This is called `` saying the Rosary '' or `` praying the Rosary '' . The rosary is part of the Catholic veneration of Mary , which has been promoted by numerous popes , especially Leo XIII , known as `` The Rosary Pope '' , who issued twelve encyclicals and five apostolic letters on the rosary and added the invocation Queen of the most Holy Rosary to the Litany of Loreto . Pope Pius V introduced the rosary into the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar as the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary , celebrated on October 7 .