Dominican Friars

As we approach the Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage, we are filled with a deep sense of anticipation and devotion for Our Lady.. For those who cannot join us in person this year, there are still meaningful ways to participate and experience the graces from the Pilgrimage.

Human beings, as pilgrims on a journey from earth to heaven, find profound spiritual benefit in the practice of pilgrimage, which serves as a reminder of our eternal destination. This tradition is exemplified by Christ Himself, who journeyed through various lands and ultimately to Calvary and ascended to heaven.

The Rosary, a prayer that reflects Christ’s own pilgrimage and encompasses aspects of human life, serves as the ideal spiritual companion for our pilgrim state. The Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage, beginning with a nine-month novena and culminating in a national event on September 28th at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, integrates this spiritual practice with a communal pilgrimage, inviting participants to unite their journey with the devotional power of the Rosary.

Each aspect of this pilgrimage is a chance to grow in holiness and strengthen our relationship with God.

Ways to Participate

1. Commit to Prayer: Even if you are or aren’t attending the Pilgrimage in person, you can be part of the Pilgrimage through prayer. Dedicate time to pray the Rosary daily, especially on the day of the Pilgrimage.
2. Share the Pilgrimage with Friends and Family: Invite others to join in the journey by sharing information about the Pilgrimage and encouraging them to participate in praying the Rosary.
3. Receive Indulgences: A plenary indulgence is granted if the Rosary is recited in a church or public oratory. See here for the general conditions.

Join Us Through the Livestream

For those unable to be physically present, we invite you to join us via livestream. On the day of the Pilgrimage, you can access the livestream here on our website. Additionally, by subscribing to our email list, you will receive a direct link to the livestream, allowing you to participate in the Pilgrimage from wherever you are.

In 1961 Venerable Patrick Peyton gathered 550,000 people in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park to pray the most holy Rosary. This was a tremendous victory for promoting the praying of the Rosary as well as family prayer. Ven. Patrick Peyton was known for the maxim, “the family who prays together stays together.” He believed that the praying of the Rosary would bring so many graces into family life. Since that day in 1961 though, devotions like the Rosary have been argued to remain as private devotions so as to not shove religion into people’s faces and cause them discomfort.

This begs the question, what kind of devotion is the Rosary? It seems like the Rosary has a private devotional life for people. People pray it when they’re on their way to work, when they’re in eucharistic adoration, when they’re in a time of great need, and many other times. There is an intimacy involved in the Rosary that is brought about by private recitation. A person can come to know the Blessed Virgin Mary through the Rosary. Still, more importantly, a person can come to know Jesus Christ more intimately through the Rosary. The private recitation of the Rosary allows one to reflect on the words and mysteries they are praying at their own pace. All of these are good things, but do they warrant the keeping of the Rosary as a private devotion?

The Rosary has another dimension to it that can only be seen when it is prayed in common. The Church offers a plenary indulgence for those who “devoutly recite the Marian Rosary in a church or oratory, or in a family, a religious community, or an association of the faithful, and in general when several of the faithful gather for some honest purpose” (Manual of Indulgences). Ven. Patrick Peyton also asked families to pray the Rosary together, and not in their own separate rooms. What is it about the public or group recitation of the Rosary that is different from the private recitation?

Praying the Rosary in a group gives a person the opportunity to enter into the 3 vows religious brothers and sisters take of poverty, chastity, and obedience. A person enters into obedience by following the pace of the group praying. The pace may be slower or faster than what a person is used to. A person enters into poverty by losing control of how the group might be praying the Rosary. There might be devotions that a group adds to the praying of the Rosary that a person may not think are necessary, but this is how that group has come to pray the Rosary. A person enters into chastity through the mind while praying the Rosary. St. Thomas would call this spiritual chastity. He says that if the human mind delights in union with God, and not union with things contrary to God, this is spiritual chastity.

The public praying of the Rosary can also evangelize the world. This is why St. Pope Paul VI said that the Rosary is the “compendium of the gospel.” The general life of Christ can be explained with these simple beads that we use to pray and those beads are a helpful tool to explain to those who do not believe in Christ.

To conclude, the Rosary cannot be contained to being either just a private devotion nor can it be contained to being just a public devotion. It is both. The Rosary has transformed many people into saints. And the Rosary has the power to transform us into the saints that God has made us be.

---

This article was written by Br. Jerome Masters, O.P..

Photo by John Osterhoudt.