Rosary - When & How Did It

Beads of Joy 04-19-10

Rosary - When & How Did It Begin?
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Understanding The Rosary
Hello Everyone,

This will be a very exciting week, of learning and seeing why us Roman Catholics love and adore our Blessed Mother so much through her intercession with the Rosary. You'll also better understand what it is exactly that we see in those little precious beads. The year was 1214 when the Rosary as we know it today was presented, for the full purpose of converting sinners. Even before the actual beads were on a string, they use to count pebbles. All of what we have learned came from St. Dominic. Upon seeing the weight of the sins of the Albigensian people; he withdrew into the forest where he prayed three days and three nights. It was during those three days and nights, that all he did was cry, he only wanted to do harsh penance to take on the burdens of the sin of the Albigensian people. He did not want God's anger to come down on them. He was so seriously into this experience, that he ended up in a coma. It was then that our Lady appeared to him, she said, "Dear Dominic, do you know which weapon the Blessed Trinity wants to use to reform the world?" Dominic was taken for a moment and said, "Oh, my Lady, you know far better than I do, because next to you Son Jesus Christ you have always been the chief instrument of our salvation." Our Lady then said, "I want you to know that, in this kind of warfare, the principal weapon 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."

Please keep in mind that my explanation throughout the week will be the shorter version of all this; but I will be touching on the most important parts, there is so much history to share about the Rosary. The truest history about the Rosary is that it literally evolved through the centuries. This week I really want everyone to have a new love and understanding of the Rosary. St Dominic gave his live to spreading the joy of the Rosary to all. He did it till the day he died. I pray that I could be half the man he was in presenting the Rosary to all people. But lets back up the story a moment. St Dominic's illness has taken its toll on him, our Blessed Mother appeared with five maidens and raised him, saying, "Therefore if you will preach successfully, preach my psalter." Dominic was fully restored and ready to begin his ministry.

It's been said he was inspired by the Holy Spirit and directed by Our Blessed Mother. The life he lived is so inspiring and special, how wonderful it must have been to share the excitement and joy of the rosary with everybody like he did. One day our Lady appeared to him, and said, "Dominic, even though what you have planned to say may be very good, I am bringing you a much better sermon." It was on a the Feast Day of St John, when this happened. But after our Lady approached him, he never mentioned the holy day. But in his wisdom and the direction of Our Lady, he told everyone he wanted to speak to them in the simplest of terms. And so he began to preach the "Rosary" and he also began to explain the Hail Mary, word for word. He used the simplest of terms. Which I hope to do before the week is over in these blogs. We need to be focused on the meaning of our prayers. It's not about repetition at all, if you really understand what you are saying. Archbishop Fulton Sheen once taught about this repetition. A woman asked him, why would God want to hear someone say the same prayer over and over again. He responded, "Who is the man next to you?" she said her fiancee, so he asked, "Did you tell him today that you loved him?" she said yes, he said "Did you tell him yesterday that you love him?" she said yes, he said, "Well then is he not tired of hearing you say that?" She said, no. (here's the wisdom) He responded, "Then why would God be tired of hearing us tell Him that we love Him over and over again."

It was Blessed Alan who spoke of many occasions about how Our Lord and Our Lady spoke to St Dominic, and urged him to preach the Rosary in order to wipe out sin and convert many. It has been said that Jesus appeared to him and said, "Dominic, I rejoice to see that you are not relying on your own wisdom and that, rather than seek the empty praise of men, you are working with great humility for the salvation of souls." In 1460 Blessed Alan re-established the devotion using the same 150 Hail Mary's. I hope all of this don't seem confusing, but the gist of it is. Through St Dominic, Our Lady and Our Lord brought to him the Rosary to bring to us also. Does that make sense. Later on Pope John Paul II added the Luminous Mysteries, what a blessing to fill in the gaps of Jesus' life.


What A Gift?

Our Lord knew what we needed
His Mother would say yes again,
Those precious beads of love to share
Will help us in from the depths of our sin.

The Rosary is precious for us to know
To embrace our Lord's life events,
To love Him, to honor Him, it's all about Him
Let's pray the rosary with love as we repent.

Our hearts embrace them beads of joy
The ones who honor the Lord to the core,
He is the only one I love so much
And His Blessed Mother I so much adore.

So, What is the Rosary? It's a Catholic Prayer based on the bible, that is focused on the life of Jesus and that of His Most Blessed Mother. I'm not trying to convince you, just pure fact. I am already firm in what I believe. I am a cradle Catholic, so this is in my heart, soul, mind and blood.


PRAY THE ROSARY EVERYDAY...


Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO

Tuesday's Blog: Rosary - What Do Our Prayers Mean? (The Our Father explained)