Our Lady of Rosary feast is celebrated on the 7th of October. St. Pius V 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 devotion to Our Lady is manifested through the pious recitation of the Rosary (the word comes from Latin Rosarium meaning ‘Rose Garden’ or ‘Garland of Roses’). We participate in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose focus is Christ Jesus. Through Mary, we reach Jesus, by honoring Mary, we adore her son Jesus.
The devotion of Rosary is attributed to St. Dominic. In 1206, St. Dominic had been vigorously preaching and writing against the Albigensian heresy. He pleaded invoking the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary to give him success. Our Lady appeared to him and gave the Rosary as a mighty weapon and taught him of its use and efficacy. By popular tradition, it is believed that Our Lady has made 15 specific promises to those who recite the Rosary prayer with great devotion.
THE 15 PROMISES OF OUR LADY TO CHRISTIANS WHO RECITE THE ROSARY
- Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.
- I promise My special protection and the greatest graces to all who shall recite the Rosary.
- The Rosary shall be a powerful armour against hell; it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.
- It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
- The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.
- Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries, shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an un-provided death; if he be just, he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.
- Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.
- Those who are faithful in reciting the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
- I shall deliver from purgatory, those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
- The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.
- You shall obtain all you ask of Me by the recitation of the Rosary.
- All those who propagate the holy Rosary shall be aided by Me in their necessities.
- I have obtained from My Divine Son, that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors, the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.
- All who recite the Rosary are My sons, and brothers of My only son Jesus Christ.
- Devotion to My Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
In 1917, Our Lady appeared to the three children at Fatima in Portugal and asked that the Fatima prayer to be added to Rosary and also told the visionaries to recite the Rosary to stop the First World War and as a part of the Immaculate Heart’s reparation. The Lady at Fatima revealed her name as “Our Lady of Rosary”.
The Rosary is a perfect form of prayerful tribute to the Holy Trinity.
