THE rosary is “man’s crown of merit during lifetime, a crown of peace during death and a crown of glory in heaven,” Saint Louis de Montfort said.
In 1214 Saint Dominic went to a forest near Toulouse, France, for three days to pray on how to convert sinners and the Albigenses, a heretical sect who believed on the “duality of good and evil.” To these heretics, Jesus is a rebel against the cruelty of an omnipotent God.
He wept and performed penance with his body, so lacerated that he lapsed into coma.
The Blessed Virgin Mary, accompanied by three angels, appeared and said: “Dear Dominic, do you know which weapon the Blessed Trinity wants to use to reform the world?”
“The rosary.”
It is in the 16th century that the rosary evolved to its present form with 15 joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries, noted Fr. Nil Guillemmette, quoting Foley in The Cedars of Lebanon.
In October 2002 Pope John Paul II added the five Mysteries of Light which centered on the public life of Jesus.
Our Lady’s apparition
Saint Dominic, with burning seal, went straight to the cathedral. Unseen angels rang the church bells to gather the people.
During his homily, a storm broke out, the earth shook, the skies darkened with lightning accompanied by thunder.
The picture of the Blessed Mother came to life and “she raised her arms thrice toward heaven to call down God’s vengeance upon them if they failed to be converted,” Saint Louis de Montfort narrated in The Secret of the Rosary.
The people of Toulouse were converted and renounced their false beliefs. In his lifetime, Saint Dominic exerted great influence for and devotion to the Holy Rosary. But the fervor lasted only for a century.
In 1349 according to Saint Montfort, God punished Europe with plague that lasted for three years.
It was followed by the Flagellantes heresy and schism in 1376.
In 1460 Blessed Alan dela Roche, a Dominican Father in the Monastery of Dinan, Brittany, restored devotion to the rosary after a reproach from Jesus. Jesus spoke to him in the Sacred Host: “How can you crucify me so soon…. You have all the learning and understanding that you need to preach my Mother’s rosary and you are not doing so.”
Most meritorious prayer
Pope Urban VIII in Ad Perpetuam Rei Memoriam in 1626, decreed that every time the rosary is recited in two groups, every participant gains a hundred extra indulgence.
When we pray the rosary, we pray with our Blessed Mother to honor the life of Jesus. And Mary is the only one on earth and heaven to whom Christ our Lord cannot say no.
She made 15 promises to anyone who prays it fervently.
Through the centuries, the rosary has never diminished its efficacy and timeliness. It is easy to carry, can be prayed anytime and anywhere by people of all ages, healthy or sick.
“More meritorious for the soul than any other prayer,” recited fervently, it “gives Jesus and Mary more glory.”
The merit one gains in praying, according to Marian Theologians, is equivalent to the number of people in the group. But it is one of most difficult to pray because the devil makes it so for us, according to Saint Louis de Montfort. He makes us “bored, exhausted, distracted and oppresses us from all sides.”
But more merit there is, when it is harder to pray and we do pray.
The saint reminds us of two pitfalls in praying the rosary—“not asking for any grace at all and getting it over as quickly as possible.”
Each Hail Mary is a salutation equivalent to a rose to form a crown for the Blessed Mother which is returned as a crown of spiritual grace to one who prays the rosary with spiritual disposition.
A well-known Jesuit Bro. Alphonsus Rodriguez is noted for saying the rosary with such fervor that a red rose comes out of his mouth at each Our Father and a white rose for every Hail Mary, equal in beauty and fragrance, narrated Saint Montfort in his book.
Our Lady’s naval victories
During the pontificate of Pope Pius V the Turks threatened to invade Europe. Alarmed, the pope prayed for enlightenment, called all European leaders to unite, form an army, gave every soldier a rosary and asked the entire people of Europe to pray the rosary. The 208 ships with all men armed with rosaries sailed off from the Sicilian port of Messina on September 16, 1571.
Stopping at Corfu, they were horrified. The Turks had attached the island, desecrated churches and mutilated religious objects, murdered hundreds and captured boys to be sold in slave markets of Turkey.
In Famagusta City, the residents were massacred and the brave commander Bragadino was flayed alive and his corpse dragged throughout the city. In the morning of October 7, the wind favored the Turkish fleet anchored in the Gulf of Corinth, blowing the ships forward against the Holy League.
Then the wind shifted, hand-to-hand fighting on the decks complimented arrows and bombardments of cannons. At sunset the battle was over. About 8,000 Christian soldiers died, 16,000 wounded and a dozen ship destroyed.
Approximately the same number of Turks perished, 50 ships sunk and 117 were captured. Pope Pius V credited the victory to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, which “ended any major attack on the Mediterranean.”
He declared October 7 the Feast of Our Lady of Victory and later changed it to Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. The Battle of Lepanto was chronicled in Ten Dates Every Catholic Should Know by Diane Moczar. The defeat of the Dutch troops in Manila in 1646 was also attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of the Rosary. On March 15, 1646, a “formidable flotilla” of Dutch Protestant ships arrived in the port of Manila.
This brought anxiety to Spaniards and Filipinos who had only two merchant ships and were not ready for a war at sea. Fr. Jean de Conca, OP, taught all the sailors how to and why they should pray the rosary. During encounters, they prayed the rosary in chorus. From March to October, they recited the rosary and what was humanly impossible happened: The Protestant fleets were destroyed and only 15 of the 200 Christian men died.
Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris College in Laguna.