St. Dominic & the Rosary

[Geremia]

In his The Secret of the Rosary (Le Secret admirable du Très Saint Rosaire pour se convertir et se sauver), St. Grignion de Montfort quotes, "word for word in the original Latin for benefit of any priests or other learned people who might otherwise have doubts as to the marvelous power of the Holy Rosary" ("mot à mot ces passages latins de ces bons auteurs en faveur des prédicateurs et personnes savantes qui pourraient révoquer en doute la merveilleuse vertu du saint Rosaire"), from the De Dignitate Psalterii of Bl. Alain de la Roche (Alanus de Rupe) via Carthagena (Cartagène), some excellent stories regarding St. Dominic and the Rosary:

B. Alanus Patrem sanctum Dominicum sibi haec in revelatione dixisse testatur: "Tu praedicas, fili, sed uti caveas ne potius laudem humanam quaerans quam animarum fructum, audi quid mihi Parisiis contigit. Debebam in majori ecclesia beatae Mariae praedicare, et volebam curiose non jactantiae causa, sed propter astantium facultatem et dignitatem. Cum igitur more meo per horam fere ante sermonem in psalterio meo (Rosarium intelligit) quadam capilla post altare majus orarem, subito factus in raptum, cernebam amicam meam Dei Genitricem afferentem mihi libellum et dicentem: "Dominice, et si bonum est quod praedicare disposuisti sermonem, tamen longe meliorem attuli." Laetus librum capio, lego constanter, ut dixit, reperio, gratias ago, adest hora sermonis, adest parisiensis Universitas tota, dominorumque numerus magnus. Audiebant quippe et videbant signa magna quae per me Dominus operabatur; itaque ambonem ascendo. Festum est sancti Joannis Evangelistae. De eo aliud non dico nisi quod custos singularis esse meruit Reginae coeli. Deinde auditores sic alloquor: Domini et Magistri praestantissimi, aures reverentiae vestrae solitae sunt curiosos audire sermones et auscultare. At nunc ego non in doctis humanae sapientiae verbis, sed in ostentione spiritus et virtutis loquar." Tunc, ait Carthagena post beatum Alanum, stans Dominicus eis explicavit Salutationem angelicam comparationibus et similitudinibus familiaribus hoc modo.

"Blessed Alan writes that one day Father Dominic said to him in a vision: 'My son, it is good to preach; but there is always a danger of looking for praise rather than the salvation of souls. Listen carefully to what happened to me in Paris so that you may be on guard against this kind of mistake: I was to preach in the great church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and I was particularly anxious to give a brilliant sermon, not out of pride, but because of the high intellectual stature of the congregation. 'An hour before the time I had to preach, I was recollectedly saying my Rosary—as I always did before giving a sermon—when I fell into ecstasy. I saw my beloved friend the Mother of God coming towards me with a book in her hand. "Dominic," she said, "your sermon for today may be very good indeed, but no matter how good it is I have brought you one that is very much better." 'Of course I was overjoyed, took the book and read every word of it. Just as Our Lady had said, I found exactly the right things to say in my sermon, so I thanked her with all my heart. 'When it was time to begin, I saw that the University of Paris had turned out in full force as well as a large number of noblemen. They had all seen and heard of the great things that the good Lord had been doing through me. So I went up into the pulpit. 'It was the feast of Saint John the Apostle but all I said about him was that he had been found worthy to be the guardian of the Queen of Heaven. Then I addressed the congregation: '"My Lords and illustrious Doctors of the University, you are accustomed to hearing learned sermons suited to your aesthetic tastes. Now I do not want to speak to you in the scholarly language of human wisdom but, on the contrary, to show you the Spirit of God and His Greatness.'" Here ends the quotation from Blessed Alan, after which Carthagena goes on to say in his own words: "Then Saint Dominic explained the Angelic Salutation to them, using simple comparisons and examples from everyday life."

"Beatus Alanus dicit sibi a beata Virgine revelatum fuisse Christum Filium suum apparuisse post se sancto Dominico et ipsi dixesse: "Dominice, gaudeo quod non confidas in tua sapientia, sed cum humilitate potius affectas salvare animas quam vanis hominibus placere. Sed multi praedicatores statim volunt contra gravissima peccata instare, ignorantes quod ante gravem medicinam debet fieri praeparatio, ne medicina sit inanis et vacua: quapropter prius homines debent induci ad orationis devotionem et signanter ad psalterium meum angelicum; quoniam, si omnes coeperint hoc orare, non dubium est quin perseverantibus aderit pietas divinae clementiae. Praedica ergo psalterium meum".

"Blessed Alan said Our Lady revealed to him that after she had appeared to Saint Dominic, her Blessed Son appeared to him and said: 'Dominic, I rejoice to see that you are not relying upon your own wisdom and that, rather than seek the empty praise of men, you are working with great humility for the salvation of souls. 'But many priests want to preach thunderously against the worst kinds of sin at the very outset, failing to realize that before a sick person is given bitter medicine he needs to be prepared by being put in the right frame of mind to really benefit by it. 'This is why, before doing anything else, priests should try to kindle a love of prayer in people's hearts and especially a love of my Angelic Psalter. If only they would all start saying it and would really persevere, God, in His mercy, could hardly refuse to give them His grace. So I want you to preach my Rosary.'"

"Omnes sermocinantes et praedicantes christicolis exordium pro gratia impetranda a Salutatione angelica faciunt. Hujus rei ratio sumpta est ex revelatione facta beato Dominico cui beata Virgo dixit: "Dominice, fili, nil mireris quod concionando minime proficias. Enimvero aras solum a pluvia non irrigatum. Scitoque, cum Deus renovare decrevit mundum Salutationis angelicae pluviam praemisit; sicque ipse in melius est reformatus. -Hortare igitur homines in concionibus ad Rosarii mei recitationen, et magnos animarum fructus colliges." Quod sanctus Dominicus strenue executus uberes ex suis concionibus animarum fructus retulit."

"All priests say a Hail Mary with the faithful before preaching, to ask for God's grace. They do this because of a revelation that Saint Dominic had from Our Lady. 'My son,' she said one day 'do not be surprised that your sermons fail to bear the results you had hoped for. You are trying to cultivate a piece of ground which has not had any rain. Now when Almighty God planned to renew the face of the earth He started by sending down rain from heaven—and this was the Angelic Salutation. In this way God made over the world. 'So when you give a sermon, urge people to say my Rosary, and in this way your words will bear much fruit for souls.' "Saint Dominic lost no time in obeying, and from then on he exerted great influence by his sermons."

[Kaesekopf]

Sadly, I'm reluctant to take Alan de la Roche as anything but a little questionable.  There's very little (if anything at all) to support Dominic's purported visions with respect to the rosary. 

[Michael Wilson]

Kaese,
I read in a book (can't remember now which one) that there was a Church dedicated to Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary near Tolouse which has been standing since the 12th C.
Which makes it contemporary with St. Dominic. There at least you have indirect evidence of the connection between St. Dominic and the devotion to the most Holy Rosary.

[Kaesekopf]

Kaese,
I read in a book (can't remember now which one) that there was a Church dedicated to Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary near Tolouse which has been standing since the 12th C.
Which makes it contemporary with St. Dominic. There at least you have indirect evidence of the connection between St. Dominic and the devotion to the most Holy Rosary.

There's a tenuous connection, sure, but the Lives of the Brethren and the canonization process don't mention much about the rosary and Dominic. 

The Order definitely has a strong devotion/connection, yeah, but Dominic himself is a bit more...  eh. 

[aquinas138]

There's also the issue of the Rosary developing out of the medieval paternoster beads and that the mysteries have varied from time and place, which detract from the idea it was given directly from heaven...

In any event, whether the story of Our Lady giving the Rosary to St. Dominic is more pious fiction than reality, or whether it's accurate in its essentials, I'm sure both the Virgin and St. Dominic approve of widespread use of the Rosary!

[Michael Wilson]

I don't believe it is pious fiction; the fact that Our Blessed Mother herself has come many times to promote the recitation of the Rosary, puts this devotion on a whole different level.

[Geremia]

I don't believe it is pious fiction

Yes, especially because other Marian apparitions (e.g., Fatima) have also promoted the rosary, so it's not inconceivable that St. Dominic beheld a similar such apparition.