Alan de la Roche

Alan de la Roche (also known as Alanus de Rupe) was born in Brittany c.1428; he joined the Dominican Order in 1459 in Paris, studying there and becoming well-known for his education in theology and philosophy.

He became a teacher in many locations in France and Germany. At Rostock in Germany in 1473 he was declared Master of Sacred Theology (a post-graduate degree that can stand on its own or be considered an intermediate step between Masters and doctorate programs). As famed as he was for his teaching career, he is best known now for his championing of the Rosary.

Dominican tradition holds that St. Dominic despaired at the ineffectiveness of his preaching against the Albigensian heretics, and prayed to the Virgin Mary for help. In a vision she told him to use her psalter along with preaching. A psalter was usually a book of the Psalms, but in this case it was the recitation of 150 Hail Marys. Alan claimed that the Virgin Mary had shown him a vision of how this came about with Dominic.

This account was never mentioned in Dominic's lifetime, and in the 17th century it was concluded by religious scholars that the story was concocted by Alan de la Roche to add weight to his belief that the Rosary should be more widely used.

Rather than 150 Hail Marys, Alan promoted the idea of 50 prayers: five decades of Hail Marys, interspersed with some other prayers like the Our Father. He devised three sets of mysteries of the Rosary—the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious—each reflecting significant events in the lives of Christ and Mary. Pope John Paul II added a fourth set, the Luminous Mysteries.

Alan also claimed that Mary offered him 15 promises that would come true for anyone who prayed the Rosary. These promises included special protection, not dying without the sacraments of the Church, deliverance from Purgatory, aid from Mary in your necessities, and more.

Long before the Rosary, however, there were other aids to memory during prayer, like the prayer rope used in the first few centuries by hermits and monastics. We'll talk about those tomorrow.

The Rosary

The Rosary is a series of linked beads designed to aid your memory while praying. Many faiths have used something similar, often simply calling them prayer beads. The Catholic Rosary begins with the Creed, the Our Father, three Hail Marys and the Doxology ("Glory Be"), and is followed by five "decades" of an Our Father and ten Hail Marys.

The term "Rosary" was not recorded until the year 1597, but the device itself had been around in various forms. How did this particular form of prayer beads start?

There are various stories to explain it. One, mentioned yesterday, is that Peter the Hermit invented it. Another says that it was St. Dominic who introduced it. The Dominic version claims he did not exactly invent it; rather, it was "given" to him in a vision by the Blessed Virgin Mary. This story came about long after his death, however, and during his lifetime was never mentioned.

The idea of a memory aid goes back a long way in Christianity. In the 3rd century CE Christian hermits and monks would use stones or knotted ropes to help them keep their place during the repetitive nature of prayers, such as reciting the 150 Psalms, or praying the Our Father 150 times.

In the early 1400s, Dominic of Prussia "organized" the decades of Hail Marys into the Mysteries: Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious. There are five of each Mystery, describing different events in the life of Mary and their importance. (An additional set was introduce by Pope John Paul II in October 2002: the Luminous Mysteries.)

Still, the Rosary was not widely used; that is, until a Dominican friar and mystic and theologian came along. Tomorrow I'll introduce you to Alan de la Roche.