All the saints have prayed the Rosary

If one were to catalogue all the statements made by popes on the Rosary the content would fill a library. The first pontiff to promote the Rosary lived in the same century as Saint Dominic. His name was Pope Urban IV (pope from 1261-1264). After him, every century has witnessed numerous popes champion the Rosary and grant indulgences to those belonging to the Confraternity of the Rosary. Many of these popes were Rosarians themselves—members of the Confraternity of the Rosary. Some of the more prominent papal champions of the Rosary have been: Pope John XXII (14th century); Pope Alexander VI (15th century); Pope Saint Pius V (16th century); Pope Blessed Innocent XI (17th century); Pope Clement XI (18th century); Pope Leo XIII (19th century); and Pope Saint John Paul II (20th and 21st centuries).

Even in our own day, Pope Benedict XVI greatly promoted the Rosary during his pontificate, and Pope Francis is following his predecessors by also championing the Rosary.

In the 19th century, the Rosary even helped an Italian man who was an ordained satanic priest experience a radical reversion to Catholicism and quickly become one of the greatest promoters of the Rosary in the history of the Church. This man’s name was Blessed Bartolo Longo. After his conversion through the Rosary, he became a Third Order Dominican and built the world’s most famous basilica dedicated to the Rosary, the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii, Italy. Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis have all visited there. …

The Servant of God Frank Duff—founder of the Legion of Mary—once wondered if there has been a single saint since the 13^th century who has not prayed the Rosary. Without a doubt, the Rosary has been the most frequently mentioned form of Marian devotion by the saints since the 13^th century. It would be impossible to list all of these saints. 

Father Donald Calloway, MIC, in Catholic Exchange

See also: Father Donald Calloway, MIC