When Heaven confirms the importance of the Rosary

One day, when St. Dominic (1) was preaching in the presence of the Duke of Brittany, the entire court and a huge audience, he asserted, based on a personal revelation, that no homage apart from the Divine Office and the adorable Sacrifice was so pleasing to Jesus and His Mother as the fervent recitation of Mary's Rosary. This assertion seemed exaggerated to his numerous audience; but God defended it, and here's how.

After the sermon, Dominic celebrated Holy Mass in the presence of a large crowd. And what happened? The Saint was enraptured into ecstasy; he was seen to rise above the ground and remain suspended in mid-air for a whole hour, his face ablaze with divine fire. At the consecration, when he raised the host, the entire congregation clearly saw the Virgin Mother with her divine Child in her arms. When he raised the chalice, they saw the Redeemer covered in wounds, pierced, in the throes of his Passion, just as he had been on Calvary. Towards the end of mass, a bright light surrounded the altar; and in the midst of this splendor, the Lord showed Himself full of the glory of His resurrection, and as if ascending into heaven.

This vision transfixed the crowd, and when the holy sacrifice of the mass was over, Dominic returned to the pulpit. He explained to his fascinated audience the meaning of these three apparitions: the Virgin holding the Infant Jesus was the figure of the joyful mysteries; Jesus in the midst of suffering signified the sorrowful mysteries; and his resurrection, the glorious mysteries.

Dominic made the whole assembly understand how pleasing the devotion of meditating on these mysteries while reciting the hundred and fifty Aves of the Rosary must be to the Lord, since He confirmed it with those visions. All, princes and peoples alike, were won over and ardently embraced this most excellent practice.

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Dominic of Guzmán (1170-1221) was a Castilian Catholic priest and the founder of the Order of friar preachers, known as the Dominicans. He and his order are traditionally credited with spreading and popularizing the rosary. He was canonized by the Church in 1234.