Happy Twenty-Eighth Sunday! Among the many rich traditions of our Catholic life, you may know that the Church dedicates each month to a particular devotion. For example, March is dedicated to St. Joseph, May to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and June to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary because of the Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, which we celebrated this past week, as we do every year on October 7.
The dramatic history of this feast dates to 1571, but the history of the Rosary goes back to the Middle Ages and the life of St. Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans, known for their white habits). According to tradition, in 1214 the Blessed Mother appeared to St. Dominic and gave him the Rosary as a spiritual tool to counter the heresies of his day and promote orthodox Christian belief. He and his fellow Dominicans spread devotion to this prayer throughout Europe, helping the faithful meditate on the divine mysteries revealed in the lives of Jesus and his mother, Mary.
The distinctive feature of the Rosary, of course, is the string of beads that shares its name. These beads come from an ancient monastic tradition tied to the Divine Office, also known as the Liturgy of the Hours. In the Divine Office, monks offered the hours of each day to God by praying the biblical psalms.
As part of monastic life, the monks recited and memorized all 150 psalms. Most lay faithful could not read, so they joined in the Divine Office by praying 150 Hail Mary’s instead, keeping their place on knotted cords. Some used shorter cords of 50 for convenience. The Rosary transformed this daily prayer by turning our gaze to the mysteries of the Incarnation. As we ponder the many ways Jesus showed his human love, which we name in the mysteries of the Rosary, we come to know the divine love of God himself.
Centuries later, the Rosary took center stage during the pontificate of Pope Pius V. At that time, the Ottoman Empire was the leading power of the Islamic world and was pushing west into Europe by force. The Ottomans assembled a great fleet that threatened Rome and the heart of Christendom. Pope Pius V formed the Holy League, an alliance of Catholic states, and its fleet sailed east to meet the Ottomans. As the battle approached, the pope urged the sailors and all the faithful to pray the Rosary for protection and deliverance. The two fleets met off the coast of Greece at Lepanto, and the Holy League won an overwhelming victory.
Pius V then declared October 7 the Feast of Our Lady of Victory. His successor, Gregory XIII, renamed it the Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. Ever since, this feast has reminded us of the Rosary’s power to sustain and deliver us, especially in our hour of need.
From Fr. Brian