Our Lady of the Rosary
St.
Pius V (April 30) established this feast in 1573. The purpose was to
thank God for the victory of Christians over the Turks at Lepanto—a
victory attributed to the praying of the rosary. Clement XI extended the
feast to the universal Church in 1716.
The development of the rosary has a long history. First, a practice
developed of praying 150 Our Fathers in imitation of the 150 Psalms.
Then there was a parallel practice of praying 150 Hail Marys. Soon a
mystery of Jesus' life was attached to each Hail Mary. Though Mary's
giving the rosary to St. Dominic is recognized as a legend, the
development of this prayer form owes much to the followers of St.
Dominic. One of them, Alan de la Roche, was known as "the apostle of the
rosary." He founded the first Confraternity of the Rosary in the 15th
century. In the 16th century the rosary was developed to its present
form—with the 15 mysteries (joyful, sorrowful and glorious). In 2002,
Pope John Paul II added five Mysteries of Light to this devotion.
No comments:
Post a Comment