The month of October, in our faith tradition, is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary. During this month, on October 7th, we celebrated the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary and we honored our Mother Mary who has encouraged the faithful to pray the Rosary.
Pope Benedict XVI has a great appreciation for Mary and the Rosary. During his papacy, as reported in the media outlet, “Catholic Culture”, in an address at the Basilica of St. Mary Major where he prayed the Rosary with the faithful, he stated that the Rosary “helps to put Christ at the center, as the Virgin did, who meditated within all that was said about her Son, and also what he did and said. When reciting the Rosary, the important and meaningful moments of salvation history are relived. The various steps of Christ’s mission are traced. With Mary, the heart is oriented toward the mystery of Jesus. Christ is put at the center of our life, of our time, of our city, through the contemplation and mediation of his holy mysteries of joy, light, sorrow, and glory.”
St. Therese of Lisieux, a great mystic, also urged the faithful to pray the Rosary. She stated, “The Rosary is a long chain that links heaven and earth. One end of it is in our hands and the other end is in the hands of the Holy Virgin. The Rosary prayer rises like incense to the feet of the Almighty.”
The following prayer to Mary reflects one’s desire to truly appreciate the importance of the Rosary:
Queen of the Holy Rosary, you have deigned to come to Fatima and Medjugorje to reveal to the three shepherd children and six visionaries, the treasures of grace hidden in the Rosary.
Inspire my heart with a sincere love of this devotion, in order that by meditating on the mysteries of our Redemption which are recalled in it, I may obtain peace for the world, the conversion of sinners, and the favors which I ask of you in this Rosary.
I ask it for the greater glory of God, for Your own honor, and for the good of souls, especially my own. Amen.
As we reflect on this prayer, and the words of Pope Benedict and St. Therese, we are reminded that at Saint Brigid, we have various Rosary ministries and Marian devotions in which our parishioners actively participate. For example, many parishioners pray the Rosary before the 9 am daily Mass. Others pray the Rosary online on Tuesday evenings. Still, others participate in a Living Rosary on various Marian feast days, where the Rosary is brought to life with individuals representing each bead of the Rosary.
As Catholics, we are encouraged to pray the Rosary, especially, if possible, as a family, as we continue on our journey of faith in these difficult and uncertain times.