“October is dedicated as the Month of the Rosary because we celebrate the memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary each year on October 7”
Next month, many will be praying once more, on a daily basis, the Rosary – some in the comfort zones of their homes, while others among the pews of their parish churches.
And we ask the question: Why pray the Rosary in October?
The short answer is: October is dedicated as the Month of the Rosary because we celebrate the memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary each year on October 7.
Saint Pius V established the feast of Our Lady of Victory to thank God for the Christian defeat of the Turks at Lepanto – a victory attributed to praying the rosary.
Pope Gregory XIII changed the name to Feast of the Holy Rosary – originally celebrated on the first Sunday in October – in 1573.
But Pope Leo XIII officially established October as the Month of the Rosary in 1884. He was also called the “Rosary Pope” because he wrote 11 encyclicals about the Rosary.
October is one of the two months the Catholic Church recognizes as a month devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The other month that is even more closely associated to Mary is the month of May, which the Catholic Church has set aside to honor Mary, Mother of God.
Known for centuries as the Feast of “Our Lady of Victory,” this takes place in honor of a naval victory which secured European Christendom against Turkish invasion in 1571.
Not many know, although it is widely believed, in 1214 St. Dominic de Guzman had a vision of Mary and, available religious documents suggest she is said to have presented him with the rosary, both the beads and the prayers to be prayed.
Dominic (Aug 8, 1170-Aug 6, 1221), a Castilian Catholic priest and the patron saint of astronomers and natural scientists, had a tremendous devotion to Mary and the rosary, which he promoted wherever he traveled to preach.
He is alternatively called Dominic of Osma, Dominic of Caleruega, and Domingo Felix de Guzman.
He was canonized on July 13, 1234 at the Rieti Cathedral by Pope Gregory IX, with his feast marked on August 8 – in the pre-1970 General Roman Calendar August 4.
Two years later, in 1216, St. Dominic de Guzman founded the Order of Preachers in response to at that time a desperate need for informed preaching.
Now what is this Rosary?
Rosary (Latin rosarium in the sense of “crown of roses” or “garland of roses” is also known as the Dominican Rosary and refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church and to the physical string of knots or beads used to count the component prayers.
Theologians say when referring to the prayer, the first letter – Rosary – is usually capitalized as is customary for other names of prayers: the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary.
When referring to the prayer beads as an object, it is written with a lower case initial letter: instance, a rosary bead.
The prayers that compose the Rosary are arranged in sets of 10 Hail Marys, called “decades.”
Each decade is preceded by one Lord’s Prayer (“Our Father”), and traditionally followed by one Glory Be.
Some Catholics also recite the “O my Jesus” prayer after the Glory Be – best known of the seven Fatima prayers that appeared in the early 20th century.
Rosary prayer beads are an aid for saying these prayers in their proper sequence.
Usually, five decades are recited in a session. Each decade provides an opportunity to meditate on one of the Mysteries of the Rosary, which recall events in the lives of Jesus Christ and his mother Mary.
In the 16th century Pope Pius V established a standard 15 Mysteries of the Rosary, based on long-standing custom.
This groups the mysteries in three sets: the Joyful Mysteries, the Sorrowful Mysteries, and the Glorious Mysteries.
In 2002, Pope John Paul II said it is fitting that a new set of five be added, termed the Luminous Mysteries, bringing the total number of mysteries to 20.
The mysteries are prayed on specific days of the week; with the addition of the Luminous Mysteries on Thursday, the others are the Glorious on Sunday and Wednesday, the Joyful on Monday and Saturday, and the Sorrowful on Tuesday and Friday.
Over more than four centuries, several popes have promoted the Rosary as part of the veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church, and consisting essentially in meditation on the life of Christ, according to theologians.
They add the rosary also represents the Catholic emphasis on “participation in the life of Mary, whose focus was Christ,” and the Mariological theme “to Christ through Mary.”
Now we go back to Dominic Guzman, founder of the Order of preachers or Dominicans and is generally regarded as the creator of the rosary.
Theological documents say Dominic was combating a popular heresy in France called Albigensianism.
Mary gave him the rosary, told him to teach people this devotion, and promised that his apostolic efforts would be blessed with much success if he did.
Dominic was the first to preach and teach the Rosary as a form of meditative prayer, and the first to see the benefits reaped from meditation upon its mysteries. In the 11th through 13th centuries, a heretical doctrine developed in Europe.
