"Through the study of books one seeks God; by meditation one finds him." From the sixteenth century onwards, Rosary recitations often involved "picture texts" that further assisted meditation. Such imagery continues to be used to depict the Mysteries of the rosary. References to the Rosary have been part of various reported Marian Apparitions spanning two centuries. The reported messages from these apparitions have influenced the spread of Rosary devotion worldwide. In Quamquam pluries, Pope Leo XIII related Rosary devotions to Saint Joseph and granted indulgences in favour of Christians who, in the month of October, would have added the Prayer to Saint Joseph at the end of the Holy Rosary. Praying the Rosary may be prescribed by priests as a type of penance after the Sacrament of Penance. It must be noted that penance is not generally intended as a "punishment"; rather, it is meant to encourage meditation upon and spiritual growth from past sins. History Knotted prayer ropes were used in early Christianity; the Desert Fathers are said to have created the first such, using knots to keep track of the number of times they said the Jesus prayer or the 150 psalms. According to pious tradition, the concept of the Rosary was given to Dominic of Osma in an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary during the year 1214 in the church of Prouille, though in fact it was known from the ninth century in various forms. This Marian apparition received the title of Our Lady of the Rosary. According to Herbert Thurston, it is certain that in the course of the twelfth century and before the birth of Dominic, the practice of reciting the Ave Maria 50 or 150 times had become generally familiar. According to 20th century editions of the Catholic Encyclopedia, the story of Dominic's devotion to the Rosary and supposed apparition of Our Lady of the Rosary does not appear in any documents of the Catholic Church or the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) prior to the writings of the Dominican Alanus de Rupe (also Alan de la Roche), some 250 years after Dominic. However, recent scholarship by Donald H. Calloway seeks to refute this claim. Leonard Foley said that although Mary's giving the Rosary to Dominic is recognized as a legend, the development of this prayer form owes much to the Order of Preachers. The practice of meditation during the praying of the Hail