How Saint Dominic Prayed the Rosary

From the earliest days of the Church the faithful had the habit of praying a series of Our Fathers, Hail Mary’s and Glory Be’s. St. Dominic was is unique in the way he used the Rosary as a powerful tool of evangelization. The great Dominican theologian, Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange writes: At the end of the 12th century southern France was ravaged by the Albigensian heresy – a heresy which denied the infinite goodness and power of God by admitting a principle of evil which was often victorious…It was at that moment that Our Blessed Lady made known to St. Dominic a kind of preaching till then unknown, which she said would be one of the most powerful weapons against future errors and in future difficulties. Under her inspiration, St Dominic went into the villages of the Albigensians, gathered the people, and preached to them the mysteries of salvation — the Incarnation, the redemption, eternal life. As Mary had taught him to do, he distinguished the different kinds of mysteries, and after each short instruction, he had ten Hail Mary’s recited… And what the word of the preacher was unable to do, the sweet prayer of the Hail Mary did for hearts. As Mary promised, it proved to be a most fruitful form of preaching. St. Dominic went into villages, gathered people, shared with them the teachings of Jesus. After each short instruction, he had ten Hail Mary’s recited. And what the word of the preacher was unable to do, the sweet prayer of the Hail Mary did for hearts. As Mary promised, it proved to be a most fruitful form of preaching. Furthermore, Mary said this method would be one of the most powerful weapons against future errors and in future difficulties. Well we face many errors spread by the devil through the world and we face many difficulties. Maybe Our Lady is calling us to use the same method, and by accident or inspiration, that is exactly what we are doing. We invite family and friends to join us in our homes, offer hospitality, a meal, drinks, coffee, dessert, we engage in good conversation, and then we invite them to pray the Rosary with us. But we pray the Rosary in a new way that is actually a really old way – introduced by St. Dominic of sharing a short teaching from the Word of God, the teaching of Jesus, and then we pray one decade of the Rosary – and we do this five times, and then the conversation can continue by asking one another what struck us during the meditations. So you can listen to the audio Rosary I send out or you can print the short teaching, read it aloud and pray the decades in between each teaching. Whatever you like. It worked for St. Dominic and Our Lady promised it would work in the future. St. John Paul II in his letter on the Rosary writes: The Rosary is also a path of proclamation and increasing knowledge, in which the mystery of Christ is presented again and again at different levels of the Christian experience. Its form is that of a prayerful and contemplative presentation, capable of forming Christians according to the heart of Christ. When the recitation of the Rosary combines all the elements needed for an effective meditation, (especially when family and friends are gathered together), it can present a significant catechetical opportunity which we should use to advantage. In this way too Our Lady of the Rosary continues her work of proclaiming Christ. The history of the Rosary shows how this prayer was used in particular by the Dominicans at a difficult time for the Church due to the spread of heresy. Today we are facing new challenges. Why should we not once more have recourse to the Rosary, with the same faith as those who have gone before us? The Rosary retains all its power and continues to be a valuable resource for every good evangelizer. Padre Pio said: "Love the Madonna and pray the Rosary."