Vois 3341

 Vois -- the Rosary Month

Vois preserves the Catholic tradition that marks October as a month dedicated to the Holy Rosary and its frequent recital. The tradition dates back to the High Middle Ages, when October 7 was marked as the Feast of Mary, Queen of Victory and Queen of the Most Holy Rosary in honor of a decisive battle won in 1571 against the Ottoman Empire. Daily praying of the Rosary ahead of the battle in the hopes that the Venetian forces would win over the Ottoman fleet was credited with the success of the battle, and later the feast day would extend to encompass the whole month for special devotion to the Rosary. More recently, Our Lady of Fátima appeared in 1917 to ask for the regular saying of the Rosary for world peace and an end to WWI. Her feast day is celebrated on 11 Vois (Oct 13) as Rosa Mystica.

It is for this dedication to the Rosary that I believe early Filianic resources glossed this month as 'speech of angels' though there is no linguistic connection between the word Vois and that definition.

The Rosary is in many ways fascinating. Apparitions of the Lady Mary throughout Christian history nearly always enjoin the people to pray the Rosary and to pray it frequently. The Rosary itself is an adaptation from monasteries: monks would pray through the 150 Psalms weekly which required much study in a time period where most were never educated, and took several hours a day to complete, said during the monks' daily chores. For the lay people outside of monasteries, the Lord's Prayer repeated 150 times became more common as a simple, easy thing to learn and recite. In the twelfth century, Marian devotion blossomed: a Psalter of the Blessed Virgin was written (adaptations of the Old Testament Psalms to be said in honour of Mary), and the Hail Mary replaced the Lord's Prayer said on each bead. It is interesting indeed for something so vitally important to Marian apparitions and believers to have begun as something so different.

Though the western or Catholic style of prayer beads, the Rosary, is what is mostly honoured this month, the eastern or mala style prayer beads, a continuous loop of a single mantra or chant is also welcome in Filianic practice. If one is not to your preference, the other is also acceptable in most Filianic circles.

The Rosary in Catholicism:
A Brief History
Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary
October, the Rosary Month
Battle of Lepanto, the origin of the Feast of Mary, Queen of Victory
Apparitions at Fátima

The Rosary in Filianism:
How to Pray the Rosary (Mother God website)
Scriptural Meditations (Mother God website)
See How to Pray the Rosary on this blog, including a Rosary for the Dead (to pray on Saturdays) and Rosary for the Animals (Meditations).