Our Lady of the Rosary

Established by Pope Saint Pius V to celebrate the miraculous victory of the Christian forces in the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary was originally known as the Feast of Our Lady of Victory because prior to the decisive battle, he had requested all Western Christians to pray the rosary, and he credited the victory to the power of the Marian prayer.

Two years before establishing the feast, Pope Saint Pius V officially approved the rosary in its present form with the papal bull, Consueverunt Romani Pontifices. In a development from earlier ways of praying the rosary, the new version included the second half of the Hail Mary and the “Glory Be” prayer at the end of each mystery. In this document, he also established the two essential elements of the rosary – vocal and mental prayer.

Pope Leo XIII, an enthusiastic promoter of the rosary, made the dedication of the month of October to the Holy Rosary common in the Church.  

Mary giving of the rosary to Saint Dominic is recognized as a legend, and the development of this prayer form owes much to the followers of Saint Dominic. One of them, Alan de la Roche, was known as “the apostle of the rosary.” He founded the first Confraternity of the Rosary in the fifteenth century. In the sixteenth century, the rosary was developed to consist of 15 mysteries: joyful, sorrowful, and glorious. In 2002, Pope John Paul II added the five Mysteries of Light to this devotion.