The overarching essence of the Rosary is that it is an exquisitely contemplative prayer, even though it is accompanied by repetitive vocal prayer. The idea is that as we say the Hail Mary we place ourselves in the company of our Mother and with her we contemplate the face of her Son in the context of the various Christian mysteries.

From the earliest days of the Church, the faithful had the habit of praying a series of Our Fathers and Hail Marys. But under the inspiration of Our Lady, Saint Dominic was unique in the way he used the Rosary as a powerful tool of evangelization in the 12th century.

Dominic went into villages, gathered people, and shared with them the life of Christ. After a short instruction on the faith, he would recite ten Hail Marys with those gathered. As Mary promised, it proved to be a most fruitful form of preaching. Furthermore, Mary said this method would be one of the most powerful weapons against future errors and in future difficulties.

Our Lady is calling us here at Holy Family School of Faith to use the same method.

We invite family and friends to join us in our homes, offer hospitality, a meal, drinks, coffee, dessert, we engage in good conversation, and then we invite them to pray the Rosary with us.

We pray the Rosary in a new way that is actually a really old way introduced by Dominic. We share a short teaching from the Word of God, the teaching of Jesus, and then we pray one decade of the Rosary – and we do this five times. Then, the conversation can continue by asking one another what struck us during the meditations.

It worked for St. Dominic and Our Lady promised it would work in the future. Want to learn more? Discover the history of Saint Dominic and the Rosary in this meditation from Holy Family School of Faith: