Every year, the Catholic Church dedicates the month of October to the Holy Rosary. The day of particular significance is 7 October, celebrated as the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. One also remembers 13 October 1917, when the Virgin Mary appeared for the sixth and final time in Fatima, Portugal, to the three shepherd children, Lucia, Francis and Jacinta. She identified herself as the Lady of the Rosary and urged that the Rosary be prayed daily for peace in the world. Thousands also witnessed an extraordinary spectacle at that time, known as the Miracle of the Sun.
The word rosary is derived from the Latin "rosarium," meaning a garland or bouquet of roses. It is today undoubtedly the most popular Catholic devotion in the world. In its materiality, the rosary is a string of prayer beads. Adherents of several major religions use it as a tool for contemplation, meditation or to stay focused on something spiritual. Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs refer to it as a japamala, or simply mala, and use it when they chant or recite their mantras. Followers of Islam call it tasbih or misbaha, and it normally consists of 99 beads representing the 99 names of Allah, or is divided into 33 beads, which are cycled three times.
It is perhaps necessary to understand the structure and significance of the Catholic Rosary. For Catholics, it is a set of prayer beads totalling 59, strung together. It has five sections of ten beads each, called a decade, with a divider bead between sections. The top section has three beads with two additional divider beads, and a cross or crucifix marks the endpoint of the rosary. Each decade begins with the Lord's Prayer, the Our Father, and ends with the Glory Be to the triune God. The Hail Mary — the salutation of the Angel Gabriel to Mary — followed by the Holy Mary, a prayer written in 1555 by the Jesuit St. Peter Canisius, is said 53 times during a set of mysteries of the Rosary.
The mysteries of the Rosary focus on the Gospel through the life and witness of Mary. There are twenty events, five each in four segments: the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries. The Joyful Mysteries, traditionally prayed on Mondays and Saturdays, are the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity or birth of Jesus, the Presentation in the Temple, and the Finding of Jesus in the Temple. The Luminous Mysteries, or Mysteries of Light, prayed on Thursdays, are the Baptism in the Jordan, the Wedding at Cana, the Proclamation of the Kingdom, the Transfiguration, and the Institution of the Eucharist. These mysteries were added in October 2002 by Pope St. John Paul II through his apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, to encourage contemplation of Christ through his public ministry. The Sorrowful Mysteries, prayed on Tuesdays and Fridays, are the Agony in the Garden, the Scourging at the Pillar, the Crowning with Thorns, the Carrying of the Cross, and the Crucifixion. The Glorious Mysteries, prayed on Wednesdays and Sundays, are the Resurrection, the Ascension, the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Assumption of Mary into Heaven, and the Coronation of Mary.
Why, then, is the Rosary an important prayer? As a daily devotion, it is meant to be a family prayer — to ensure greater spiritual depth and bonding in the family through a time-tested devotional practice. There are innumerable real-life examples of families throughout the world that never missed this daily practice. One might be tired and sleepy, but that did not matter; the family rosary was a must before one went to bed. Many families still pray the rosary daily, though this sadly is becoming a rarity. Today, the idiot box — a particular serial or a personal gadget like a smartphone or tablet — takes centre stage, and many an average family just does not seem to find time for daily family prayer. This is a sad commentary on the fragmentation of family life. The Rosary Crusader, the late Fr. Patrick Peyton, used to say, "a family that prays together stays together."
The Rosary, then, is a prayer with many dimensions. These include accompanying Mary during her pilgrimage on earth; focussing on the life of Jesus from his birth up to his Ascension into heaven; meditating upon some key events of the New Testament; and, above all, using the time-tested method of prayer that is repetitive. In a nutshell, the word rosary can be put into an acronym: Remembrance, enabling us to remember significant moments in the life of Mary and Jesus; Openness to the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives in the here and now; Synodality, as a way of proceeding through communion, participation and mission; Availability to understanding and responding to the context, especially the cries of the poor; Renewal in matters of faith, so that we can come closer to God and his people; and Yes — as Mary says, unconditionally, to the will of God.
This year, Pope Leo XIV has called on the faithful to pray the Rosary daily throughout October for world peace, reconciliation and an end to all global conflicts. Already on 1 October, he began the month by praying the Rosary for peace with hundreds of children and families at the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens, placing a bouquet at the feet of Our Lady to begin the prayer. That day also saw the launch of the annual global campaign promoted by the Aid to the Church in Need foundation, which unites children worldwide to pray for peace, especially in war-torn regions like Gaza and Palestine, Iran, Ukraine, Manipur and elsewhere.
Three years ago, on 27 October 2023, Pope Francis presided over a special prayer for peace with the recitation of the Holy Rosary and Eucharistic Adoration. His prayer concluded with these words: "Your faithful people call you the dawn of salvation; Mother, grant that glimmers of light may illumine the night of conflict. Dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit, inspire the leaders of nations to seek paths of peace. Queen of all peoples, reconcile your children, seduced by evil, blinded by power and hate. You, who are close to all, shorten our distances. You, who have compassion on everyone, teach us to care for one another. You, who reveal the Lord's tender love, make us witnesses of his consolation and peace. Mother, Queen of Peace, pour forth into our hearts God's gift of harmony. Amen."
The Rosary is a prayer for peace! Let us pray the Rosary for peace in our families, our societies, our country and all over the world!
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*Human rights, reconciliation and peace activist, writer and trainer
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