Holy Mother Church allows that on this Sunday (one day before the feast proper) an external solemnity of The Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary may be celebrated.
Intercessory prayers offered to the Blessed Mother have ever been most powerful and efficacious. The Rosary in particular has been of great benefit to many.
That the Rosary is pre-eminently the prayer of the people adapted alike for the use of simple and learned is proved not only by the long series of papal utterances by which it has been commended to the faithful but by the daily experience of all who are familiar with it. The objection so often made against its "vain repetitions" is felt by none but those who have failed to realize how entirely the spirit of the exercise lies in the mediation upon the fundamental mysteries of our faith. To the initiated the words of the angelical salutation are not meaningless but are likened to the "Holy, Holy, Holy" of the heavenly choirs and surely not in itself meaningless.
The word Rosary comes from rosarius which means a garland or bouquet of roses. An early legend which after traveling all over Europe penetrated even to Abyssinia connected this name with a story of Our Lady, who was seen to take rosebuds from the lips of a young monk when he was reciting Hail Marys and to weave them into a garland which she placed upon her head. The words Corona or chaplet suggests the same idea as rosarium.
We can truly benefit from the recitation of the rosary if we will contemplate the appropriate mystery as we recite the prayers. We should try to see our Blessed Mother in each of the mysteries and ponder the many points of love: God's love for her; God's love for us; her love for God; and her love for us. This should ultimately lead us to the love of God, His mother, and our fellow men.
For how can we not love if we truly contemplate the mysteries of the Rosary?
The Rosary is one of the most profound books of doctrine that is available to everyone who is willing to take the time to pray. The Rosary has something to offer everyone, both, male and female, learned and unlearned, child and adult, rich or poor, from the highest to the lowest.
In contemplating the mysteries of the Rosary we are contemplating the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and in contemplating her life we are of necessity contemplating the life of Jesus Christ. The two lives are intimately connected. And one of the surest paths to Christ is through His mother. The sinner who would dare not approach Christ directly has a wonderful intercessor in the Blessed Virgin Mary.
But, just as Our Lord says: "Not all those who say: `Lord, Lord', shall enter the kingdom of Heaven." so it is with the Rosary; not all those who say Hail Mary shall enter the kingdom of Heaven.
There are many who say their "Rosaries" so that they may be seen before men. They make sure that the whole world knows just how many rosaries they say every day, and are quite proud of themselves. They pay little attention to the lessons being taught in the mysteries of the Rosary and therefore benefit spiritually as much as a parrot that mimics over and over again "Ave Maria".
Likewise there are many who have abandoned the Church and the faith and claim that they are holding on to the Rosary and that the Blessed Mother will protect them in the end, because of her promise.
These too are not truly praying the Rosary for next to the virtue of love, the Rosary also instructs us in the virtues of humility and obedience (and all other virtues). We are instructed in the necessity of the graces that come from the Sacraments, which come only from the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church founded by Christ.
The Blessed Mother would never approve of the Rosary taking the place of devotion to Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and His Church. The Rosary is a supplement and an aid to give us motives and strength for practicing the Faith, and is never to be a replacement of It.
Those who are not members of the true Faith repeat the words of the Rosary in vain. The only value that such "prayers" might have would be to lead such souls into the true Church where their prayers could be fruitful.