Mary and the Dominicans: its History, Liturgy and the Holy Rosary

Dominican tradition attributes the Marian character of the Order of Preachers to Dominic. In this article, it tries to explore the relationship of Mary and the Dominican Order, the Rosary and the role of the Dominicans on its propagation, which is based on the account of the early writings of the members of the Dominican family and other Church’s documents.

It is not surprising to find Dominic’s personal devotion to Mary related to his preaching ministry. In order to preach, Dominic walked incessantly. And as he walked, he prayed. One of the witnesses relates during his canonization, “that when drenching rain and overflowing rivers made Dominic’s walking difficult, he praised and blessed God, sing in a loud voice, Ave Maria Stella.” [ St. Dominic Biographical Documents, ed. Francis C. Labner OP, Thomist Press, 1964] Constantine of Orvieto in his Legenda, asserts that Dominic entrusted the care of the Order to Mary as its patron. This can be seen in the way the formula of profession is formulated which Dominic had a decisive hand on its creation. From a Marian perspective, what is striking is the formula which the friar states “I…make profession and obedience to God and the Blessed Mother and to you Master of the Order of Preachers…” The profession of obedience to Mary is so natural to the Dominican spirit.

Mary’s special patronage over the Order can be found in the narration of Blessed Cecilia, the first of the nuns to receive the habit from Dominic and make vows into his hands. According to Blessed Cecilia, Dominic was praying in the dormitory of Santa Sabina (headquarters of the Dominican in Rome) late one evening, when three women entered. The woman in the center began sprinkling holy water to the sleeping friars. She (the woman sprinkling holy water) explained to Dominic that each evening when they invoke her as the most gracious advocate, she prostrated herself before her Son, asking Him to preserve the Order. The two women who accompanied her were St. Cecilia and St. Catherine of Alexandria. As Dominic continued praying, he saw the Lord with Mary and other religious orders except the Order of Friars Preachers. When the Lord asked him why he was weeping, Dominic explained that none of the members of his Order appeared to be in heaven. The Lord placed his hands on Mary’s shoulders and said, “I have entrusted your Order to my Mother.”  Then at Jesus’ request, Mary opened her cloak and Dominic saw many members of the Dominican Order.  While the symbolism may be found in other traditions, what is significant is the conviction of Blessed Cecilia, that the Order was personally protected by Mary. Blessed Humbert of Romans declares that “the Blessed Virgin Mary was of great help in the beginning of the Order…and it is to be hoped that she will bring it to the good end.” From its foundation, the Dominican Order has not hesitated to acknowledged the patronage of the Blessed Mother, to continuously experience it and to commend it to the hearts of the brothers and sisters  so that encouraged by the maternal help they might adhere more closely to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

A variant on the account of the sprinkling appears in the book, Lives of the Brethren. These anecdotes were edited by Gerard de Frachet, which was completed before the General Chapter in 1260 at Strasbourg. In the Lives of the Brethren, an unnamed Dominican, sees the Blessed Virgin sprinkling the sleeping brethren, he is told that Mary has a special love for the Order because all the friars do or say begin and conclude with her praise. While other religious order had the custom of singing Salve Regina in procession after the Chapter meeting, the Dominicans placed its singing at the close of the Night Prayer, with a procession from the choir (a place where the fathers and brothers pray in common) to the altar of the Blessed Mother. The community then kneels at the words “Turn then most gracious advocate, thy eyes of mercy upon us,” and sprinkled with Holy Water by the prayer leader.  This account indicates not only an assurance of Mary’s protection of the members of the Order, but informs us the Dominicans’ prayer life was pervaded by the awareness of the Blessed mother. The theme of Mary’s care in the Order has been narrated by Dominic’s successor, Jordan of Saxony: “Dominic was as devout as possible to the Blessed Mary, since he knew how watchful she was concerning the development and care of the Order, over which she was in charge with her assistance.”

In the whole life of Dominic there is nothing, perhaps, that so endears him to the great body of the faithful as the beautiful devotion of the Rosary. According to pious tradition the origin of this prayer in the following manner: One night as Dominic was sweetly complaining to the Mother of God of what, to his ardent soul, appeared the poor fruits of his labors, she graciously deigned to answer him. Making known to him what we now call the Rosary, she bade him go forth among the heretics and preach and teach its use everywhere. She promised him that under its sweet influence heresy would yield, and that love for her Divine Son would once again burn brightly in the souls of those who now despised Him. Tradition, too, records the fidelity with which St. Dominic fulfilled his mission and the complete success that attended his efforts. Such is the story of the origin of the Rosary, accepted by the Church as authentic for now seven hundred years.

But in our day the spirit of captious criticism is abroad in the land, and there are some few self-sufficient historians who would reject this universally accepted tradition because, forsooth, it is not corroborated by the saint's contemporaries and by them reduced to the form of duly authenticated historical documents. It is certainly strange to hear tradition discounted as a witness to the truth by those who claim familiarity with the sources of Catholic doctrine. When this doubt was proposed to Benedict XIV, one of the most learned among the successors of St. Peter, his answer was that the opinion that St. Dominic was the author of the Rosary rested on "a most solid foundation." Again, he writes: "You ask if St. Dominic was really the institutor of the Rosary; you declare yourself perplexed and full of doubt upon the subject. But what account do you make of the decisions of so many sovereign Pontiffs -- of Leo X, of Pius V, of Gregory XIII, of Sixtus V, or Clement VIII, of Alexander VII, of Innocent XI, of Clement XI, of Innocent XIII, of Benedict XIII and of so many others who are unanimous in declaring the Rosary to have been instituted by St. Dominic himself?" Leo XIII of our own day, one of the most learned men of his age, speaking of the origin of the Rosary, says: "Enlightened from on high, he (St. Dominic) understood that this prayer (the Rosary) would be the most powerful weapon for overcoming the enemies of the Church and defeating their impiety. And the event proved that he was right; for, in fact, the use of this prayer having been spread and practiced according to the instruction and institution of St. Dominic, piety, faith and concord once more flourished. The enterprise of the heretics failed and their power gradually decayed." With the citation of these illustrious witnesses, and without entering into a more technical defense of the truth of the Rosary tradition, we may dismiss this unwarranted criticism and unite with the universal Church in acclaiming St. Dominic as the distinguished author and propagator of this beautiful devotion. Pope Paul VI in his Marialis Cultus # 46 states “Among these people special mention should be made of the Sons of St. Dominic, by tradition the guardians and promoters of the praying of the Holy Rosary.”

The Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominicans continues to have a distinctive Marian devotion from the early beginnings to the contemporary times, from its foundation in Rome to the Far East. It  can be seen through their various practices:  from the vows they professed to God and to the Blessed Mother, the singing of Salve Regina after Evening Prayer or Night Prayer, the sprinkling of Holy Water while the hymn to the Blessed Mother is sung,  the wearing of the scapular and the Rosary as part of their religious habit, the daily recitation of the Rosary in common, the establishment of confraternities of the Holy Rosary from the different parts of the globe, and the liturgical celebration every Saturday of the memorial of the Blessed Mother during Ordinary time & every 8th of May the Dominicans celebrate  the patronage of the Blessed Mother for the Order. These testify that truly the sons and daughters of Dominic de Guzman has fulfilled the what the Gospel of John 19:27 has stated “From that hour on the disciple took Mary into his home.” The Dominicans not only took Mary into their priories, convents or communities but into their hearts.