The feast which originally commemorated the victory of a Christian army serves today to focus us on the Rosary prayer. It is meant to be a gentle, meditative walk through the major events in the Gospels. The prayers like the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be are, like a chant, meant to give the body something to do while the heart contemplates a particular episode from the Gospels. It is really a way of meditating on the Scripture. October is traditionally the month of the Rosary.

The episodes from the Gospels are grouped together in this way:

Joyful Mysteries: The Annunciation, the Visit of Mary to Elizabeth, the Birth of Jesus, the Presentation of Jesus in the temple, the finding of Jesus in the Temple.

Luminous Mysteries (added by Pope John Paul II): The Baptism of Jesus, the Wedding at Cana, the Proclamation of the Kingdom & the call to conversion, the Transfiguration, the institution of the Eucharist.

Sorrowful Mysteries: the Agony in the Garden, Jesus is scourged, Jesus is crowned with thorns, Jesus carries his cross, Jesus dies on the cross.

Glorious Mysteries: Jesus rises from the dead, Jesus ascends into heaven, the coming of the Holy Spirit, Mary is taken up into heaven, Mary is crowned queen of heaven.

Rosary beads are used to keep track of the number of prayers said during this time of meditation and contemplation on each mystery of the life of Christ and to mark the movement from one mystery to the next. The most important part of this prayer is not the repetition of words but taking time to reflect upon the life of Christ that we can read throughout the New Testament.