The Rosary teams
The Rosary Teams are part of the Church, praying in the name of Mary, and missionary, were founded in 1955 by Father Joseph Eyquem, a Dominican, who was charged by the Master of the Dominicans to foster the spread of the Rosary prayer. Father Eyquem’s wish was “to help people to live as Christians”.
In collaboration with Madame Colette Couvreur, he defined the organisation of the teams in 1965, according to a model which is still in use in France and throughout the world, with the following rhythm.
The monthly meeting
Meetings take place in the homes of team members, where neighbours, friends, and local acquaintances are also to be invited. “Welcome to this home in the name of Mary” are the words pronounced by the host at the opening of the monthly meetings.
This prayer is followed by the celebration of God’s word, taken from a leaflet “The Rosary Team Prayers” which is issued nationally each month. The words are shared, and thoughts for our daily lives are discussed.
The Pope’s Intentions and those of the team members are then the subjects of another prayer to Mary. Each month, the meetings and the sharing encourage the development of faith and friendship.
Families also use this monthly time of prayer to introduce their children to the Rosary prayer, using the children’s page of the leaflet: parents and children pray together.
Le temps de la prière quotidienne individuelle
Pauline’s “brief” recital of one rosary decade is linked with the meditation on one mystery of the Rosary. A ‘Team Calendar’ shares the mysteries between members of the team each day. This ‘chain of prayer’ creates spiritual union between team members which, combined, becomes the complete Rosary.
During a symposium at the 1989 National Meeting, Father Eyquem acknowledged himself to be Pauline Marie Jaricot’s successor for the creation and organisation of the teams.
“To my surprise, I realised that my goals were also hers, that the organisation I was proposing was in accord with Pauline Marie Jaricot’s own wishes. And when I recognised her contradictions, her sufferings, her tears and her position as victim, I understood that, having received the ‘revelation’ of the Living Rosary and ‘the mission to spread it throughout the world’ I owed it without any doubt to this woman.” (Father Eyquem).
By offering welcome, closeness, home comfort, the presence of the Word and spiritual communion in the meditation of Jesus’ life mysteries, the Rosary teams respond to the hopes of today’s believers
To know more, visit https://equipes-rosaire.org/
To contact the Rosary Teams:
National Secretary
222 Rue du Faubourg Saint Honore – 75008 PARIS
Phone: +33 (0) 1 56 69 28 10 – email: national.Equipes@rosaire.org
International Coordination
Chantal Courtin, coordinatrice internationale des Équipes du Rosaire
Mme Therese Turlan-Delannoy, contact via National Secretariat, as above