The Rosary

Tradition attributes the rosary to a vision of St Dominic in which Mary presented him with a rosary as a means to overcome the Albigensian heresy.

(The Albigensian heresy had plagued southern France in St.Dominic's time, during the 13th century. It was based on the belief that there were two supreme beings, a good God who created the spirit world, and an evil god who created the material world.)

However, there is no historical reference to this until 200 years after Dominic's death.The rosary evolved over centuries.The desert fathers counted prayers with pebbles or pegs put into a board. In the middle ages strings of prayer beads called paternosterswere popular, Paternoster is Latin for "Our Father" The rosary as we know it probably began as a substitute for the 150 Psalms for people who were illiterate and unable to read the psalms.

October is the month of the rosary and October 7 is the memorial Our Lady of the Rosary.The rosary can be thought of as a garland of roses presented to Mary. At Lourdes and at Fatima she encouraged praying the rosary. It is good prayer for families to pray together.

Read more about "How to Pray the Rosary"

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