Feast of Mary Our Lady of the Rosary – October 7

In the Catholic calendar there are many feasts dedicated to the memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. The origin of the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is in the Middle Ages, when, according to tradition, Mary appeared to Saint Dominic and handed him the rosary. The order spread the rosary as a popular prayer throughout the Catholic world.

October 7 became a universal Catholic feast in the wake of the victory of the armies of Spain and the Italian states over the Turkish army at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571.

The Feast of Mary Our Lady of the Rosary is particularly important in the Jerusalem diocese not only because Mary is a daughter of our country but also because a congregation of sisters was founded here on the prayer of the rosary. Mother Mary Alphonsine Ghattas founded the "Sisters of the Rosary" with the help of Father Youssef Tannous. The order aided in the founding and development of many Catholic communities throughout Palestine and Transjordan and the prayer of the rosary spread throughout the diocese.

Mother Mary Alphonsine was beatified in the course of a solemn mass in Nazareth on November 22, 2009 and canonized in Rome in 2015.

To pray the Rosary in Hebrew, click the following links:

Feast of the Annunciation – March 25

Year A, 5th Sunday of Lent