Feast of the Holy Rosary

In just five more days we will celebrate the feast of the Holy Rosary. It also reminds me of the way I came upon my name as a religious (Sr. Victoria.) In 1946 I was a nun in our high school senior class play about a Catholic Boarding School. How could the director find enough habits to outfit the nuns in the play? The elementary school principal had the answer for me. Her deceased sister, Sr. Victoria, had my perfect fit. I returned the habit, but the name stuck.

Next, I wanted to know from which title of Mary the name was derived. I found the titles in alphabetical order and far to the bottom was “Our Lady of Victory.“ As you might guess, the origin of that title would be another blog! After I graduated high school in 1946 and entered St. Walburg Monastery, the postulant phase ended, and It was time for the novitiate year and for a new name. We were given the opportunity to write three names in order of our preference. Was I ever excited as my first choice, Sr. Victoria’ was announced.

In preparation for the feast on October 7^th, I enjoyed doing a little research on the Holy Rosary. I discovered that the word rosary came from the Latin word, Rosarium, crown of roses or garland of roses. That brought additional thought for me when I say the rosary. I had known that people in very early times counted prayers on a string of beads. I did not know that the Our Father was the prayer repeated 150 times.

In 1214 Our Lady is said to have appeared to St. Dominic, gave him a rosary, and told him to promulgate the rosary for the protection Mary gives the Church in answer to the faithful who pray the rosary. She also told him to substitute the Hail Mary for the Our Fathers and that adding the meditation on the mysteries would help eradicate a current heresy. While this apparition may be legend, there is adequate historical proof that Dominic and the Dominicans who followed him did as Mary requested.

I had no idea that the 150 beads were related to the 150 psalms. Then someone had the idea of separating each set of 10 Hail Mary with an Our Father. In monasteries it became the custom for the uneducated who could not read to substitute the rosary for selections from 150 psalms that the educated prayed several times a day.

. From the 16^th to the early 20^th century the structure of the rosary remained essentially the same. In the early 20^th century the Fatima prayer was added to the end of each decade and became very popular. There were no other changes until 2002 when Pope John Paul II instituted the Luminous Mysteries. For me these were a beautiful addition and brought the mysteries of the rosary full circle.

         Sr. Victoria Eisenman, OSB