October: Month of the Rosary
The month of May is the month of Mary, but do you know that there is another Marian month: the month of October? On the feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary, and throughout the month, Catholics are invited to pray the Rosary. Find out why and how to pray the Rosary during the month of October.
Why is October the month of the Rosary?
October 7 is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. This solemnity was instituted by Pope Pius V in 1573 to thank the Virgin Mary following the victory at Lepanto. Facing the Turks, the pope had asked all the faithful to recite the rosary. So for several centuries, Catholics remember the strength of this beautiful prayer and the graces that the Mother of God obtains through this recitation in the month of October.
But it was Pope Leo XIII in 1883 who dedicated the entire month of October to Mary and the Rosary.
On October 18, the Church celebrates Saint Luke the Evangelist. Among the 4 evangelists, he is the one who gives us the most information about Mary, in his Gospel but also in the Acts of the Apostles. It is thanks to him that we have the story of the Annunciation, the Visitation, and or Pentecost… so many mysteries that we meditate on through the Rosary.
How to pray during the month of the Rosary
Reciting the Rosary
During the month of October, the Catholic Church invites its faithful to pray the Rosary. This prayer, built on the recitation of Our Father and Hail Mary, is also called the “Psalter of Mary”. For monks who could not read, it was possible to recite 150 “Hail Mary,” in place of the 150 psalms.
Through the centuries and thanks to saints, such as Saint Dominic who transmitted this prayer to us in the 13th century, then, later, Blessed Alain de la Roche, Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, and Pauline Jaricot (and many others!), the faithful discovered and rediscovered this magnificent prayer.
A rosary is broken down as follows:
On the end of the rosary (a cross, then 5 beads, then, generally, a medal):
- An Apostles’ Creed
- then, on the beads: 1 Our Father, 3 Hail Mary’s, 1 Glory Be
For each of the 5 sets of 10 beads that make up the rosary (and each of which are separated by a larger bead)
(Find all our tips for reciting the rosary with ease!)
Meditate on the mysteries of the rosary
The prayer of the Rosary is a meditative prayer that helps us contemplate the great events in the life of Christ. Each decade is associated with a mystery. In a chaplet (5 decades), we meditate on one of the 4 series of mysteries. And in four chaplets (or 20 decades), we will have prayed the entire Rosary.
Here are the different mysteries of the Rosary:
- The joyful mysteries: the Annunciation of the angel Gabriel to Mary, the Visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, the Nativity, the presentation of Jesus in the temple, the recovery of Jesus in the temple
- The luminous mysteries: the baptism of Jesus, the wedding at Cana, the proclamation of the Kingdom of God, the transfiguration, the institution of the Eucharist
- The sorrowful mysteries: the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Olives, the whipping, the crowning of thorns, the bearing of the cross, the crucifixion, and the death of Jesus
- The glorious mysteries: the resurrection of Christ, the Ascension, Pentecost, the Assumption of Mary, the coronation of Mary in Heaven
(Find out how to meditate on them through the Rosary!)
In October, pray the Rosary with Hozana!
On Hozana, discover various ways to pray the rosary together:
Every day,
Give yourself nine days to (re)discover the beauty of the rosary with
,Create a living rosary group thanks to the free Rosario application, developed by Hozana and, together, share your prayer intentions and meditate on the mysteries of the Rosary.
