The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-10-11
THE PoPEs AND THE ROSARY.

The historical tradition of the Ro-
man Church as regards the Rosary,
writes Reverend w. Lescher, o. p,
in his admirable book, 'The Rosary of
the Blessed Virgin is expressed in
the words of writer of the seven
teenth century, that ST. Dominic,
taught and inspired by the ever
blessed Virgin, Mother of God, insti-
tuted the first Confraternity of the
Rosary"
Pope Sixtus w, in 1879, declared
that the Rosary was an ancient devo-
ton. Innocent VIII, in 1491, expressed
himself in the same terms. In 1494,
Alexander VII. was still more explicit
He recalled the fact that by the mer-
it's of st. Dominic, the illustrious
preacher of the Rosary, the whole
world was preserved" Sixtus v. and
st. Plus ", in 1869, declared that the
Rosary had for it's author, st. Domi
mic, inspired by the Holy Ghost, as
is piously believed" (Spiritu Sancto,
ut pie creditur, afflatus.)
In aid of the same addition there
are the acts of Gregory Kill, who in
stituted the annual Festival of the Ro-
sary; of Benedict XIV, who defended
the true historical method in treat
ing of the Rosary; of Plus *, who
continued the tradition in explicit
terms; of Leo Kill, who declares that
ST. Dominic was the institutor of the
Rosary (ipse primus instituit).
About a year after the death of ST.
Plus ", the Feast of the Rosary was
instituted by Gregory XIII. in memory
of the victory of Lepanto. In the
Bull, Monet Apostolus, dated 1873, the
the Friar-P Preachers, instituted this
pious practice called the Rosary or the
Psalter of Mary"
Benedict Kill, in a decree dated
1926, extended the lessons of the
Second Nocturn to the whole Church
containing the following: 'St. Domi-
mic received a command from the
Queen of Heaven to preach the Ro-
sary to the people, as singular rem
edy against error and vice." Such
were the words inserted in the Roman
Breviary at the Pope's command
Pope Benedict XIV. indicated the
honor of st. Dominic as institutor
of the Rosary and declared that the
tradition rested on a most solid found
ation-validissimo fundamento-and
exclaimed: You ask if ST. Dominic
instituted the Rosary? What do you
say to the testimony of Leo X, st.
Plus ", Gregory Kill, Sixtus ", Glenn
ent VIII, Alexander VII, Innocent
vi, Clement XII, Innocent Kill,
Benedict Kill, who unanimously attri-
butte the Rosary to st. Dominica"
Benedict XIV. could only speak of
the tradition down to his own time,
but it has flowed on since without
interruption. To take our own day:
Plus TX, in 1867, declared that when
st. Dominic, acting by the inspiration
OF God, had implored help of the I'm
maculate Mother of Our Lord to up
root the heresy of the Albigenses, and
when he went forth to preach the Ro-
sary, as a marvellous succor against
heresy and sin, this devotion spread
itself among the faithful in an admira.
BILE manner" In another Brief, in
1869, the same Pope says: "As St
Dominic employed this prayer as a
sword to destroy the monstrous here
sy of the Albigenses, so likewise, in
our times, the faithful in using the
same weapon, that it to say, the daily
recitation of the Rosary, will obtain
that by the all-powerful protection OF
the Mother of God, the many errors
infesting the world will be uprooted
and destroyed"