Devotion
October, Month of the Holy Rosary
Marian devotion · 20 min
October is given over to the Rosary, gathered around the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on the seventh of the month, when parishes and families take up the beads together for the whole of the month.
Background
A popular devotion long recommended by the Popes, who have repeatedly urged the daily Rosary during October. John Paul II devoted the apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae to it in 2002, proposing the Mysteries of Light and insisting that the Rosary is a contemplation of the face of Christ in the company of his Mother. The Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy asks that October devotions be arranged so that they lead to the liturgy rather than compete with it.
How to practice
Pray five decades every day through October, alone or with the household, keeping the customary distribution of the mysteries: the Joyful on Monday and Saturday, the Sorrowful on Tuesday and Friday, the Glorious on Wednesday and Sunday, and the Luminous on Thursday. Announce each mystery aloud, pause long enough to picture the scene, and only then begin the Our Father and the ten Hail Marys. Keep the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on 7 October at Mass if you can, and let the month end with a renewed intention to keep the Rosary going through the year.
Duration
About 20 minutes
Content subtype
marian