Pauline Jaricot: The Living Rosary (I)

In 1826, twenty-seven year-old Pauline Jaricot (Foundress of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith and the Association of the Living Rosary) first organized the Living Rosary in France, by adopting a method that has been proven successful in the Propagation of the Faith. She had 15 people pledge themselves to pray one of the mysteries of the rosary each day in union with the others. The group's 15 members participated in the same spiritual work toward the same intention. Pauline led the small group meetings by sending circular letters, which became for these members what Saint Paul's letters were for the first Christians. She broadened the prayers of the members to the scope of the universal Church, and then asked each member to find 5 others who in turn would bring 5 more, etc. This approach allowed the Living Rosary to widely develop, all the while fostering a good Christian life and a perfume of virtue that had been missing before.