The Confraternity of the Holy Rosary is a Roman Catholic Archconfraternity or spiritual association, under the care and guidance of the Dominicans, the members of which strive to pray the entire Holy Rosary weekly.[1]
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The history of the rosary confraternity stretches back over 500 years, and its origins are shrouded in obscurity. It may be that no Rosary Confraternity existed before the last quarter of the fifteenth century, which saw such associations erected through the preaching of the Rosary by Bl. Alan de Rupe aka Alan de la Roche (†1475). One of the first was erected at Cologne in 1474 by Fr. James Sprenger.[2] It is known that there were Dominican guilds or fraternities, but they may not have been connected with the Rosary,[3] itself being ancient, and the origins of which shrouded in the mists of time. Traditionally it is believed that both the rosary and the confraternity which bears it were founded by St. Dominic, an opinion voiced up until Pope Leo XIII (The Rosary Pope) who wrote a series of 12 Encyclicals and 5 Apostolic Letters on the Holy Rosary: "Its origin is distinguished by its antiquity, for St.Dominic himself is said to have been its founder."[4]
This archconfraternity is under the administration of the Dominican order, as is the Confraternity of the Holy Name. Thus no new confraternity may be erected without the sanction of the Dominican general. Throughout the world, the Archconfraternity is administered by the different Provinces of the Dominican order. In the United States, the Eastern Dominican Province (Province of St. Joseph) has its Confraternity based in Columbus, Ohio.[5] The Rosary Confraternity of the Western Dominican Province (Province of the Holy Name) is based in Portland, Oregon at their Rosary Center.[6] It is probably the largest organization of its kind within the Catholic Church.[7][8]
The benefits of membership to this organisation are largely spiritual (in the form of indulgences, the fifteen Promises of Our Lady on the benefits of the Rosary, and a share of the merits and prayers of the saints and the Dominican order [9]) and social (in the form of group prayer and a newsletter.[10]
Rosarians (members of the confraternity) are privy to several indulgences:
Rosarians are obliged to strive towards reciting the Rosary weekly (although this is not under the pain of sin) and to be inscribed on the general register of the confraternity.[12] Members are also required to include fellow members in their prayers.[13] This obligation is often carried out by saying the Confraternity Prayer.
Since Pope John Paul II promulgated his Apostolic Letter adding a group of five additional rosary mysteries [14] (increasing the number from a total of fifteen to twenty) it is recommended that they be recited. This extra group (the Luminous Mysteries) is, as yet, not required by the confraternity, and those who only recite the fifteen mystery Rosary (consisting of the Joyful, Sorrowful & Glorious Mysteries).[15]
The "Perpetual Rosary" is an organization for securing the continuous recitation of the Rosary by day and night among a number of associates who perform their allotted share at stated times. This is a development of the Rosary Confraternity, and dates from the seventeenth century. It is continues in various convents which exist for the purpose as well as in lay society [16]
The "Living Rosary" or "Association of the Living Rosary" was begun in 1826 by Pauline Marie Jaricot. While it is independent of the confraternity it is also under the administration of the Dominican Order and its goals coincide. It consists in a number of circles of fifteen members who each agree to recite a single decade every day and who thus complete the whole Rosary between them. In the year 1877, the pope Pius IX subjected all Associations of the Living Rosary to the general of the Dominican Order. However recently the care of the Association has given to the local Bishops.[17]
Because of the close relation of the Rosary to the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and Our Lady of Fatima, Rosary confraternities are often closely tied to the Confraternity of the Brown Scapular and the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima whose goals are linked.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.