Slo^iarp

ORIGIN

The mechanical age in which we live has intro-
duced us to instruments calculated to measure or count

infinitesimally and accurately—the clock that ticks off
the seconds, the speedometer that counts the miles,

the more complicated mechanisms that measure the

speed of sound and light, and gauges that make count-

ing ea^y in an age of speed and mathematical pre-

cision.

Scientifically—man has come a long way from the
days when he counted on his fingers, or when he
used pebbles, or put knots or pieces of bone on lengths

of string. Those simple methods of counting served

their purpose admirably then—very often they fill a
need today. Centuries ago, how often were they used

to count prayers, and, oh, how we wish they were

used more often today!

Whenever a particular prayer has to be repeated

many many times, it is evident that some instrument

less cumbersome than pebbles, more practical than

fingers, should be available. In the history of most

countries, we read of varied items in the nature of

Prayer-Counters or ROSARY-BEADS.

“Rosarius” means a garland or bouquet of roses.

An early legend connected this name with a story of
Our Lady, who was seen to take rosebuds from the

lips of a young monk when he was reciting Hail

Marys and to weave them into a garland which she

placed upon her head. “Corona” or “Chaplet” (five

decades) suggests the same idea as “Rosarius.” The

old English name found in Chancer and elsewhere

was a “pair of beads”—the word “beads” coming
from the Old Saxon word “bede”—meaning a prayer.

In the Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. X.III, under the

title: “Rosary - origin,” we read: “The custom of re-

citing prayers upon a string with knots or beads

thereon at regular intervals has come down from the

early days of Christianity, and is practiced in the

Eastern as well as in the Western Church ... At an

early date among the Monastic Orders the practice

had established itself not only of offering Masses, but

of saying vocal prayers as a suffrage for their de-



ceased brethren. For this purpose the private recita-

tion of the 150 Psalms, or of 50 Psalms, the third part,

was constantly enjoined.” Those monks who were

unable to recite the Psalms, repeated, instead, the Hail

Mary a like number of times.

The Roman Breviary in the fourth Lesson for the

Feast of the Most Holy Rosary, informs us that when

the Albigensian heresy was devastating the country

of Toulouse in the beginning of the Thirteenth cen-

tury, St. Dominic earnestly besought the help of Our

Lady and was instructed by her, “so tradition asserts”,

(ut memoriae proditum est), to preach the Rosary

among the people as an antidote to heresy and sin. It

goes on to say: “The Rosary is a certain form of

prayer wherein we say fifteen decades of Hail Marys

with an Our Father between each ten, while at each

of these fifteen decades we recall successively in pious

meditation, one of the mysteries of our Redemption.”

IMPORTANT DATES

• Tradition tells us that about the year 1208, St.
Dominic, one night was kneeling in the Chapel of

Notre Dame at Prouille, where our Blessed Mother
appeared to him and commissioned him to preach

the devotion of the Rosary.

• Simon de Montfort, victorious over the Albigen-
sians in the crucial battle of Muret in 1213, attributed

his victory to the power of the Rosary and in token

of his gratitude, built the first Rosary Chapel at

Muret.

• St. Pius V on September 17th, 1569, defines accur-
ately the devotion of the Rosary. He says: “It is
the Psalter of Mary, in which the Blessed Mother of

God is greeted one hundred and fifty times with the
Angelical Salutation, corresponding to the Psalms of

the Psalter of David, together with one Our Father

for every ten Hail Marys, and also certain medita-

tions that present the entire life of Jesus Christ.”

(The name, “Our Lady’s Psalter” can be traced back

to the Thirteenth century).

• On the same date Pope St. Pius ordered all Chris-
tians to pray the Rosary for their success against the

Mohammedans. The Turks, at the height of their
sea power in the Mediterranean, threatening to over-

run Europe, were attacked by the Christian fleet



in the Gulf of Lepanto, on Sunday, October 7th, 1571,

and suffered a disastrous defeat. The Venetian Sen-
ate wrote of the battle: “It was not generals nor

battalions nor arms that brought us victory; but it

was Our Lady of the Rosary.” The illustrious St.
Pius perpetuated the memory of the victory of Le-

panto by an annual commemoration of Our Lady of

Victory. His successor, Pope Gregory XIII changed

the title to Our Lady of the Rosary, and appointed

the first Sunday of October for the new feast.

• Before storming the fortress of La Rochelle, where
the rebellious Huguenots were entrenched. King

Louis XIII of France, in 1627, ordered the public reci-

tation of the Rosary, which was publicly recited not

only by the Archbishop of Paris, but by all the sol-

diers at the designated hours of the day and night.

The Huguenots were defeated, and the victory was

accepted as a miracle of the Holy Rosary in an offic-

ial declaration by the University of Paris.

• The Battle of Lepanto broke the naval power of
Islam, but, still powerful on land, they invaded Hun-

gary in 1682, and laid siege to Vienna the following

year. The Turkish army, numbering 200,000, started

the attack on Vienna on July 13th, 1683. After some

days the fall of the city seemed certain, but the Em-

peror Leopold placed all his hope in Our Lady of

the Rosary, and on September 12th, Feast of the Holy

Name of Mary, King John Sobieski of Poland came
to the rescue and vanquished the Turks—another
victory over the Crescent.

• Despite the defeats they suffered at Lepanto

and Vienna, the Turks were still hopeful of the

Crescent being victorious over the Cross. Their day-

dreaming came to an abrupt end in 1716. On the

feast of Our Lady of the Snow, August 5th, 1716,

they w'ere decisively defeated by Prince Eugene of

Savoy, at Peterwardein. Pope Clement XI attributed

this new victory to the devotion of the Christians to

Our Lady of Victories through the Rosary. In grati-

tude for this victory, the Pope inscribed the Feast

of the Holy Rosary on the universal calendar. And

so, as the flag of the Crescent lies trampled in the

dust of defeat, the Christian armies, knowing the

power of the Rosary, gratefully thank its Queen, as

the banner of the Cross waves gently in the quiet

breeze of a peaceful Christendom.



• A decree of the First Council of Baltimore in 1846
elected ‘‘Mary in her Immaculate Conception Prin-

cipal Patron of The United States.” The Bishops

of the United States, on February 7th, 1847, confirmed

it:
—“We solemnly and unanimously place The Cath-

olic Church in America under the special patronage

of the Blessed Virgin.”

• On December 8th, 1854, the Dogma of the Immac-
ulate Conception was solemnly proclaimed by Pope

Pius IX.

• The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared eighteen times

in 1858 to Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes, France,

and taking a chaplet from her own arm, encouraged

her by example to say her beads and recommended

the Rosary to the world.

• The Blessed Mother, appearing in 1876 at Pompeii,
Italy, to Fortuna Agrelli, who had been pronounced

incurably ill, said: “Since you have called me by the
title so pleasing to me, ‘Queen of the Holy Rosary,’ I

can no longer refuse the favor you ask.”

• Pope Leo XIII, between September 1st, 1883 and
September 5th, 1898, wrote one Apostolic Letter and

ten Encyclical Letters on the Most Holy Rosary. Fur-

ther, in his Apostolic Constitution “Ubi Primum”,

of October 2nd, 1898, he expressly declares that: “The

true form of the Rosary is to be preserved in refer-

ence to the beads by making them up into five, ten or

fifteen decades: likewise, that other beads, of what-

ever form, are not to be known by the name of
Rosary.”

• The Blessed Virgin appeared six times in 1917,
at Fatima, Portugal, to the three children—Lucia dos
Santos, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, her main in-

junction being to “say the Rosary every day/*

• On October 13th, 1930, after thirteen years of in-
vestigation by the Canonical Commission, it was pro-
claimed that the visions of the children of Fatima

were worthy of credence, and that the cult of Our
Lady of Fatima was officially authorized.

• Portugal was consecrated to the Immaculate Heart
of Mary at Fatima, on May 13th, 1931.

• Pope Pius XI in his Encyclical Letter on the Ros-
ary, September 29th, 1937, says: “Among the various



supplications with which we successfully appeal to
the Virgin Mother of God, the Holy Rosary, without

doubt, occupies a special and distinct place . . . We
do not wish here to pass over in silence the fact that

the Blessed Virgin herself, even in our times, has

solicitously recommended this manner of prayer, when

she appeared and taught it to the innocent girl in

the grotto of Lourdes.’*

• Pius XII on October 31st, 1942, in his broadcast to
the Portuguese people at the closing of the Fatima

“Silver Jubilee” celebrations, consecrated the world

to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

• On November 1st, 1950—“A Holy Year”—the
Dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Marv into Heaven was solemnly proclaimed by Pope
Pius XII.

• Pope Pius XII, in his Encyclical Letter on the
Rosary, September 15th, 1951, states: “It is above

all in the bosom of the family that we desire the

custom of the Holy Rosary to be everywhere adopted,

religiously preserved and ever more intensely prac-

tised . . . While running your fingers over the beads

of the Rosary, do not forget those who languish mis-

erably in prison camps, jails, and concentration camps

. . . W’'e do not hesitate to affirm again publicly that

we put great confidence in the Hol}'^ Rosary for the

healing of evils which afflict our times.”

• Pius XII on July 7th, 1952, consecrated Russia “in

a most special way” to the Immaculate Heart of

Mary.

• August 22nd is the Feast of the Immaculate Heart
of Mary.

• The year 195-1—the one-hundredth anniversary of
the proclamation of the doctrine of the Immaculate

Conception—was a Marian Year.
* 5i« *

Much has been said and much has been written on

the devotion of the Rosary, by wise and holy men, by

Christ’s own Vicars on earth—the Popes, and by
Saints. These words demand our study, they claim

our interest, they help increase our devotion, they are

at times the proclamation of a Dogma, they are very

important.



Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2016

https://archive.org/details/weprayforpeacenull



There is no need to stress the importance of the

Our Father—the prayer Our Lord Himself taught
His Apostles to say; nor of the Hail Mary, which is

the message delivered by an Angel to her who was

to be the Mother of Our Reeemer; nor of the petition

added by the Church that the Blessed Mother “pray

for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.”

We are all fully aware of the excellence of these
prayers, therefore, let it be our firm resolve that,

through the Rosary, we shall say them frequently,

fervently, and in union with our family whenever

possible, for Pope Pius XII reminds us that “The

family that prays is a family that lives.”

“Where there are two or three gathered together in

My name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matthew

XVIII, 20.”
SH

In all humility and sincerity we dedicate this little

Brochure to our Blessed Mother . . . Queen of the

Most Holy Rosary . . . and to you who have helped

spiritually and materially to maintain “The Rosary

Hour” on the air since 1949, as together, day by day,

we respond to her wish voiced at Fatima of praying

the Rosary “every day” for a just and lasting peace

in the world.

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Jlotu to sap tf)e J&osarp

Sign of the

Cross and
Apostles'

Creed

"Our Father'

3. Three "Hail

Marys"

4. "Glory be to

the Father"

5. Announce First

Mystery and

say the

"Our Father . . .

6. Ten "Hail Marys"

7. "Glory be to the

Father . . ." and

the "Fatima Prayer,

8. Announce Second Mystery

and repeat as in 5, 6, 7.

Continue until the Five

Mysteries are said.

9. Concluding Prayers

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of

Mercy, our life, our sv/eetness,

and our hope! To thee do v/e

cry, poor banished children of

Eve; to thee we send up our
sighs, mourning and weeping

in this vale of tears. Turn,

then, most gracious Advocate,

thine eyes of mercy towards

us, and, after this our exile,

show unto us the blessed fruit

of thy womb, Jesus. O cle-
ment, O plus, O sweet Virgin
Mary!

V. Pray for us O Holy
Mother of God.

R. That we may be made
worthy of the promises

of Christ.

LET US PRAY

O God, whose only-begotten
Son, by His life, death, and

resurrection, has purchased

for us the rewards of

eternal life, grant, we
beseech Thee, that,

meditating upon these

Mysteries of the

Holy Rosary of the

Blessed Virgin

Mary, we may
imitate what they

contain and obtain

what they prom-

ise,through the

same Christ,
our Lord.

Amen.

PATIMA PRAYER: “O my Jesus, forgive us our sins,
save us from the fire of hell, lead all souls to Heaven,

especially those who have most need of Thy Mercy.’^

Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for Us.



drapers of tfje Eos(ar}>
THE SIGN OF THE CROSS—

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of

the Holy Ghost. Amen.

APOSTLES’ CREED

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of

heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son,

Our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost;
born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius

Pilate; was crucified, died, and was buried; He

descended into hell; the third day He arose again

from the dead; He ascended into heaven; sitteth at

the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from

thence He shall come to judge the living and the

dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the Holy Cath-

olic Church; the ecommunion of saints, the forgive-

ness of sins ; the resurrection of the body; and life

everlasting. Amen.

OUR FATHER—

Our Father, Who art in heaven; hallowed be Thy

name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on

earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily

bread; atid forgive us our trespasses as voe forgive

those vjho trespass against us, and lead us not into

temptation; but deliver us from evil. Amen.

HAIL MARY—

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee;

blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the

fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of

God, pray for us sinners, novo and at the hour of

our death. Amen.

GLORY BE TO THE FATHER—

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the

Holy Ghost. As it voas in the beginning, is novo,

and ever shall be, voorld voithout end. Amen.



IN RESPONSE TO OUR

LADY^S WISHES AT FATIMA

1. Say the Rosary every day.

2. Pray and make sacrifices for sinners.

3. Make Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays.

4. Venerate the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY

JOYFUL MYSTERIES-Mondays and Thursdays.

1. The Annunciation. 2. The Visitation. 3. The Nativity.

4. The Presentation. 5. The Finding in the Temple.

SORROWFUL MYSTERIES-Tuesdays and Fridays.

1. The Agony in the Garden. 2. The Scourging at the Pillar.

3. The Crowning with Thorns. 4. The Carrying of the Cross.

5. The Crucifixion.

GLORIOUS MYSTERIES—-Wednesdays, Saturdays and

Sundays

1. The Resurrection. 2. The Ascension. 3. The Descent of the

Holy Ghost. 4. The Assumption. 5. The Coronation.

* *

^*More things are ^wrought by prayer than this world

dreams of/*

—

Tennyson, “Morte d'Arthur"

Copies of this brochure sent iree on request.

Printed with ecclesiastical approval.

First printing, May, 1950, 100,000

Second printing, December, 1951, 110,000

Third printing, December, 1952, 110,000

Fourth printing. May, 1953, 120,000

Fifth printing, October, 1954, 200,000

Address ail communications to:

Rev. Peter J. Conroy, Director

THE ROSARY HOUR, INC.

6912 Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood 28, Coltfomia

Hollywood 7-1167