Derived from the Latin word rosarius, Rosary means garland or bouquet. The development of the rosary, though sketchy, has a long history.
As the legend goes, St Dominic is believed to be the initiator and promoter of the Rosary, and he had received the Rosary from Virgin Mary in one of the apparitions. One of his followers -
Alan de la Roche - founded the first confraternity of the Rosary in the 15th century. First, there was a practice developed of praying 150 Our Father in imitation of the 150 Psalms, which was chanted in the early centuries by Irish monks, and a knotted rope was used as a Rosary. Then there was a parallel practice of praying 150 Hail Mary.
In the 16th century, the mysteries of Jesus’ life were attached to each Hail Mary, and the Rosary was recited with the 15 mysteries: joyful, sorrowful, and glorious.
In 2002, Pope John Paul II added five Luminous Mysteries to this devotion. While Our Father reminds us that Jesus’ Father is the initiator of salvation, Hail Mary and Glory Be remind us to join with Mary in contemplating these mysteries and that the purpose of life is the glory of the Trinity, respectively.
Pope St Pius V instituted the feast of “Our Lady of Victory,” in 1573 to honour Virgin Mary for the great naval victory over the Turkish Ottoman Empire at the battle of Lepanto on 7th October 1570. He attributed the victory to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was invoked through the Rosary by the Christians throughout Europe on the day of the battle to defend the Christian civilisation against the Islamic invasion. Virgin Mary granted a second victory over the Turks at Belgrade on the feast of Our Lady of Nives in 1716.
To commemorate the victories granted through the intercession of Mary, Pope Clement XI extended the feast to the universal Church, while Pope Leo XIII added the invocation “Queen of the most Holy Rosary, pray for us,” to the Litany of Loretto. The successive Popes urged the faithful to pray the Rosary which encapsulates the meditation on the salvific mysteries of Christ in union with Mary.
The St Michael Church, Taleigao has an adorned altar dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary placed to the right of the Eucharistic altar when viewed from the pews. The feast is celebrated with pomp every year.
This year, the liturgical theme of the feast is: Ruzai Saibinn Mai, Jezuche govai zaunk amkam sfurti dita
(Our Lady of Rosary inspires us to be the witnesses of Jesus). The Madi (Flag hoisting) was held on November 5, and the novenas were preached by Asst parish priest of St Inez church - Fr Walter D’Souza, Fr Mariano D’Çosta, - Director of Diocesan Centre for Biblical Apostolate, and Fr Joseph Gama, Asst parish priest of Caranzalem church.
Presided by parish priest Fr Cipriano D’Silva and Asst priest Fr Caitan D’Souza, Fr Simiao Fernandes, Director of the Pastoral Institute, Old Goa, will be the main celebrant for the feast mass at 9:30 am. Other masses will be at 6:30, 8 am, and 6 pm in English. Due to Covid-19 restriction, only a few parishioners will get an opportunity to participate in the masses at the Church. The feast mass will be shown live on GCTV. Let us pray to Our Lady of Rosary to shower heavenly blessings on us.
