Most Holy Rosary of the BVM

The feast of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Double of the Second Class. The feast had been instituted following the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. In 1573 Gregory XIII extended the feast to those churches where an altar had been dedicated to the Rosary to be kept on the first Sunday of October. In 1716 Clement XI extended the feast to the Universal Church with greater-double rank. Leo XIII raised ther rank of the feast to double second class in 1887 and gave the feast proper texts in the following year. During the reforms of 1911-13 the feast was transferred to October 7th.  The nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost (the second Sunday of October this year) is commemorated at Vespers, Mattins, Lauds and Mass.

At Vespers yesterday afternoon the antiphons Quae est ista etc were sung with psalms 109, 112, 121, 126 & 147.  The Office hymn was Caelestis aulae Nuntius. After the collect of the feast commemorations were sung of the preceding fast of St. Bruno and of the Sunday (the antiphon on the Magnificat being Refulsit sol for the Saturday before the second Sunday of October).   At Compline Te lucis was sung to the special tone for feasts of the BVM with its special Doxology, Jesu tibi sit gloria etc.

At Mattins the invitatory is proper as is the hymn, In monte olivis.  In the first nocturn the antiphons Angelus Gabriel etc are sung with psalms 8, 18 & 23.  The lessons are from the Book of Ecclesiasticus.  In the second nocturn the antiphons Cum inducerent etc are sung with psalms 44, 45 & 86 .  In the third nocturn the antiphons Apprehendit etc are sung with psalms 95, 96 & 97 and the lessons are from a homily of St. Bernard on St. Luke's Gospel.  The ninth lesson is of the Sunday.  The Te Deum is sung. At Lauds the antiphons Laetare etc are sung with the Sunday psalms.  The Office hymn is Jam morte victor obruta.  After the collect of the feast commemorations are sung of the Sunday, St. Mark and of SS Sergius and Companions.

At the Hours the antiphons from Lauds are sung with the Sunday psalms in the usual manner.  The hymns of the Hours are sung to the melody for feasts of the BVM with the Doxology of the Incarnation.  At Prime psalms 53, 118(i), 118(ii) are sung, the lectio brevis is proper, Quasi cedrus.

Mass is sung after Terce. The Gloria is sung (in private Masses the second collect is of St. Mark and the third collect of SS Sergius and Companions), the Creed is sung, the Preface is of the BVM with the clause Et te in Festivitate and the last Gospel is of the Sunday.

At Vespers the antiphons and psalms are as at first Vespers, the Office hymn is Te gestientem gaudiis. After the collect of the feast commemorations are sung of the following feast of St. Bridget and of the Sunday.

In the 'ancient' 'liturgical books of 1962' the feast is renamed 'Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary' and is of 2nd class and therefore does not take precedence over the Sunday. The Sunday is the first Sunday of October. At Vespers (of the Sunday) there was no commemoration of the feast - it has been stripped of first Vespers anyway. Mattins is cut down to a single nocturn of three lessons. At Lauds a commemoration of the 'BVM of the Rosary' is sung. At Mass the second collect if of the BVM of the Rosary, the last Gospel is In principio. At Vespers there are no commemorations. The hours of the hymns are sung with the ordinary tone and Doxology.