Ninth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

During the papacies of Leo XIII and Pius X Catholic laity were encouraged to pray the Rosary to remedy the evils caused by modernity. The uses of the Rosary experienced different interpretations in Latin American countries since the sixteenth century, but it was a symbol of Mary since the fifteenth century, and praying the beads was understood as a way to be close to Christ’s mother. Though the symbolism of the rosary is associated with meditating passages of the Virgin’s life and how they connect to Christ, her son, a less well studied aspect of the Rosary is how Catholics consider it a spiritual weapon to defeat sin, the Devil and his minions. In that sense, evil occupies two spaces: it can reside within us to entice us to commit sins and also lives outside of us, in a secular society that poses a threat to the Catholic’s salvation. In Mexico the Rosary was understood as an instrument to ward evil off and improve society. This article will explore how Catholics constructed narratives around it used in Mexico during the first three decades of the twentieth century.