Our Lady of the Holy Rosary

This is the month of October, the month of the Most Holy Rosary and also the Holy Angels :)

Today's the Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary! =) Beautiful Feast I must say, here's what the Feast is all about, from the 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal:

In its present form, the Rosary (according to accepted Tradition) is due to St. Dominic, the founder of the Order of Friars Preachers, his objective being to stem the flood of the Albigensian heresy, then spreading far and wide throughout Europe. He propagated this form of prayer in obedience to a revelation received from the Blessed Virgin, to whom he had recourse for this purpose, about the year 1206, and to him we owe the spread of a devotion, which for many centuries has produced the most marvelous results in the Christian world. The decisive defeat of the Turks at the famous battle of Lepanto (1571) and at Belgrade (1716) gave occasion to the institution of this feast and to its extension to the Universal Church.

Here's the beautiful Hymn at Vespers for today's feast, it says so much, so beautifully:

1. Thee, who in joy didst bear thy Child,
Thee, pierced with grief and sorrowing,
Thee, in abiding glory placed,
Thee, Virgin Mother, do we sing.

2. Hail, in thy joyful mysteries,
Conception, Visitation, Birth,
The Offering, Finding, of thy Son,
O Mother, blessed in thy mirth.

3. Hail, bearing in thy heart with grief
Thy Son’s great Agony, the blows,
The thorny crown,
The Cross itself:
Queen of all Martyrs in thy woes.

4. Hail, in the triumphs of thy Son,
In fiery tongues of Pentecost,
In light and exaltation made
The Queen of glory, heaven’s boast.

5. O come, ye nations, gather now
And let these mysteries roses prove;
Sweet garlands weave for Heav’n’s Queen.
The glorious Mother of fair love.

6. O Jesus, Virgin-born, to Thee,
Eternal glory be and praise.
To Father and to Paraclete
Our songs of glory too we raise. Amen.

V. Queen of the most holy Rosary, pray for us.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

And here, the Antiphon at the Magnificat also from today's Vespers:

O Blessed Mother and unspotted Virgin, glorious Queen of the world, may all who celebrate thy solemnity of the most holy Rosary experience thy help.

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For my recent German homework, we had to write a short introduction about ourselves, Ich über mich. (Me about myself). Here's an excerpt of my corrected hausaufgaben (homework):

...Ich bin römisch katholisch, genau wie meine Familie. Mein Glaube ist mir sehr wichtig. Einer meiner Lieblings heiligen ist der heilige Thomas Aquinas. Er studierte an der Universität von Köln. Ich möchte eines Tages nach Köln reisen... ...Meine Lieblingsfarbe ist Blau. Meine Hobbys sind Lesen und Klavier spielen und klassische Musik hören. Mein Lieblings komponist ist Beethoven. Er kommt auch aus Deutschland. Meine Lieblingsblume ist die Rose. Mein Lieblings gebet ist der Rosenkranz.

I think you might be able to understand it :) The bolded phrase translates: My favourite prayer is the Rosary. =) yes it is!

The Rosary. It's origin, from Dearest Mother herself to her beautiful Saint, Dominic in the 1200s. Modelled after the 150 psalms as the ancients used to recite daily, the 15 decades of the Most Holy Rosary make up to 150 Ave Marias.

Rosary - means Garden of Roses or Crown of Roses. :) It is said that each time you recite one Ave Maria lovingly while saying the Rosary, you actually offer a Rose to dearest Mother Mary in heaven. Please see verse 5 of the hymn at Vespers, Sweet garlands weave for Heaven's Queen! :) everytime people say the Rosary devoutly they place a crown of 150 - 3 red roses and 16 white roses upon the heads of Jesus and Mary. Being heavenly flowers, these roses will never fade or lose their exquisite beauty.

From the book, the Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis de Montfort, as in the picture you see at the side of this text, here's the origin of the Rosary in its present form:

I will tell you the story of how he received it, which is found in the very well-known book "De Dignitate Psalterii" by Blessed Alan de la Roche. Saint Dominic seeing that the gravity of the people's sins was hindering the conversion of the Albigensians withdrew into a forest near Toulouse where he prayed unceasingly for three days and three nights. During this time he did nothing but weep and do harsh penances in order to appease the anger of Almighty God. He used his discipline so much that his body was lacerated, and finally he fell into a coma.

At this point Our Lady appeared to him, accompanied by three angels and she said:

"Dear Dominic, do you know which weapon the Blessed Trinity wants to use to reform the world?"

"Oh my Lady" answered Saint Dominic, "you know far better than I do because next to your Son Jesus Christ you have always been the chief instrument of our salvation."

Then Our Lady replied:

"I want you to know that, in this kind of warfare, the battering ram has always been the Angelic Psalter which is the foundation stone of the New Testament. Therefore if you want to reach these hardened souls and win them over to God, preach my Psalter."

So he arose comforted, and burning with zeal for the conversion of the people in that district he made straight for the Cathedral. At once, unseen angels rang the bells to gather the people together and Saint Dominic began to preach.

At the very beginning of his sermon, an appalling storm broke out the earth shook the sun was darkened and there was so much thunder and lightning that all were very much afraid. Even greater was their fear when looking at a picture of Our Lady exposed in a prominent place they saw her raise her arms to heaven three times to call down God's vengeance upon them if they failed to be converted, to amend their lives, and seek the protection of the Holy Mother of God.

God wished, by means of these supernatural phenomena, to spread the new devotion of the Holy Rosary and to make it more widely known.

At last, at the prayer of St. Dominic, the storm came to an end, and he went on preaching. So fervently and compelling did he explain the importance and value of the Holy Rosary that almost all the people of Toulouse embraced it and renounced their false beliefs. In a very short time a great improvement was seen in the town; people began leading Christian lives and gave up their former bad habits."

How beautiful it is. :)

At Fatima, Mother Mary implored again and again, for people to say the Rosary. [More on Fatima.org]

May 13th 1917: "Say the Rosary every day, in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war" (the Great War). June 13th 1917: (To Sr. Lucia) "Jesus wishes to make use of you to serve as His instrument to make me known and loved. He wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. To whoever who embraces this devotion, I promise salvation; these souls shall be dear to God, as flowers placed by me to adorn His throne ... My dauther ... I shall never abandon you! My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way which will lead you to God. July 13th 1917: "I want you ... to continue praying the Rosary everyday in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary, in order to obtain peace for the world ... because only she can help you! Sacrifice yourselves for poor sinners often saying, especially when you make some sacrifice: "O Jesus, it is for the love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary." (The same day, following the vision of hell): "You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If people do what I request, many souls will be saved and there will be peace ..." Our Lady warned however that if men refused and did not cease offending God, Divine Justice would manifest itself in new and greater chastisements. However she declared: "IN THE END, MY IMMACULATE HEART WILL TRIUMPH." Then she added: "When you say the beads, say after each mystery: "O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy!" August 19th 1917: "Pray, pray very much, and make sacrifices for poor sinners; for many souls go to hell because there are none to make sacrifices and pray for them." October 13th 1917: "I want a Chapel to be built here in my honour. I am Our Lady of the Rosary. Continue to say the Rosary every day... People must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins ... They must not offend Our Lord any more for He is already too much offended."

Say the Rosary! =D It's an order from the Dearest Queen of Heaven, our Mother. :)Who knows and loves us the best after Jesus!

Mother Dear, O pray for me and never cease thy care, till in heaven eternally, thy love and bliss I share.

Here's a picture of my own handmade Rosary :) I thank my parents and my sister for their love :) I thank my god-parents for teaching me how to make this Rosary from stratch. I thank God and Mother Mary for everything. Deo gratias et Mariae.

Deus propitius esto mihi peccatori.

Jesus, Mary, I love Thee; Save Souls!

Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum. (ter)