The Living Rosary
One
The Context
We are praying in the home of Bl. Pauline Jaricot, foundress of the Living Rosary Movement. To understand what God achieved through Pauline and the Rosary, we must first grasp the devastating impact of the French Revolution (1789–1799).
The Revolution sought to eradicate Catholicism in France, seizing all Church property and closing monasteries and convents. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790) forced clergy to swear allegiance to the French Constitution, turning them into state employees. Those who refused faced exile or execution. The Catholic Mass was outlawed and replaced by the Cult of Reason, which promoted atheism. Churches were repurposed as "Temples of Reason," Catholic schools were shuttered, and Sundays, holy days, and the seven-day week were abolished. Religious practice became dangerous, and loyalty to the Church could result in arrest, imprisonment, or death. Many priests and faithful were executed, often by guillotine.
The Concordat of Napoleon of 1801 partially restored Church rights, but after his fall in 1814, King Charles X sought to revitalize Catholic influence. His efforts ended with the Revolution of 1830, as foretold by Our Lady to St. Catherine Labouré. This second revolution reversed all the gains of Charles X. Many Catholics became disillusioned or disengaged and stopped going to Mass.
What in the world would you do if you lived in this situation?
Two
Pauline Jaricot was born in Lyon France in 1799
She grew up shortly after the French Revolution which sought to rid France of faith in God and establish society on science and reason alone. It was much like our culture today. Many of her family and friends had little interest in religion or prayer and they knew almost nothing about their faith.
In her diary, she writes, “The spiritual ills of my country were increasing before my very eyes; and I was convinced that the interior intuitions that showed them to me so clearly arouse from the very heart of truth. My great desire was that I might be allowed to fill the hearts of believers with the same deep and vivid sense that God had given me of his great indignation against his people, and of the power of prayer to dispel it. I had heard of great results from the use of the Rosary, and I hoped it possible to revive the devotion in France, believing it would calm the anger of Heaven and produce living fruit in the souls of men.”
Though Pauline was not a priest or nun and just twenty-seven years old, she desperately longed for a way to set the hearts of men and women on fire for Jesus.
Then God inspired her, He reminded her that at every moment in history when the Church faced a similar crisis, it was the Rosary that renewed it. Pauline knew that Mary and the Rosary could lead the world back to Jesus. But how could she get people interested in the Rosary at a time when it was regarded as mere superstition?
Three
The founding of the living rosary movement.
In just eight years, Pauline inspired one million people to pray the Rosary daily. How did she achieve this?
Through personal connections and friendships, she identified individuals eager to do something meaningful for God and their loved ones. These individuals were willing to take a leap of faith, inviting others to gather regularly and persevere in praying the Rosary. Pauline organized these groups into teams of fifteen, where each member committed to praying a portion of the Rosary.
Pauline didn’t stop at prayer alone. She also sought to deepen people’s understanding of the Catholic faith. She developed an effective distribution system to provide these leaders with books and pamphlets that taught the faith. These materials were shared during the Rosary, encouraging meditation on the truths of the faith.
Her mission was twofold: to foster prayer and to teach the faith. Pauline’s simple yet powerful method involved identifying leaders to gather people for prayer and equipping them with resources to inspire reflection and spiritual growth. This movement became known as “The Living Rosary.”
After just five years it spread to every country in Europe. Within eight years there were one million members. With no social media. Pauline wrote, “The rosary groups should invite anyone, the good, the mediocre, and others who had nothing to offer but their good will. Fifteen pieces of coal, one is well lit, there are four or five that are half lit, and the rest not lit at all. Put the fifteen together and you have a blazing fire.”
Four
The Living Rosary spread to Poland
In the 1930s, an introverted tailor named Jan Tyranowski joined the Living Rosary Movement in Debiki, near Krakow, Poland. During World War II the Nazis arrested the priests of his parish. As they were being taken away, they entrusted the spiritual work of the parish to Jan, this introverted tailor.
He began to pick out people he thought were leaders. He gathered them in his apartment once a week to pray the Rosary and to meet with them one-on-one to give spiritual counsel. Then he asked them to do the same with ten to fifteen others to multiply the work.
One of the leaders Jan chose was Karol Woytyla, a young man planning to get married and become a playwright. Jan gave him a copy of True Devotion to Mary and mentored him one-on-one. That young man became Pope St. John Paul II. But it all started with one introverted layperson doing three simple things: Committing to pray the Rosary every day, gathering a small group regularly to spend time together in friendship and pray the Rosary, and then personally invest in those people one-on-one.
One introverted layman personally invested in one young person and the whole world was changed.
Five
We are praying in the Chapel dedicated to St. Philomena for a reason.
In 1834 a friend gave Pauline a relic of St. Philomena. Soon after Pauline began to suffer from a congenital heart disease. By 1835 Pauline was bedridden and expected to die. St. John Vianney, a close friend of Pauline, had experienced 1000s of miracles through the intercession of Philomena, a young girl martyred in the third century. He urged her to go to the tomb of Philomena in Mugnano, Italy and pray for healing there even though she would have to be carried the whole way.
When they stopped in Rome, Pope Gregory XVI came to see her since she was too ill to go to the Vatican. But once he saw her he knew she was near the end so, he said, “Pray for the Church as soon as you arrive in Paradise.” “I will” Pauline responded, “But if I walk on foot to the Vatican upon my return from Mugnano, will you canonize Philomena and give her a feast day?” “Of course” the Pope responded, “Because that would be a miracle.”
By the time Pauline reached the Tomb of Philomena she could not move or speak, she looked more like a corpse. But they carried her to the tomb and to Mass, but there was no miracle. The same the next day on August 9th, and again no miracle on August 10th.
The local people heard what the Pope promised if Pauline would be cured so they went and began to pound on the tomb of Philomena reminding her that her reputation was at stake saying, “Do you hear us, Philomena? If you do not cure this woman, we will pray to you no more! We will have nothing to do with you. Return her to her health right now!” Later that day, on August 11th, Pauline was completely cured and set off walking for Rome.
And when she walked in on the Pope, unannounced, he was stunned. He made her stay in Rome for an entire year to verify the miracle. Then the Pope kept his promise and canonized little Philomena and set her feast day on August 11th, the day Pauline was cured.