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October is the month of the rosary.
October 7
Our Lady of the Rosary
by Sr. Marianne Lorraine Trouve, FSP
History and Background
The rosary developed over several centuries and can be traced to
the 12th century prayer known as "Our Lady's Psalter."
This consisted of praying 150 Hail Marys in place of reciting the
150 psalms, a practice popular among the mostly illiterate common
people. At this time, however, only the first part of the Hail Mary
was used. The Dominican order popularized the rosary and preached
it throughout Europe. By the 16th century, the rosary
had taken shape in the basic form we know today, and the second
half of the Hail Mary was added ("Holy Mary, Mother of God...).
The 150 Hail Marys were divided into decades, each one commemorating
a mystery in the lives of Jesus and Mary.
The liturgical feast of the rosary was established in 1573 by St.
Pius V, a Dominican pope who had great personal devotion to the
prayer. He instituted the feast in thanksgiving for the Christian
victory over the Turks in the battle of Lepanto. Because the feast
falls in October, the entire month is dedicated to honoring Mary
with the rosary.
Scripture
Various texts from the Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary may be
selected. The following readings are suggested:
Acts of the Apostles 1:12-14
After Jesus had been taken up to heaven, the Apostles returned
to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem,
a sabbath day's journey away.
When they entered the city they went to the upper room where they
were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas,
Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot,
and Judas son of James. All these devoted themselves with one accord
to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus,
and his brothers.
Gospel: Luke 1:26-38
The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called
Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house
of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he
said, "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you." But
she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort
of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, "Do
not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold,
you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name
him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and
he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom
there will be no end." But Mary said to the angel, "How
can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" And the
angel said to her in reply, "The Holy Spirit will come upon
you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore
the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold,
Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing
will be impossible for God." Mary said, "Behold, I am
the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your
word." Then the angel departed from her.
Message
The rosary has remained popular among Catholics for many centuries.
What makes it so enduring? While many answers could be given, perhaps
three aspects stand out.
The rosary is a simple, concrete way of expressing devotion to
Mary. As our mother in the order of grace, she is always present
on our spiritual journey. Mary consoles us in sorrow, rejoices over
our blessings, and always leads us to Jesus. On Calvary Jesus entrusted
his mother to John, who represents every disciple. Just as John
welcomed Mary into his life, we too welcome Mary into our lives
of discipleship. And just as Mary intervened at Cana to obtain a
miracle for the newlyweds, she is always ready to intercede for
us too. Her maternal mediation obtains countless blessings and graces.
In a unique way, the rosary combines simple vocal prayer with contemplation.
This makes it suited for people at all stages of the spiritual life.
The heart of the rosary is meditation on the mysteries of Christ.
The recitation of the Hail Marys provides a sort of "background
music" that makes contemplation easier. In modern terms, we
could call it a form of centering prayer. This is a simple form
of prayer in which a person gently focuses attention on God while
repeating a word or phrase. Although the main purpose of prayer
is to deepen our relationship with God, it caneven benefit our physical
health. A study reported in the December 2001 issue of the British
Medical Journal found that persons who prayed the rosary experienced
a calming effect that lowered their respiratory rate and benefited
their hearts.
Finally, the rosary has been strongly recommended by the popes
throughout the centuries. In many Marian apparitions that the Church
has approved, such as Fatima, the rosary played a significant role.
Praying the rosary for world peace has been a frequent theme of
these messages.
Prayer
To Our Lady of the Annunciation
Queen of heaven and earth, daughter of the Father, Mother of the
divine Son, spouse of the Holy Spirit, I praise God for the unique
grace given to you. Mary, you became the great Mother of our divine
Savior, our Master, true Light of the world, uncreated Wisdom, source
of all truth and first Apostle of truth. You gave the world the
book to read, the eternal Word. For this I bless the holy Trinity
and I ask you to obtain for me the grace of heavenly wisdom, to
be a fervent disciple of Jesus and to be lovingly devoted to the
Church, the pillar of truth. Make the light of the Gospel shine
to the farthest bounds of the earth. Queen of the Apostles, pray
for us!
(Fr. James Alberione, SSP)
Thought from Pope Paul VI
The rosary draws from the Gospel the presentation of the mysteries
and its main formulas. As it moves from the angel's joyful greeting
and the Virgin's pious assent, the rosary takes its inspiration
from the Gospel to suggest the attitude with which the faithful
should recite it. In the harmonious succession of Hail Mary's the
rosary puts before us once more a fundamental mystery of the Gospel-the
Incarnation of the Word, contemplated at the decisive moment of
the Annunciation to Mary. The rosary is thus a Gospel prayer, as
pastors and scholars like to define it, more today perhaps than
in the past.
It has also been more easily seen how the orderly and gradual unfolding
of the rosary reflects the very way in which the Word of God, mercifully
entering into human affairs, brought about the Redemption. The rosary
considers in harmonious succession the principal salvific events
accomplished in Christ, from His virginal conception and the mysteries
of His childhood to the culminating moments of the Passover-the
blessed passion and the glorious resurrection-and to the effects
of this on the infant Church on the day of Pentecost, and on the
Virgin Mary when at the end of her earthly life she was assumed
body and soul into her heavenly home. It has also been observed
that the division of the mysteries of the rosary into three parts
not only adheres strictly to the chronological order of the facts
but above all reflects the plan of the original proclamation of
the Faith and sets forth once more the mystery of Christ in the
very way in which it is seen by Saint Paul in the celebrated "hymn"
of the Letter to the Philippians-kenosis, death and exaltation (cf
2:6-11).
As a Gospel prayer, centered on the mystery of the redemptive Incarnation,
the rosary is therefore a prayer with a clearly Christological orientation.
Its most characteristic element, in fact, the litany-like succession
of Hail Mary's, becomes in itself an unceasing praise of Christ,
who is the ultimate object both of the angel's announcement and
of the greeting of the mother of John the Baptist: "Blessed is the
fruit of your womb" (Lk. 1:42). We would go further and say that
the succession of Hail Mary's constitutes the warp on which is woven
the contemplation of the mysteries. The Jesus that each Hail Mary
recalls is the same Jesus whom the succession of the mysteries proposes
to us-now as the Son of God, now as the Son of the Virgin-at His
birth in a stable at Bethlehem, at His presentation by His Mother
in the Temple, as a youth full of zeal for His Father's affairs,
as the Redeemer in agony in the garden, scourged and crowned with
thorns, carrying the cross and dying on Calvary, risen from the
dead and ascended to the glory of the Father to send forth the gift
of the Spirit. As is well known, at one time there was a custom,
still preserved in certain places, of adding to the name of Jesus
in each Hail Mary reference to the mystery being contemplated. And
this was done precisely in order to help contemplation and to make
the mind and the voice act in unison.
There has also been felt with greater urgency the need to point
out once more the importance of a further essential element in the
rosary, in addition to the value of the elements of praise and petition,
namely the element of contemplation. Without this the rosary is
a body without a soul, and its recitation is in danger of becoming
a mechanical repetition of formulas and of going counter to the
warning of Christ: "And in praying do not heap up empty phrases
as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their
many words" (Mt. 6:7). By its nature the recitation of the rosary
calls for a quiet rhythm and a lingering pace, helping the individual
to meditate on the mysteries of the Lord's life as seen through
the eyes of her who was closest to the Lord. In this way the unfathomable
riches of these mysteries are unfolded.
(From the document Marialis
Cultus)
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