three times to call down God’s vengeance upon them if they failed to be converted, to amend their lives, and seek the protection of the Holy Mother of God. God wished, by means of these supernatural phenomena, to spread the new devotion of the Holy Rosary and to make it more widely known.

That Story from Father Grignon was taken from his classic, "The Secret of the Rosary," which is certainly distinguished as one of the greatest works ever written on the devotion. No doubt, it's a book in which many Catholics have had the fortunate grace of having once read. During this month of October, many traditional priests have often encouraged the excellent practice of revisiting this wonderful book; and thereby invite the Holy Ghost to enflame in hearts a renewed insight and love for this treasured devotion. Especially recommended is a refresher on the chapter entitled: "The Forty-First Rose." In this section, the Saint instructs us on how to recite the Rosary well, with the right dispositions; while stressing the great importance of praying the Rosary from our hearts; a method which makes our prayers all the more efficacious and pleasing to our Blessed Lady.

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Fr. Hewko's Sermons on each of the Fifteen Decades of the Rosary

Sermons on the Feast of the Holy Rosary

2022

Various Sermons on the Holy Rosary

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Encyclical of Pope Pius XI
(1937)
Taken from here

More than once have We asserted--and We recently repeated this in the Encyclical Letter Divini Redemptoris (Acta Ap. Sedis, 1937, vol. XXIX, p. 65)--that there is no remedy for the ever-growing evil's of our times except a return to Our Lord Jesus Christ and to His most holy precepts.

Truly, only He "hath the words of eternal life" (Cf. John, VI, 69), and individuals and society can only fall quickly and miserably if they ignore the majesty of God and repudiate His Law.

However, anyone who studies with diligence the annals of the Catholic Church will easily recognize that the true patronage of the Virgin Mother of God is linked with all the annals of the Christian name.

"When, in fact, errors everywhere diffused were bent upon rending the seamless robe of the Church and upon throwing the Catholic world into confusion, our fathers turned with confident soul to her "alone who destroys all heresies in the world" (Rom. Brev.), and the victory won through her brought the return of tranquility.

When the impious Mohammedan power, trusting in its powerful fleet and war-hardened armies, threatened the peoples of Europe with ruin and slavery, then--upon the suggestion of the Sovereign Pontiff--the protection of the heavenly Mother was fervently implored and the enemy was defeated and his ships sunk.


MARY SUPPLICATED BY FAITHFUL IN EVERY AGE

Thus the faithful of every age, both in public misfortune and in private need, turn in supplication to Mary, the benignant, so that she may come to their aid and grant help and remedy against sorrows of body and soul. And never was her most powerful aid hoped for in vain by those who besought it with pious and trustful prayer.

But also in our day, dangers no less grave than in the past beset civil and religious society.

In fact, because the supreme and eternal authority of God, which commands and forbids, is despised and completely repudiated by men, the result is that the consciousness of Christian duty is weakened, and that faith becomes tepid in souls or entirely lost, and this afterward affects and ruins the very basis of human society.

Thus on the one hand are seen citizens intent on an atrocious struggle among themselves because some are provided with abundant riches and others must gain bread for themselves and their dear ones by the sweat of their brows.

Indeed, as we all know, in some regions the evil has reached such a pitch that it seeks to destroy all private right of property, so that everything might be shared in common.

On the other hand, there are not lacking men who declare that they honor and exalt, above all, the power of the State. They say they must use every means to assure civil order and enforce authority, and pretend that only thus are they able totally to repulse the execrable theories of the Communists. However, they despise the light of evangelic wisdom and endeavor to revive the errors of the pagans and their way of life.

To this is added the clever and lamentable sect of those who, denying and hating God, declare themselves the enemies of the Eternal, and who insinuate themselves everywhere. They discredit and uproot all religious belief from souls. Finally, they trample on every human and Divine right. And while they cast scorn on the hope of heavenly reward, they incite men to seek, even by illicit means, false earthly happiness, and therefore drive them with brazen temerity to the dissolution of the social order, causing disorder, cruel rebellions and even the conflagration of civil war.


HOPE IN GOD MUST NOT GROW FAINT

Nevertheless, Venerable Brethren, though such great and numerous evils hang over us, and others still greater are to be feared for the future, we must not lose heart nor let the confident hope that rests solely on God become fainter.

He who "made the nations of the earth for health" (Cf. Wisdom I, 14), without doubt will not let those perish whom He has redeemed with His Precious Blood, nor will He abandon His Church.

But rather, as We said in the beginning, shall We beseech God through the mediation of the Blessed Virgin, so acceptable to Him, since, to use the words of St. Bernard: "Such is the will of God, Who has wished that we should have all things through Mary." (Serm. in Nativ. B.M.V.).


PRAYER OF ROSARY OCCUPIES DISTINCT PLACE

Among the various supplications with which we successfully appeal to the Virgin Mother of God, the Holy Rosary without doubt occupies a special and distinct place.

This prayer, which some call the "Psalter of the Virgin" or "Breviary of the Gospel and of Christian life," was described and recommended by Our Predecessor of happy memory, Leo XIII, with these vigorous passages: "Very admirable is this crown interwoven with the angelic salutation which is interposed in the Sunday prayer, and unites with it the obligation of interior meditation. It is an excellent manner of praying . . . and very useful for the attainment of immortal life" (Acta Leonis, 1898, vol. XVIII, pp. 154, 155).

And this can well be deduced from the very flowers that form this mystic garland. What prayers in fact can be found more adaptable and holy?

The first is that which our Divine Redeemer Himself pronounced when His disciples asked Him; "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke XI, 1); a very holy supplication which both offers us the way--as far as it is possible for us--to render glory to God, and also takes into account all the necessities of our body and soul.

How can the Eternal Father, when prayed to with the very words of His Son, refuse to come to our aid?

The other prayer is the Angelic Salutation, which begins with the eulogies of the Archangel Gabriel and of St. Elizabeth, and ends with that very pious supplication by which we beg the help of the Blessed Virgin now and at the hour of our death.

To these invocations, said aloud, is added the contemplation of the sacred mysteries, through which they place, as it were, under our eyes the joys, sorrows and triumphs of Jesus Christ and of His Mother, so that we receive relief and comfort in our sorrows. Following those most holy examples, we ascend to the happiness of the heavenly country by steps of ever higher virtue.


ROSARY HEAVENLY SUGGESTION OF VIRGIN MARY

This practice of piety. Venerable Brethren, admirably diffused by St. Dominic, not without the heavenly suggestion and inspiration of the Virgin Mother of God, is without doubt easy for all, even for the ignorant and the simple.

But those wander from the path of truth who consider this devotion merely an annoying formula repeated with monotonous sing-song intonation, and refuse it as good only for children and silly women!

In this regard, it is to be noted that both piety and love, though always renewing the same words, do not always repeat the same thing, but always express something new issuing from the intimate sentiment of devotion. And besides, this mode of prayer has the perfume of evangelic simplicity and requires humility of spirit; and, if we disdain humility, as the Divine Redeemer teaches, it will be impossible for us to enter the heavenly kingdom: "Amen, I say to you, unless you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matth. XVIII, 3).

Nevertheless, if men in our century, with its derisive pride, refuse the Holy Rosary, there is an innumerable multitude of holy men of every age and every condition who have always held it dear. They have recited it with great devotion, and in every moment they have used it as a powerful weapon to put the demons to flight, to preserve the integrity of life, to acquire virtue more easily, and in a word to attain real peace among men.


ROSARY A DAILY PRACTICE OF LEARNED MEN

Nor are there lacking men famous as to doctrine and wisdom who, although intensely occupied in scientific study and researches, never even for a day fail to pray fervently on bended knee, before the image of the Virgin, in this most pious form.

Thus kings and princes, however burdened with most urgent occupations and affairs, made it their duty to recite the Rosary.

This mystic crown, then, not only is found in and glides through the hands of the poor, but it also is honored by citizens of every social rank. And We do not wish here to pass over in silence the fact that the Blessed Virgin herself, even in our times, has solicitously recommended this manner of prayer, when she appeared and taught it to the innocent girl in the Grotto of Lourdes.

Therefore why should We not hope for every grace if We supplicate Our Heavenly Mother in this manner with due disposition and holiness?

We desire very earnestly, Venerable Brethren, that the Holy Rosary should be recited in a special manner in the month of October and with increased devotion both in the churches and in homes.

And so much the more must it be done since the enemies of the Divine Name--that is, those who have rebelled against and denied and scorned the Eternal God--spread snares for the Catholic Faith and the liberty due to the Church, and finally rebel with insane efforts against divine and human rights, to send mankind to ruin and perdition. Through efficacious recourse to the Virgin Mother of God, they may be finally bent and led to penance and return to the straight path, trusting to the care and protection of Mary.


ROSARY'S POWER CITED BY EXAMPLES IN HISTORY

The Holy Virgin who once victoriously drove the terrible sect of the Albigenses from Christian countries, now suppliantly invoked by us, will turn aside the new errors, especially those of Communism, which reminds us in many ways, in its motives and misdeeds, of the ancient ones.

And as in the times of the Crusades in all Europe there was raised one voice of the people, one supplication, so it is today: in all the world, the cities and even the smallest villages, united with courage and strength, with filial and constant insistence, the people seek to obtain from the great Mother of God that the enemies of Christian and human civilization be defeated, and thus that real peace may shine again over tired and straying men.

If, then, all will do this with due disposition, with great faith and with fervent piety, it is right to hope that as in the past, so in our day, the Blessed Virgin will obtain from her divine Son that the waves of the present tempests be calmed and that a brilliant victory crown this rivalry of Christians in prayer.


ROSARY A SPUR TO EVANGELIC VIRTUE

The Holy Rosary, besides, not only serves admirably to overcome the enemies of God and Religion, but is also a stimulus and spur to the practice of evangelic virtues which it injects and cultivates in our souls. Above all, it nourishes the Catholic Faith, which flourishes again precisely in opportune meditation of the sacred mysteries, and raises minds to the truth revealed to us by God.

Every one can understand how salutary it is, especially in our times wherein sometimes a certain annoyance of the things of the spirit is felt even among the faithful, and a dislike, as it were, for the Christian doctrine.

Therefore, revive the hope of immortal welfare, while the triumph of Jesus Christ and of His Mother, meditated on by us in the last part of the Rosary, shows us Heaven open and invites us to the conquest of the Eternal Country.

Thus while an unbridled longing for the things of this earth has penetrated into the hearts of mortals and each one more ardently longs for the short-lived riches and ephemeral pleasures, all feel a fruitful call back to the heavenly treasures "where thieves do not break in and neither rust nor moth doth consume" (Matth. XII, 33), and to the wealth that will never perish.

And the charity which has been weakened and cooled in many, how can it fail to be rekindled into love in the souls of those who recall with a full heart the tortures and death of our Redeemer and the afflictions of His Sorrowful Mother?

From this charity towards God, then, there cannot but rise a more intense love of one's neighbor if one dwells on the labors and sorrows that Our Lord suffered for all, reinstating the lost inheritance of the children of God.


DIFFUSION OF ROSARY MEANS INCREASE IN PIETY

Therefore see to it, Venerable Brethren, that such a fruitful practice shall be more diffused, more highly esteemed by all, and that common piety be increased.

Through your work and that of the priests who help you in the care of souls, its praises and advantages shall be preached and repeated to the faithful of every social class.

From it, the young will draw fresh energy with which to control the rebellious tendencies to evil and to preserve intact the stainless purity of the soul; also in it, the old will again find repose, relief and peace from their anxious cares. To those who devote themselves to Catholic Action may it be a spur to impel them to a more fervent and active work of apostolate; and to all those who suffer in any way, especially the dying, may it bring comfort and increase the hope of eternal happiness.

The fathers and mothers of families particularly must give an example to their children, especially when, at sunset, they gather together after the day's work, within the domestic walls, and recite the Holy Rosary on bended knees before the image of the Virgin, together fusing voice, faith and sentiment. This is a beautiful and salutary custom, from which certainly there cannot but be derived tranquility and abundance of heavenly gifts for the household.


HOLY FATHER'S WORDS TO NEWLY WEDDED COUPLES

When very frequently We receive newly-married couples in audience and address paternal words to them. We give them Rosaries, We recommend these to them earnestly, and We exhort them, citing Our own example, not to let even one day pass without saying the Rosary, no matter how burdened they may be with many cares and labors.

For these reasons, Venerable Brethren, We have thought to exhort you earnestly, and through you, all the faithful, to carry out this pious practice. Nor do We doubt that you, listening, with your usual response to Our paternal invitation, will bring about abundant fruits once more.

And in addressing this Encyclical to you, another motive impels Us. We wish that, together with Us, Our many children in Jesus Christ shall unite and render thanks to the Mother of God for the better health We have happily regained.

This grace, as We have had occasion to write (Cf. Chirograph to Cardinal E. Pacelli, Osservatore Romano, 5th September 1937), We attribute'to the special intercession of the Virgin of Lisieux, St. Teresa of the Child Jesus. But We know, though, that everything comes to us granted by Almighty God through the hands of Our Lady.


ASKS REPARATION FOR OFFENSE TO BLESSED MOTHER

And lastly, as there has been launched in the public press with rash insolence, a very grave injury to the Blessed Virgin, We cannot do less than profit by this occasion to offer, together with the Episcopate and the people of that nation which venerates Mary as "Queen of the Kingdom of Poland," and with the homage of our piety, due reparation to the august Queen, and denounce to the whole world this sacrilege committed with impunity, as a painful and unworthy thing.

Meanwhile, with a full heart We impart to You, Venerable Brethren, and to the flock entrusted to the care of each of you, the Apostolic Blessing as an augury of heavenly graces and in token of Our Paternal benevolence.



Given at Castelgandolfo, near Rome, on the 29th of the month of September, on the Feast of the Dedication of St. Michael Archangel, in the year 1937, the sixteenth of Our Pontificate.

PIUS PP. XI.

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The Catacombs wishes you all a most blessed Feast the Holy Rosary!

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The Catacombs wishes you all a most blessed Feast the Holy Rosary!