The commemoration of Our Lady of the Rosary derives from the Feast of St. Mary (Our Lady) of Victory, instituted by St. Pius V after the Christian victory against the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto on 7 October 1571.
Newsroom (16/10/2024 00:30, Gaudium Press) In ancient times, Romans and Greeks had the custom of crowning their statues with roses or other flowers, symbolizing the homage and reverence they paid to them. Adopting this custom for themselves, the Christian women who were taken to martyrdom would put on their finest clothes and adorn their foreheads with crowns of roses, showing how happy they were to be going to meet the Lord. At night, the Christians would collect the flowers and for each rose they would recite a prayer or psalm for the Martyrs.
This gave rise to the custom recommended by the Church of praying the Rosary, which consisted of reciting the 150 psalms of David, which were considered an extremely pleasing prayer to God. However, not everyone could follow this recommendation: knowing how to read at that time was reserved only for the educated and literate. For those who could not, the Church allowed the 150 psalms to be replaced by 150 Hail Mary’s. This ‘Rosary’ came to be called ‘the Psalter of the Virgin’.
St Dominic of Gusmão
Shortly before the end of the 12th century, Dominic of Gusmão was concerned about the decadence of his time, the seriousness of the sins and the growth of the Cathar heresy. One day, he decided to go and pray in the woods, and fervently asking God to intervene in the crisis of Christendom, he began to scourge himself so hard that he ended up fainting. When he regained his senses, the Blessed Virgin appeared to him and told him that the best weapon to fight heresy and achieve the conversion of heretics was not through scourging, but by the recitation of her Psalter.
Immediately heading to Toulouse Cathedral, St. Dominic de Gusmao had the bells rung and gathered the people together. Just as he was about to start speaking, a violent storm erupted with lightning and thunder. However, those present were truly startled when they saw the image of the Mother of God raise her right arm and threaten them with a terrible gaze. At that moment, St. Dominic began to pray the Rosary, and with him, all the people gathered in the cathedral. As they prayed, the storm subsided until it ceased completely.
On another occasion, St. Dominic was on his way to give a sermon at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on the Feast of St. John the Baptist. He had prepared his homily exquisitely, but before giving it he prayed the Rosary fervently, and lo and behold, the Blessed Virgin appeared to him and said: ‘Your sermon is good, but this one I am giving you is better!’, and she gave him one about devotion to her Holy Rosary, and how much it pleased God and the Virgin.
Alan de la Roche
For a long time, people prayed the Rosary devoutly. However, about 100 years after the death of the great St. Dominic, the Rosary began to be forgotten. In 1349, there was a terrible epidemic in Spain that devastated the country, which came to be known as the ‘black death’. It was on this occasion that Our Lady had the condescension to appear, together with her Divine Son and St. Dominic, to Friar Alan de la Roche, who was then Superior of the Dominicans in the same province where devotion to the Holy Rosary was born. In this apparition, the Virgin Mary asked Fr. Alan to revive devotion to her Psalter.
Without delay, Fr. Alan, together with the other Dominican friars, set to work spreading this powerful devotion, which is so pleasing to the Blessed Virgin. It was through him that the Rosary took on the form it has to this day, divided into decades and contemplating the mysteries of the lives of Jesus and Mary. From then on, this devotion spread throughout the Church.
When was the Feast of the Holy Rosary instituted?
The Sea of Lepanto! An immense battle raged between Catholics and Turks. The clashing of ships was reminiscent of the final conflagration, when the celestial vault will be rolled up like parchment. It was 7 October 1571. If the Catholics lost the battle, Christendom would have been submerged by the followers of Mohammed. The Catholic religion would have disappeared forever.
Leagues away, in Rome, St. Pius V implored divine help through the intercession of the Mother of the Church. Inspired, the holy Pope asked the Roman people to pray the Rosary for the victory of their brothers.
At a certain moment, while he was dealing with urgent matters, but with all his attention focused on the danger facing Christendom, the venerable old man abruptly interrupted his work and went to the window. Those around him were perplexed, for they did not understand his attitude. Silence reigned for a short time, broken by the Pontiff’s even more mysterious affirmation: “We won at Lepanto!”
He ordered the faithful to gather and prepare to celebrate the miraculous victory of Don John of Austria, commander of the fleet. A solemn procession took place through the streets of the Eternal City. A few days later, emissaries from the fleet arrived, bringing the news already announced by the Angels. Shortly afterwards, the Feast of Our Lady of Victories was established on 7 October.
A year later, Gregory XIII changed the name to the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary and determined that it should be celebrated on the first Sunday in October (the day the Battle of Lepanto was won). Today the feast is celebrated on 7 October.
With files from academico.arautos.org.
Compiled by Sandra Chisholm