IN DEFENSE OF A TRADITION

Most of us are familiar with the tradition that goes back many centuries, and which has been accepted in the writings of many popes, as to the connection of St. Dominic with the beginnings of the Rosary devotion. According to tradition, the occasion was the Albigensian heresy which ravaged Christendom, particularly in southern France during the latter part of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th centuries. St. Dominic was distressed at his lack of success in his preaching in countering this heresy, and in his desperation turned to the Mother of God for help. She appeared to him (according to the tradition) and told him to use her Psalter in conjunction with his preaching of the mysteries of our salvation, as an instrument in combatting the great heresy of his day. We do not have any historical documents dating from that period expressly referring to St. Dominic and the Rosary. We will endeavor to show, however, that there are a number of things that could be responsible for that silence.