St Mary Star of the Sea

Roman Catholic Church - Port Townsend, Washington

About the Rosary

History

In recent times the Mother of God has appeared in various parts of the world and asked for the recitation of the Rosary. It is her favorite prayer for it is essentially a meditation on the life of her Divine Son.
The Holy Rosary is not a pious practice banished to the past, like prayers of other times thought of with nostalgia. Instead, the Rosary is without a doubt, one of the most eloquent signs of love that we offer to Jesus and his Mother, Mary.

The Holy Mother Church received the Rosary in its present form in 1214 in a miraculous way, when Our Lady appeared to Saint Dominic and gave it to him as a powerful means of converting the heretics and other sinners.

On that night, as Saint Dominic was deep in prayer, Our Lady appeared to him, holding the Rosary in Her hand and said: “Be of good cheer, Dominic, the remedy for the evils which you lament will be meditation on the life, death and glory of My Son, uniting all with the recitation of the angelic salutation (Hail Mary) by which the mystery of redemption was announced to the world. This devotion, which you are to inculcate by your preaching, is a practice most dear to My Son and Me. The faithful will obtain by it innumerable advantages and shall always find Me ready to aid them in their wants. This is the precious gift which I leave to you and to your spiritual children.”

Since then the devotion spread around the world with incredible and miraculous results.

The Rosary Prayer is much more than the repetition of Our Father’s and Hail Mary’s.  It is contemplation on the life of Jesus.  It could be thought of as a walk with His Mother as She shares the Life of Her Son with you.

A Scriptural Rosary includes verses from the Bible that help you to focus on each Mystery of the Rosary. There are a total of 20 Mysteries, 4 groups with 5 Mysteries each. Traditionally one group is prayed each day. These groups are named:

  • Glorious Mysteries prayed on Wednesdays, Sundays outside the seasons of Advent and Lent and on Easter Sunday
  • Sorrowful Mysteries prayed on Tuesdays, Fridays and on Sundays during the season of Lent and on Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday
  • Joyful Mysteries prayed on Mondays, Saturdays and on Sundays during the season of Advent
  • Luminous Mysteries prayed on Thursdays

15 promises of the Virgin Mary to those who pray the Rosary

The Blessed Virgin Mary made these promises to Saint Dominic and to all who follow that “Whatever you ask in the Rosary will be granted.”

  1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.
  2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.
  3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.
  4. The Rosary will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
  5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.
  6. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.
  7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
  8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenititude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
  9. I shall deliver from Purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
  10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.
  11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.
  12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
  13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.
  14. All who recite the Rosary are my sons and daughters, and brothers and sisters of my only Son Jesus Christ.
  15. Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.