The Holy Rosary

Many know the Holy Rosary as the recitation of the Apostle's Creed, followed by the mere repetition of Our Fathers, Hail Marys, and Glory Bes.

The Holy Rosary is a powerful prayer to honor the Blessed Mother and ask the intercession of the Blessed Mother to our God in Heaven.

October has been set aside as Rosary month with October 7 as the feast day. It was Pope Gregory XIII who established the feast in 1573 in thanksgiving for the victory of the Christian forces from Europe over the Turks' fleet in the naval battle of Lepanto in 1571. Pope Clement XI made the feast of the Holy Rosary one of the Universal Church in 1716.

The Dominicans did much in the spread of the Holy Rosary.

People who prayed the rosary need small pebbles to keep count. A certain Hermit Paul of Egypt in 300 AD filled his pocket with 300 pebbles and removed them one by one with each prayer. Later a knotted cord is easier to carry, and that later, a string of beads is prettier than a knotted cord.

At first the 150 Psalms were used as prayers but not all Christians knew these Psalms by heart the Our Father was used. In the 15th century, the salutation of Angel Gabriel was used. Different regions prayed different versions of the Rosary at a time.

Pope John Paul II added the mystery of Light to the three mysteries of Joy, Sorrows and Glorious.