Good evening Father Angelo,

I am Stefano and I am writing to you from Florence.

We communicated via email at the beginning of the year regarding my registration with the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary. You sent me the form, with the registration date and your signature.

After that, I enrolled in the Ora di Guardia del Rosario Perpetuo di Santa Maria Novella [Perpetual Rosary Watch of Santa Maria Novella] in Florence. I chose the day and time of the month when I would stop by during the time I had decided to recite the Rosary.

I am very happy with my choice! I love the Rosary.

It was the first prayer I recited at the moment of my conversion in …

So I am a child of the Rosary, healed and miraculously saved by the Holy Mary and the Rosary, her favorite prayer.

Tonight, in Santa Maria Novella there was a solemn celebration of the Hour of Prayer… a beautiful moment, the first time for me, with the commentary on the mysteries of Glory by one of your Dominican friers. At the end there was a procession with candles inside the basilica… moments of great grace! This was followed by a very beautiful, solemn Eucharistic celebration.

I was very happy to have experienced a small part of Dominican spirituality, through these moments of intense spirituality.

I’d like to return to Santa Maria Novella, I also really enjoyed the Eucharistic celebration. I asked the Dominican father, and he told me they always pray the Rosary before Mass.

In my parish it hasn’t been recited for some time, only Mass, without the Rosary. And yet for me the Rosary before Mass is important.

You Dominicans have a very strong Marian spirit, a spirit that unfortunately I don’t find in my parish.

(…)

Thank you very much,…

God bless you, through Mary Most Holy, Queen of the Holy Rosary.

Stefano.

The priest’s reply

Dear Stefano, 

1. I’m glad you had a nice experience at the Dominican Church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence.

The Rosary is part of Dominican spirituality. According to tradition, the Virgin Mary gave it to our Holy Father Dominic.

Initially it was inspired as a form of preaching. Since the preaching lasted hours and sometimes even a whole day, they began to take a break from preaching to pray the Angelic Salutation, which in those days only included the first part of the Hail Mary.

People were given little strings with beads on them so they could count the Hail Marys and stop at the appropriate moment.

This pause allowed both the preacher and the listeners to rest a little and at the same time let what had been heard enter into their hearts and minds and also translate it into prayer.

Thus, from a form of preaching, the Rosary became a personal and community prayer.

2. The Dominicans have always felt it was their precise duty to pray the Rosary and to spread it.

As you may know, the Rosary beads are an integral part of our habit. The friars’ robe is fastened at the hips with a belt from which the 150-bead rosary hangs, because the Rosary has been considered the Marian Psalter since the beginning. And just as there are 150 psalms, there are also 150 Hail Mary in the Rosary, divided into 15 mysteries, five of which are Joyful, five Sorrowful and five Glorious. This is the classic Dominican Rosary.

John Paul II gave the possibility of replacing the mentioned mysteries with the five mysteries of Light.

He did not intend to modify the Rosary and bring it to twenty mysteries.

On the contrary, he stated that “This addition of these new mysteries, without prejudice to any essential aspect of the prayer’s traditional format, is meant to give it fresh life and to enkindle renewed interest in the Rosary’s place within Christian spirituality as a true doorway to the depths of the Heart of Christ, ocean of joy and of light, of suffering and of glory.” (Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 19).

Without prejudice: this means that the traditional structure of the Rosary remains intact. John Paul II was well aware that those who belong to the brotherhood of the Most Holy Rosary, and there are millions and millions of them in the world, are committed to reciting a whole Rosary (that is, 15 mysteries) in the space of a week. He did not intend to change this commitment.

Therefore, an entire Rosary is recited over the course of the week, even if, for example, the joyful, sorrowful and luminous mysteries are said.

Nor did he intend to modify the structure of the Rosary beads, changing it to 200 beads instead of 150.

The Rosary always remains the Marian Psalter.

3. As you know, the Confraternity of the Rosary is a Confraternity of the Dominican Order and its members share in the merits arising from the preaching, life and prayer of St. Dominic’s entire great family, starting with those in Heaven.

Furthermore, in all Dominican churches there is an altar dedicated specifically to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, who is the patron Saint of our Order. In modern Dominican churches where there is only one altar, Our Lady of the Rosary is still venerated through a sculpted image or a painting.

4. Our Constitutions mention the prayer of the Rosary several times.

In fact, they say: “The brothers ought to cherish the Order’s traditional devotion to the Virgin Mother of God, Queen of the Apostles. She is an example of meditation on the words of Christ, and of acceptance of one’s mission.

The friers should recite daily five decades of the rosary in common or in private, according to the decision of the provincial chapter, preserving an appropriate relationship to the liturgy. This form of prayer leads us to the contemplation of the mystery of salvation in which the Virgin Mary is intimately associated with the work of her Son.” (Constitutions 67,2).

Furthermore: “The Rosary as a way of contemplating the mysteries of Christ, is a school for developing evangelical life. As such, it is a form of preaching particularly appropriate to our Order, in which the truths of faith are proposed in the light of the blessed Virgin Mary’s participation in the mystery of Christ and the Church. Since the Rosary is a characteristically Dominican devotion, the brothers should fervently preach it, so that it may flourish, and they should promote its societies” (Constitutions 129).

Among the various forms of suffrage for the deceased we read: “Five decades of the rosary shall be recited weekly by all the brothers for the deceased” (Constitutions 71,3). “Five decades” means five mysteries, since the Rosary consists of 15 mysteries

Regarding the habit we read: “The habit of the Order comprises a white tunic, scapular and capuche, together with a black cappa and capuche, a leather belt and a rosary. (” (Constitutions 50). As we can see, the Rosary is an element of the Dominican clothing.

5. In the past, when mass was in Latin and was celebrated in a low voice by the priest, the attention and devotion of the faithful was helped by the personal and also community recital of the Holy Rosary.

The liturgical reform promoted by the Second Vatican Council wanted the Word of God in the Eucharistic celebration to become nourishment for the spiritual life of all.

He also decreed that the Eucharistic prayer should be recited aloud by the faithful.

Having given due consideration to everything, it would be out of place to start praying the Rosary during Mass, which requires the participation of the people to the rites by reciting some prayers together and responding promptly to the various acclamations.

6. For this reason, the Holy Pope Paul VI wrote in Marialis Cultus: “meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary, by familiarizing the hearts and minds of the faithful with the mysteries of Christ, can be an excellent preparation for the celebration of those same mysteries in the liturgical action and also become a continuing echo thereof. However, it is a mistake to recite the Rosary during the celebration of the liturgy, though unfortunately this practice still persists here and there.” (MC 48).

Personally, I find nothing better than reciting the Rosary to prepare myself for the celebration of Mass. It allows me to remember everything and to remember everyone.

Likewise, when I give thanks to help me stay with the Lord for a certain period of time, which is like an extension of Communion, I pray again with the Holy Rosary.

7. Likewise, I always find adoration of Jesus present in the Sacrament fruitful when I hold the rosary in my hand. It helps to adore Jesus Christ in the various events of his life from the best standpoint that most pleases Him: Mary’s heart.

In this sense, I like to remember a document of the Apostolic Penitentiary (March 8, 1996) which says: “The practice of praying the Holy Rosary (…) before the Blessed Sacrament, whether it is exposed or hidden (…) is to be praised and encouraged because, in this way, we adore our Lord Jesus Christ present in the Eucharist and we venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary with prayers that are essentially biblical (the Our Father, the Hail Mary in its first part and the mysteries of salvation). Therefore, by continuing in this pious practice, the faithful will do a great thing”.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk about the Holy Rosary, especially in relation to the Dominican Order and to each person’s prayer life.

I wish you all the best, I bless you and I remember you in my prayers.

Father Angelo

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