Rosary in Chant, Second and Expanded Edition

Back in November 2023, I announced a wonderful new resource from Os Justi Press: a booklet, Sanctissimum Rosarium in Cantu, that sets the Latin prayers of the Rosary to Gregorian chant psalm tones, in order to make the chanting of it very easy to do.

Fontgombault Sermon for the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary: "Mary, Eternal Fountain of Love"

Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau 

Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault 

Fontgombault, October 7, 2021

Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.

Be it done to me according to thy word. (Lk 1:38) 

Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

My dearly beloved Sons, 

The richness of the feast of the Holy Rosary, which unfolds both in the texts of the Mass and in those of the office, leads us to ponder all the mysteries of the Lord’s life through Mary’s eyes and heart. Pius XII wrote on August 7th, 1947, to the members of a congress which took place in Paris, and then in Lisieux between September 23rd and 30th, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus: 

Whereas in the order of nature a child, as he grows, should learn to become self-sufficient, in the order of grace, the child of God, as he grows, understands ever better that he will never be able to be self-sufficient, and that he should live in a superior docility and dependence. 

Who might forget that if Mary gave birth without pain to Jesus in the Bethlehem stable, the all-sorrowful Virgin received all of us as her children and gave birth to us at the foot of the Cross: “Woman, behold thy son… behold thy mother.” (Jn 19:26-27) John the Evangelist, to whom these words were addressed, adds consequently: “And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own.” 

Letter of the Holy Father to the Faithful for the Month of May 2020 -- The Holy Rosary

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The month of May is approaching, a time when the People of God express with particular intensity their love and devotion for the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is traditional in this month to pray the Rosary at home within the family. The restrictions of the pandemic have made us come to appreciate all the more this “family” aspect, also from a spiritual point of view.

For this reason, I want to encourage everyone to rediscover the beauty of praying the Rosary at home in the month of May. This can be done either as a group or individually; you can decide according to your own situations, making the most of both opportunities. The key to doing this is always simplicity, and it is easy also on the internet to find good models of prayers to follow.

I am also providing two prayers to Our Lady that you can recite at the end of the Rosary, and that I myself will pray in the month of May, in spiritual union with all of you. I include them with this letter so that they are available to everyone.

Dear brothers and sisters, contemplating the face of Christ with the heart of Mary our Mother will make us even more united as a spiritual family and will help us overcome this time of trial. I keep all of you in my prayers, especially those suffering most greatly, and I ask you, please, to pray for me. I thank you, and with great affection I send you my blessing.

Rome, Saint John Lateran, 25 April 2020

Feast of Saint Mark the Evangelist

Pope Francis

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First Prayer

A homily from Silverstream Priory for Low Sunday — Ireland's Eleventh Hour

(Our thanks to Dom Mark Kirby, O.S.B., for his permission to share this homily with our readers.)

Hæc est victória, quæ vincit mundum, fides nostra.

This is the victory which overcometh the world, our faith. (1 John 5:4)

The Primate of All Ireland, His Grace, the Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Eamon Martin, enjoins all priests today to address the great question that very soon will be put to the people of Ireland. By God’s liturgical providence, a number of things converge in today’s Holy Mass to offer us, at this crossroads in Irish history, both light and truth.

October 13, 2017: SSPX Rosary Crusade following the example of Polish Catholics

                                                                                   SSPX Italian District
Bulletin 

The Italian District of the Society of Pius X [hereby] adheres to the initiative by the AIASM (Italian Association Marian Sanctuaries Companions), following the marvelous example of the Polish Catholics, thus:

On October 13^th at 17.30 everyone is invited to recite the Holy Rosary, accompanied by fasting and sacrifice.

Event: Rosary Pilgrimage and Solemn High Mass in NYC

Seven ways the Rosary and the Traditional Latin Mass are alike

Francesco Granacci, The Assumption of the Virgin, c. 1517-9

In honor of my heavenly Mother, I present this small bouquet to her on the great feast of her exaltation, body and soul, into everlasting glory.

1. Useful repetition. As all normal human beings know, and as apparently the liturgical reformers did not know, repetition is exceedingly useful and important in human discourse—as demonstrated in the rhythmic lines of poets, the intimate conversations of lovers, the lofty visions of mystics, the arias of opera composers, and the frequent requests of little children to hear the same story over again. We repeat that which is lovely to those who are beloved to us. The Rosary exemplifies this practice, but so does the traditional liturgy, whether the Mass or the Divine Office. The many repetitions here reinforce, amplify, and give expression to the thoughts and feelings of the heart. 

It was a cruel exercise of rationalism to slice out supposedly “useless” repetitions like the many kissings of the altar, the many utterances of “Dominus vobiscum,” the double Confiteor, the ninefold Kyrie, the signs of the Cross, the multiple prayers before communion, and the twice-repeated threefold “Domine, non sum dignus.” I wonder if those responsible for this deformation had the sorry lot to be neglected children who did not hear poetry or stories repeated often enough.

The only kind of repetition our Lord forbids is mindless or manipulative repetition, when one repeats vocables without mindfully intending anything thereby, or repeats words as incantations that can exercise power over some other object (including the gods, in the silly way that some pagans thought of them). Traditional Catholic piety uses repetition in an entirely different way, for the honor of God and the benefit of the soul.

Crisis in the Church: "The Mass, Prayer, the Rosary — nothing else can avail"

Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson 

Persecution, he said, was coming. There had been a riot or two already. But persecution was not to be feared. It would no doubt cause apostasies, as it had always done, but these were deplorable only on account of the individual apostates. On the other hand, it would reassure the faithful; and purge out the half-hearted.

A Special Request to our Faithful Readers

If you have enjoyed in any way our efforts throughout the years, would you be so kind as to pray at least one Rosary (five decades) for this blog and its team of contributors? 

Thank you.

Obaudite me, divini fructus, et
Quasi rosa plantata super rivos aquarum fructificate: 

Regina Sacratissimi Rosarii, ora pro nobis!

Benson at 100: "The Mass, Prayer, the Rosary — nothing else can avail"

Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson 
died exactly 100 years ago, 
on October 19, 1914.

Persecution, he said, was coming. There had been a riot or two already. But persecution was not to be feared. It would no doubt cause apostasies, as it had always done, but these were deplorable only on account of the individual apostates. On the other hand, it would reassure the faithful; and purge out the half-hearted.