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The Life of St. Francis of Assisi

Did you know there was a Franciscan Crown Rosary?
The Franciscan rosary, or as it is properly called,
The Franciscan Crown, dates to the early part of the 15th century. At that time a young
man who found spiritual joy in weaving a crown of wild flowers for a beautiful statue
 of Mary decided to enter the Franciscan Order. After entering the community,
 however, he was saddened when he no longer found the time to gather flowers for
his personal devotion.

 One evening, while feeling tempted to abandon his vocation, he received a
vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mother encouraged the young novice to
persevere by reminding him of the joyfulness of the Franciscan spirit. She also instructed
him to meditate daily on seven joyful events from her own life as a new form of the rosary.
(The Annunciation, The Visitation, The Nativity of Jesus,
The Adoration of the Magi, The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple,
The Appearance of the Risen Christ to His Mother,
The Assumption and Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven)

Instead of a crown of flowers, the novice would now weave a crown of prayers.
Before long, many other Franciscans began to pray the Crown and soon it spread to
the entire Order, becoming officially established in 1422.
Secularfranciscanusa.org