Enroll in the Confraternity
If you pray the Rosary regularly, consider joining the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary, known also as the Rosary Altar Society. Membership in the Rosary Confraternity is open to all the Catholic lay faithful as well as to priests, deacons, and consecrated religious. Members promise to recite the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary over the course of each week and to include the other members and their intentions in their prayers. Enroll Now
Pray the Rosary
Since the Rosary has been prayed by millions of faithful over the course of many centuries, some differences have naturally arisen in the way the Rosary is recited here and there. There are at least two distinct ways of praying the Rosary. One is the more ancient manner used by the Dominican Friars, the original promoters of the Rosary. The other is the more popular, common way. How to Pray the Rosary
History of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary
The history of both the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary and the Rosary itself are bound up with the early history of the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans). According to a longstanding and well-known tradition, St. Dominic first received the Holy Rosary from Our Lady in the 13th century. Since then the Dominican friars have zealously promoted this devotion to Christ and His Blessed Mother. The first Rosary Confraternity was established in the 1470s through the zealous preaching of the Dominican friar Alan de la Roche, O.P. A few years later, another local Rosary Confraternity was established in Cologne by Joseph Sprenger, O.P. After this, Rosary Confraternities began to be established throughout Europe. It was partly due to the spread of the Rosary Confraternity that devotion to Our Lady’s Rosary flourished so widely and a uniform way of reciting the Rosary developed. From the beginning, Rosary Confraternities were erected under the direction of the Dominican friars and the formal chartering of Rosary Confraternities and Socities eventually became an apostolic privilege reserved to the Dominican Order. Find out more about the Confraternity