An initiative of the Mary of Nazareth Association January 9 – Virgin of the Annunciation (Italy, 1490) - Pauline Jaricot (d. 1862) The spectacular spread of the Living Rosary Image from http://philomena.com/ Pauline Marie Jaricot (born in Lyons, France, on July 22, 1799; died on January 9, 1862), is the foundress of the Catholic Society for the Propagation of the Faith. Born into a family of wealthy industrialists, she decided to serve God only, ready to devote her life to the cause of the faith. She made a vow of perpetual virginity and adopted the poor lifestyle of the working class. In the 1820s, the Church had to defend herself against the surge of anticlerical views linked to the popularization of the philosophical works of the 18th century. The only antidote to atheism for Pauline was a life of prayer. She then founded the Association of the Living Rosary in 1826 along the same organizational structure used for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in the following way. The fifteen decades of the Rosary were divided among fifteen members, each of whom pledged to recite one particular decade daily. Each group agreed to hold a monthly prayer meeting. At the time of Pauline’s death, there were 150,000 groups, totaling 2.5 million members! She had bought a house on Fouvière hill in Lyons, calling it Loreto, to use as her headquarters, surrounding herself with pious girls she called the "Daughters of Mary." Venerable Pauline Marie Jaricot rosarium.op.org www.mariedenazareth.com Let’s pray together Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death. Amen.