Confraternities and archconfraternities
Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary
Rosary Confraternity · Confraternity of the Holy Rosary · Confraternitas Sanctissimi Rosarii
Bl. Alan de la Roche whose preaching it grew fromLeo XIII restated its rule
Founded 1475Order of Preachers (Dominicans). Each Dominican province has its own Promoter of the Holy Rosary and its own register. In the United States the Rosary Center and Confraternity in Portland, Oregon serves the Western Province, rosaryconfraternity.org serves the Province of St Joseph in the East, and dominicanconfraternity.org serves the Southern Province.
Open to anyone, today
Free online form.
Enroll nowFill in a short web form with your name, mailing address and email, submit once, and the certificate of membership arrives by email within about ten working days. A printable form is offered for anyone who prefers postal mail.
This is the simplest Catholic society to belong to, and one of the oldest. You put your name on a worldwide register kept by the Dominican friars, and in exchange you promise to pray the full fifteen decade rosary once a week, offering it for every other member as well as for your own intentions. There are no meetings, no dues, and nobody checks on you. People join because it turns a private habit into something shared: you are praying for hundreds of thousands of strangers every week, and all of them are praying for you, including after you die.
Where it comes from
1475 (Cologne, by the Dominican Jakob Sprenger, growing out of Bl. Alan de la Roche's rosary preaching); its rule was restated by Pope Leo XIII in the apostolic constitution Ubi Primum (1898)
What you promise
Pray the complete fifteen decade rosary each week. You may pray all fifteen decades at once or split them into three sets of five on any days you like. Each time you pray, you include all the other members and their intentions. Your name must be written in the Confraternity register. The weekly obligation does not bind under sin, and there are no meetings and no dues.
What the Church attaches
A share in the prayers, Masses and apostolic works of the entire Dominican Order; a share in the weekly rosaries of all other members, living and dead; various plenary and partial indulgences; and the Rosary, Light and Life newsletter six times a year for members who want it. Leo XIII wrote in Ubi Primum that a member who fulfils the weekly rosary includes every other member in his intentions and is repaid the same service many times over.
Enrollment checked 2026-10-22. Details change without notice and parish practice varies. Confirm before relying on this sheet.