Alanus de Rupe

Alanus de Rupe (also Alan, Alain de la Roche, Blessed Alan or Blessed Alain de la Roche); (c. 1428 – 8 September 1475) was a Roman Catholic theologian noted for his views on prayer. Some writers claim him as a native of Germany, others of Belgium; but his disciple, Cornelius Sneek, says that he was born in Brittany. He died at Zwolle.

Born in Dinan, Brittany in around 1428, he entered the Dominican Order in 1459 at age thirty-one. While pursuing his studies at Saint Jacques, Paris, he distinguished himself in philosophy and theology. From 1459 to 1475 he taught almost uninterruptedly at Paris, Lille, Douay, Ghent, and in Germany, where, in 1473, he was made Master of Sacred Theology. During his sixteen years of teaching he became a most renowned preacher. He was indefatigable in what he regarded as his special mission, the preaching and re-establishment of the Rosary, which he did with success throughout northern France, Flanders, and the Netherlands. He established a Confraternity of the Psalter of the Glorious Virgin Mary, around 1470 which was instrumental in disseminating the rosary throughout Europe.

St. Alanus published nothing during his lifetime, but immediately after his death the brethren of his province were commanded to collect his writings for publication. These were edited at different times and have occasioned some controversy among scholars. A list of writings attributed to Alanus was compiled by J. G. T. Graesse in Trésor des livres rares et précieux (1859).

According to an old Dominican tradition, during the time of the Albigensians in southern France in the latter part of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th centuries, St. Dominic was distressed at his lack of success in his preaching in countering their teachings, and turned to the Mother of God for help. She reportedly appeared to him and told him to use her Psalter in conjunction with his preaching, as an instrument in combatting the great heresy of his day. The Marian Psalter, (a custom of praying 150 "Aves" rather than Psalms) developed into the Rosary.

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