The Rosary is recited online in our church daily (Monday – Saturday) at 11.25am.
History of the Rosary
The Holy Rosary is one of the most popular Marian Devotions and one of the greatest prayers of the Church after the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. It has been frequently and earnestly recommended to the faithful by many saints and popes.
The origins of the Rosary may be found in the practice of lay people reciting the Hail Mary 150 times in imitation of the 150 Psalms said by monks in fulfilment of the Divine Office. However, it is to Saint Dominic – the thirteenth century founder of the Order of Preachers – that Our Lady is said to have appeared in 1206 and revealed the Rosary. Tradition recounts that this was to assist Saint Dominic in his ongoing battle against the Albigensian heresy.
With John Paul II’s addition of the Mysteries of Light, the Rosary now comprises twenty mysteries that recall the important events in the life of Our Lord and the Blessed Mother. The Rosary is Christocentric because the mysteries lead us to meditate upon the Incarnation and the work of Redemption undertaken by our Saviour. In doing so we also honour and contemplate the role of Mary in the plan of salvation. It can therefore be appreciated how the Rosary offers a veritable summary of the Gospel and constitutes a compendium of the Liturgical Year in which all these events are recalled by the Church.
“In this place [Fatima] where we were repeatedly requested to recite the Rosary, let us allow ourselves to be attracted by the mysteries of Christ, the mysteries of Mary’s Rosary. The recitation of the Rosary allows us to fix our gaze and our hearts upon Jesus, just like his Mother, the supreme model of contemplation of the Son.
Meditating upon the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries as we pray our Hail Marys, let us reflect upon the interior mystery of Jesus, from the Incarnation, through the Cross, to the glory of the Resurrection; let us contemplate the intimate participation of Mary in the mystery of our life in Christ today, a life which is also made up of joy and sorrow, of darkness and light, of fear and hope. Grace invades our hearts, provoking a wish for an incisive and evangelical change of life so that we can say with Saint Paul: ‘For me to live is Christ’ (Phil 1:21) in a communion of life and destiny with Christ.” [Benedict XVI, Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, 12 May 2010]
