Saint Dominic (1170-1221)
founder of the Order of Preachers (O.P.): the Dominicans
Dominic de Guzman was born 1170 in Castile, Spain. His holy mother, Blessed Jane, raised her son in the faith in an exemplary manner. At age 24 he was ordained a priest.
In 1208 in the Church of Prouille, he complained to Our Lady while in pious prayer about all the heresies that were abounding and his frustration to turn the hearts of those that were embracing them. She in turn answered him saying, 'Wonder not that you have obtained so little fruit by your labors, you have spent them on barren soil, not yet watered with the dew of Divine Grace. When GOD willed to renew the face of the earth, He began by sending down on it the fertilizing rain of the Angelic Salutation. Therefore preach my Psalter composed of 150 Angelic Salutations and 15 Our Fathers, and you will obtain an abundant harvest'. When he began to preach the Rosary, his success in conversions was astounding.
Although the Rosary had been known in some form before this time and later was particularly set in place by Bl. Alan de la Roche, this revelation of the origin of the Rosary to St. Dominic was affirmed by Pope Leo XIII, and the tradition that Mary first revealed the Rosary to St. Dominic is supported by 13 Popes. St. Dominic now found great success in this new devotion and brought about the conversion of the Albigensians. Our Blessed Lady made known to St. Dominic, a kind of preaching then unknown; which she said would be one of the most powerful weapons against future errors and in future difficulties.
St Dominic found the 'Order of Preachers', or 'Dominicans', in 1216. Soon after, the friars were sent in all directions. Friaries were established in Spain, France, England, and Italy. St. Dominic was appointed master general of the order in 1220, by Pope Honorius III. St. Dominic died on August 6, 1221, in Bologna. His feast day is August 8.
Centuries later the Dominican Pope, St. Pius V, called for a rosary crusade to defeat the muslims that were once again invading Christendom. On October 7, 1571, in response to this prayer of the rosary from many people, the Battle of Lepanto was won and the Turks were defeated and turned back.This great victory saved Europe from the Mohammedan peril. God revealed to the Holy Father the news of this great victory before human endeavors could reveal it. That date is now the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary and the Popes have worn this Dominican white as their special cassock ever since to commemerate this Dominican Pope and the power of praying the Rosary.
15 Promises Made by the Blessed Virgin to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan
1. To all those who recite my Rosary devoutly, I promise my special protection and very great
2. Those who will persevere in the recitation of my Rosary shall receive some signal grace.
3. The Rosary shall be a very powerful armor against hell; it shall destroy vice, deliver from sin,
and shall dispel heresy.
4. The Rosary shall make virtue and good works flourish, and shall obtain for souls the most
abundant divine mercies; it shall substitute in hearts love of God for love of the world, elevate
them to desire heavenly and eternal goods. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this
5. Those who trust themselves to me through the Rosary, shall not perish.
6. Those who will recite my Rosary piously, considering its Mysteries, shall not be
overwhelmed by misfortune nor die a bad death. The sinner shall be converted; the just shall
grow in grace and become worthy of eternal life.
7. Those truly devoted to my Rosary shall not die without the consolations of the Church, or
8. Those who will recite my Rosary shall find during their life and at their death the light of God,
the fullness of His grace, and shall share in the merits of the blessed.
9. I will deliver very promptly from purgatory the souls devoted to my Rosary.
10. The true children of my Rosary shall enjoy great glory in heaven.
11. What you ask through my Rosary, you shall obtain.
12. Those who propagate my Rosary shall obtain through me aid in all their necessities.
13. I have obtained from my son that all the confreres of the Rosary shall have for their
brethren in life and death the saints of heaven.
14. Those who recite my Rosary faithfully are all my beloved children, the brothers and sisters
of Jesus Christ.
15. Devotion to my Rosary is a special sign of predestination.
For just one of many sites on how to pray the Rosary, please see http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/questions/faq/faq07.html This site has the Mysteries and the prayers and also a Spanish version.And also note that the Mysteries of Light, or the Luminous Mysteries,were added to the 15 decade rosary by the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II in 2002to make a complete rosary now of 20 decades.