This is perhaps one of the most common images we see whenever we visit churches or shrines: the faithful praying the rosary…
It may be the most widespread Marian prayer.
We owe this prayer to Saint Dominic of Guzmán and the order he founded: the Dominicans. Each year, on August 8, the Church celebrates his feast day.
According to tradition, in the year 1208, the Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Dominic and gave him the rosary. The Virgin asked him to spread devotion to this prayer.
Eight centuries later, praying the rosary remains one of the most widely practiced forms of prayer.
The most recent popes in history have not hidden their devotion to this prayer. Pope Saint John Paul II proclaimed a Year of the Rosary, which ran from 2002 to 2003. If that wasn’t enough, he also introduced the Luminous Mysteries.
Pope Benedict XVI would often use his walks as moments to pray it. Here he is, in Castel Gandolfo, with his personal secretary praying the rosary.
As for Pope Francis, there have been several occasions in which he has urged the faithful to be devoted to this prayer.
POPE FRANCIS
We need to learn this from the Mother of God; let us show our gratitude by praying the rosary every day.
As for Pope Leo XIV, on May 31 of this same year, he closed the month dedicated to Mary by visiting the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens. There, he prayed the rosary and said these words:
POPE LEO XIV
You have prayed the Holy Rosary together: a prayer, as Saint John Paul II emphasized, with a Marian character and a Christ-centered heart, which ‘concentrates within it the depth of the entire Gospel message.’
Far from being forgotten, this prayer and the mission the Virgin entrusted to Saint Dominic, continues to be a living reality even today.
AM
Trans. CRT
