Center for Catholic Education at UD
Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary
Throughout the ages, the Marian devotion of the Rosary has played an important role in Roman Catholic life. Traditionally, it is believed that in the 13th century St. Dominic received the Rosary from Mary in an apparition. Mary gave him the Rosary as a weapon to aid him in combating the Albigensian heresy and other vices that arose in Europe during this time. Having learned from St. Dominic, the Christian army prayed the Rosary before their victorious battle of Muret against the heretical Albigensians in 1213. Similarly, Pope Pius V asked for Catholics to pray the Rosary so that the Turks invasion attempt at Lepanto, Greece would fail. Although greatly outnumbered, the Christians were victorious against the Turks on October 7, 1571. To commemorate this miraculous victory, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is annually celebrated on October 7th and the entire month of October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary.
In his encyclical Ingravescentibus Malis (1937), Pope Pius XI stated that the Rosary can be used “as a powerful weapon to put the demons to flight, to preserve the integrity of life, to acquire virtue more easily, and in a word to attain real peace among men.” What ‘demons’ in our own life can the Rosary help us fight? What virtues can the Rosary help us acquire and strengthen? How can the Rosary help bring peace into our lives this month?
Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us!
Written by: Lindsey Bronder
Edited by: Victoria Schoen