The Holy Rosary is an object of devotion for the followers of the Catholic faith, for whom it is a symbol of one of the most beautiful traditions: the prayer of the rosary. This activity unites communities of faithful believers to give prayers to the Virgin.
The Holy Rosary began as a tradition recommended by the church, which included the reading of 150 psalms of David,Although back then only educated people who could read could do it.. But, since faith is at the service of all, the church found a solution; Those who did not know how to read could pray 150 Hail Marys, divided into 15 decades: this tradition was known as the psalter of the Virgin.
However, the spread of praying the Holy Rosary began in the twelfth century by Domingo de Guzmán, a Spanish priest who went to the south of France to try to convert those who had fallen away from the church. Tired of seeing sins increase in people, yesHe went to the forest to pray and there he witnessed the appearance of the Virginwho recommended the recitation of his psalter as a way to transform lost souls.
Before the discovery, Domingo de Guzmán or Santo Domingo went to the cathedral of Toulouse where he summoned the people to listen to him, but in the middle of the speech a torrential storm broke out and at that moment those present could see the appearance of the Virgin. to the surprise, Santo Domingo began the prayer of the psalter and everyone witnessed the cessation of the storm.
In the same way, but years later, Santo Domingo witnessed the apparition of the Virgin again, just before beginning his speech in the church of Notre Dame in Paris, for the celebration of the feast of Saint John. On that occasion, the Virgin recommended that he change his sermon for the prayer of the Holy Rosary., explaining how much God liked him, because he remembered 150 times the moment when Mary accepted her son as the Messiah. Consequently, Catholics began to pray it, doing their best to turn away from sin.
Definitely, Santo Domingo was a constant diffuser of the prayer of the Holy Rosary among believersbut after his death in 1221, the tradition was being forgotten and was not resumed until 1342, when the friar Alan de la Roche witnessed an apparition of the Virgin in which he asked to revive the tradition to end the Black Death, which was raging across Europe at the time.
Friar Alan de la Roche, who belonged to the Dominican friars, began the propagation together with other friars and it is to them that we owe the elaboration of the rosary in the form in which we know it today.
The recitation of the Holy Rosary is done in every church in the world, when believers please invoke the Holy Mother of the Church. However, this important tradition is celebrated in a special way, the first Sunday of October with the celebration of the day of Our Lady of the Rosary.