Our Lady of the Rosary

Homily at St Martin Eucharist (Acts 1.12-14; Luke 1.26-38)

"All joined in continuous prayer, including Mary the mother of Jesus"

There is no more gospel centred prayer than the rosary.

The origin of today's memorial derives from the victory of the Christian West over the Muslim Turks at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, attributed to the patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary in response to cries for help through the widespread saying of the rosary.

Today the Church continues to commend the simplicity and warmth of the rosary as a way of fostering intercession and contemplative prayer in the heart of the believer. The Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries recalled by the recitation of the beads imbeds and fructifies the gospel essentials in the Christian soul. The repetition of the many Our Father's, Hail Mary's, and Glory Be's expresses the soul's cry to God for help and grace. The gaze is kept firmly fixed on Jesus throughout, the author and perfecter of our faith.

As we say the rosary we join the first disciples in their continuous prayer in the upper room, with Mary the mother of Jesus.

"Our Lady of the Rosary, open to us its holy secrets. Let it be a door for us into the heart of your Son, his Father, and the Holy Spirit."

Our Lady of the Rosary

(From this month's 'New Directions')

A hidden treasure

Ernest Skublics calls upon us to rediscover the Rosary as a way of cultivating our relationship with God by offering Him our time, and as a means of focusing our attention on moments in the life of Christ

A very old mainstay of Catholic devotion, the Rosary, deserves re-evaluation and an unapologetic come-back among Anglo-Catholics. Even among Roman Catholics, the popularity of the once much-loved 'beads' had a period of decline following the Second Vatican Council, not unrelated to a fundamentally healthy re-focusing on essentials, liturgically, devotionally, doctrinally The Rosary, to some extent, fell victim to this pruning, because it seemed to be the only extended prayer-form among the laity, so much so that it was even recited during Mass, in place of an intelligent participation in the Liturgy itself.

Purpose of prayer
Yet the Rosary, in some sense, is the archetypal model, a real case study, for all prayer, especially non-liturgical prayer. For all people, who have generally grown up with the idea (supported by most dictionary definitions and the etymology of the word) that prayer is about asking, a devotion like the Rosary is a most enlightening corrective.

For prayer is not primarily about asking. We may venture to say that it is not even primarily about going out to God in love and admiration, in recognition and thanksgiving (berakah - Eucharist) - though that comes much closer to the essence of prayer and is certainly central to it. But it is so only because prayer is primarily and essentially the conscious and loving cultivation of our relationship with God.

This relationship is already a given - by our creation and re-creation in baptism. We do not need to establish the relationship, but we do need to become mindful of it, cultivate it, deepen it, develop a habitual awareness of it that permeates all our life. And we can only do this if we spend time with God. The very same dynamic obtains in any relationship, between human beings, in a family, among friends. Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but it does not deepen knowledge and love for each other; in fact, it accustoms us to being apart.

Prayer is a time spent with God. It need not be spent talking; 'not in multiplying your words will you save your soul'. It may be in total silence; it may be in reading or hearing - and ruminating
on - the Word of God, or reflecting on some truth or dynamic in our relationship with God.

In our busy, restless, fidgety, utilitarian approach to everything, this type of prayer at first comes with difficulty. If we do not have anything to say, it strikes us as a waste of time. Interestingly, a wise master of the spiritual life once said: 'If you really want to learn to pray, you first have to learn to waste time.' There is a story of a busy priest who didn't understand this. Rushing through his church on a weekday he repeatedly noticed a simple man spending time in a pew in the back. He had no book; his lips were not moving; he just sat there. One day the priest asked him what he was doing when sitting there. The man answered: 'Nothing. I just look at Him, and he looks at me.'

Time for contemplation
Well, the Rosary, first of all, teaches us to waste time, just being with God, Jesus and Our Lady. Our time is itself a pleasing offering. The Rosary teaches us by a crucially important quality to any extended prayer: through its therapeutic monotony, which it shares particularly with the older and longer forms of the Divine Office, when as many as six psalms were recited or chanted before coming to a Lesson. It breaks down our fidgety, rushing, utilitarian approach; it gently loosens our grip on any particular agenda of our own; and it teaches us to allow God to carry us on the endlessly flowing river of the Church's prayer.

And then, we find that we have been unwittingly introduced to contemplative prayer. For each of the fifteen decades of the Rosary (the Lord's Prayer followed by ten Hail Marys, of which usually only five decades - or even fewer - are recited at a time) is dedicated to one or another 'mystery' or episode in the life, passion and glorification of our Lord. And while our fidgety fingers find something to do in counting off the prayers, and our lips recite the Angelic Salutation, our minds can stop and stare at, reflect on, think about a moment in the life of Christ, and the significance of that moment for our salvation and our daily life.

Meditative recitation
In the wake of that conciliar pruning, when Marian devotions saw a significant cut-back, I too had stopped praying the Rosary. In recent years, however, my old beads came out again, bored as I was with my daily walks, and I found it refreshing to resume the quiet and meditative recitation of the Rosary. I also find using the beads to be an effortless way of focusing, while I spend time in front of the Blessed Sacrament, or, certainly, when visiting a place like Walsingham. My walks have now deepened my understanding, aroused my curiosity, driven me to further exploration of the meaning of such mysteries as the Crowning with Thorns, the Ascension of Christ, or the glorification of Our Lady.

Prayer beads are common in many religions. They seem to appeal to our fidgety nature by being able to anchor it in a contemplative exercise, whether sitting or kneeling in a holy place, walking, or doing something that does not require much mental concentration. Turkish Muslims are commonly seen in the streets with their prayer beads, Byzantine-Slav Christians use them for the 'Jesus Prayer', and Western Catholics have used them ever since the Dominicans, Cistercians and Carthusians promoted the practice in the fifteenth century.

The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (7 October) was established in thanksgiving for the naval victory of the joint Christian fleet against the invading Muslim Turks at Lepanto in 1571, because the victory was attributed to the intercession of Our Lady, to whom the entire Church prayed the Rosary. Many saints have attributed significant victories, in their own lives and on behalf of others, to the faithful recitation of the Rosary. The whole month of October is traditionally marked by Marian devotions, and the praying of the Rosary. Perhaps it is time for us all to rediscover this wonderful way of praying.

90 Years Ago Today

Here is a record of what happened in Fatima 90 years ago today.

October 13, 1917
There were about 70,000 people present at the Cova da Iria for the October 13 apparition and Miracle of the Sun. Beginning the night before and persisting throughout the morning of the 13th, a cold rain fell on the crowd. The ground was muddy and the rain soaked everything. At the time when Our Lady was due to arrive, Lucy begged the people to close their umbrellas, which they did at once.

‘What does Your Grace want of me?’ [Lucy asked.]
‘I want to tell you that a chapel is to be built here in My honor. I am the Lady of the Rosary. May you continue always to pray the Rosary every day. The war is going to end and the soldiers will soon return to their homes.’

‘I had many things to ask You: to cure some sick people, to convert some sinners, etc.’
‘Some yes, others no. They must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins.’
Then taking on a more sorrowful air, Our Lady said:
‘Do not offend the Lord Our God any more, for He is already too much offended!’
‘You want nothing more from me?’ [Lucy asked.]
‘No, I want nothing more from you.’
"Then I do not ask anything more of You either."

As Our Lady ascended into Heaven, Lucy shouted: "She is going! She is going! Look at the sun!"
The miracle announced by Our Lady then took place: the sky abruptly cleared and the sun "danced". The people were able to look at the bright sun directly, without it bothering their eyes at all.

A physician, Dr. Almeida Garrett, testified:
Suddenly I heard the uproar of thousands of voices, and I saw the whole multitude spread out in that vast space at my feet … turn their backs to that spot where, until then, all their expectations focused, and look at the sun on the other side … I turned around, too, toward the point commanding their gazes, and I could see the sun, like a very clear disc, with its sharp edge, which gleamed without hurting the sight … It could not be confused with the sun seen through a fog (there was no fog at that moment), for it was neither veiled, nor dim. At Fatima, it kept its light and heat, and stood out clearly in the sky, with a sharp edge, like a large gaming table. The most astonishing thing was to be able to stare at the solar disc for a long time, brilliant with light and heat, without hurting the eyes, or damaging the retina.

The testimony of Avelino de Almeida, editor-in-chief of O Seculo, Lisbon’s anticlerical and Masonic daily newspaper, is similar:
And then we witnessed a unique spectacle, an incredible spectacle, unbelievable if you did not witness it. From above the road … We see the immense crowd turn towards the sun, which appeared at its zenith, clear of the clouds. It looked like a plate of dull silver, and it was possible to stare at it without the least discomfort. It did not burn the eyes. It did not blind. One might say that an eclipse had occurred.

Others also testified:
"It shook and trembled; it seemed like a wheel of fire." (Maria da Capelinha)
"The sun turned like a fire wheel, taking on all the colors of the rainbow." (Maria do Carmo)
"The sun took on all the colors of the rainbow. Everything assumed those same colors: our faces, our clothes, the earth itself." (Maria do Carmo)

The most terrifying aspect of the Miracle of the Sun then took place:
"We suddenly heard a clamor, like a cry of anguish of that entire crowd. The sun, in fact, keeping its rapid movement of rotation, seemed to free itself from the firmament and, blood-red, to plunge towards the earth, threatening to crush us with its fiery mass. Those were some terrifying seconds." (Dr. Almeida Garrett)

"The sun began to dance and, at a certain moment, it appeared to detach itself from the firmament and to rush forward on us, like a fire wheel." (Alfredo da Silva Santos)

"Finally, the sun stopped and everybody breathed a sigh of relief …" (Maria da Capelinha)

"From those thousands of mouths I heard shouts of joy and love to the Most Holy Virgin. And then I believed. I had the certainty of not having been the victim of a suggestion. I had seen the sun as I would never see it again." (Mario Godinho, an engineer)

Yet another astonishing aspect of the Miracle was that all of the thousands of people, most of whom were soaked to the bone and dirty from the mud, suddenly found that their clothes were dry and clean.
"The moment one would least expect it, our clothes were totally dry." (Maria do Carmo)
"My suit dried in an instant." (John Carreira)

The academician Marques da Cruz testified:
This enormous multitude was drenched, for it had rained unceasingly since dawn. But – though this may appear incredible – after the great miracle everyone felt comfortable, and found his garments quite dry, a subject of general wonder … The truth of this fact has been guaranteed with the greatest sincerity by dozens and dozens of persons of absolute trustworthiness, whom I have known intimately from childhood, and who are still alive (1937), as well as by persons from various districts of the country who were present.

In one aspect, this is the most astonishing effect of the miracle and an indisputable proof of its authenticity: The amount of energy needed to accomplish this process of drying in a natural way and in such a short a time, would have incinerated everyone present at the Cova at that time. As this aspect of the miracle contradicts the laws of nature radically, no demon could ever have achieved it.

Finally, many miracles of conversion, the greatest miracle God can bestow, also occurred. Here are two examples:

The captain of the regiment of soldiers on the mountain that day – with orders to prevent the gathering of the crowd – was converted instantly. Apparently so were hundreds of other unbelievers, as their testimony will show.
"There was an unbeliever there who had spent the morning mocking the ‘simpletons’ who had gone off to Fatima just to see an ordinary girl. He now seemed paralyzed, his eyes fixed on the sun. He began to tremble from head to foot, and lifting up his arms, fell on his knees in the mud, crying out to God." (Father Lourenço)

A number of other cases of cures and conversions are documented in, among other places, the following books: Documentação Crítica de Fátima and Fatima from the Beginning.

The great Miracle of the Sun lasted for ten minutes. Many more accounts of the miracle have been taken and recorded from the masses of people present, which verify this incredible manifestation of the authenticity of the entire Fatima Message. (For more accounts, see Chapter 1 of The Devil’s Final Battle.)

During the Miracle of the Sun, the three children were witnessing something else: the beautiful spectacle promised by Our Lady.

Lucy writes:
Our Lady having disappeared in the immensity of the firmament, we saw, beside the sun, Saint Joseph with the Child Jesus and Our Lady clothed in white with a blue mantle. Saint Joseph and the Child Jesus seemed to bless the world with gestures which they made with their hands in the form of a cross.
Soon after, that apparition having ceased, I saw Our Lord and Our Lady, Who gave me the impression of being Our Lady of Sorrows. Our Lord seemed to bless the world in the same manner as Saint Joseph.
That apparition disappeared and it seemed to me that I saw Our Lady again, this time as Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

These three successive visions are connected to one of the dominant messages of Fatima: the Rosary. In each of Her six apparitions, Our Lady asked that the Rosary be prayed and here, in these visions granted to the three children, the mysteries of the Holy Rosary were represented. With the vision of the Holy Family we find the Joyful mysteries; the Sorrowful mysteries are represented by the vision of Our Lord and Our Lady of Sorrows; and the Glorious mysteries are represented in the vision of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

When the visions had disappeared and the sun was again normal, Lucy was placed on the shoulder of a man in the crowd and carried safely through the masses to the road. As she was moving past the people, she cried out to them, pleading one of the important themes in the Fatima Message: to convert, return to God and to flee sin. Her exact words were: "Do penance! Do penance! Our Lady wants you to do penance!" but Frère Michel states that in Portuguese this does not mean "performing mortifications", but rather "being converted, returning to God, fleeing sin." Through this plea Lucy was reiterating the sorrowful request Our Lady had made of humanity in Her final apparition: "Do not offend the Lord our God any more, because He is already too much offended."

Thus the Miracle of the Sun, witnessed by 70,000 people, concluded the cycle of the apparitions at Fatima. Yet the Message of Fatima, with its great depth and scope, was to continue to be unfolded to the eldest of the three seers, Lucy. In the years to come Heaven’s Messenger would be visited and, as promised by Our Lady in the July 13 apparition, would be instructed to reveal Heaven’s plan for peace for a turbulent world: the Reparatory devotion of the Five First Saturdays and the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Catholic pilgrims flock to holy shrine Fatima

Hundreds of thousands of Roman Catholic pilgrims are to gather this weekend at the holy shrine of Fatima to witness the inauguration of one of the world's largest churches.

The new Church of the Holy Trinity can seat 9,000 worshippers.

Authorities expect at least 250,000 pilgrims to visit the shrine in northern Portugal to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the last of a series of reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary to three local children.

The occasion will see the opening of the new Church of the Holy Trinity, which cost an estimated £50 million and has the capacity to seat 9,000 worshippers.

The church contains five chapels, 16 confessionals and a café where the faithful can "rest and reflect".

The low-slung oval building, which has taken three and half years to construct, has been created with no internal columns to allow television to sweep unobstructed over the congregation during the live broadcast of services.

A 500 sq metre gilded tiled mural of New Jerusalem, created by Portugal’s best-known architect, Siza Vieira, adorns an atrium and the walls bear passages from the Bible in 23 languages.

The project is part of a face-lift for Portugal’s most popular pilgrimage site, which attracts up to five million visitors a year, the most devoted among them making the final approach crawling on their hands and knees.

The cult of Fatima began after three children claimed that the Virgin Mary appeared before them on May 13, 1917.

In a series of visions over the following six months, the Virgin of Fatima allegedly revealed to them the "Three Secrets of Fatima". The first two "secrets", which were disclosed by the Vatican, referred to the start of the Second World War and the reconversion of communist Russia to Christianity.

The third remained a closely guarded secret until May 2000 when the late Pope John Paul II revealed that it had prophesised the 1981 assassination attempt against him.

He attributed his narrow escape from death to the intervention of the Virgin Mary, and donated the bullet extracted from his abdomen to the Fatima shrine.

In 2000 he beatified two of the young shepherds, Francisco Marto and his sister Jacinta, who died in childhood. Their cousin Lucia, who became a nun at Coimbra, died two years ago at the age of 97.

The service will be presided over by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican’s secretary of state, and will include a live televised message from Pope Benedict.

The Luminous Mysteries

The traditional rosary is composed of 15 decades , each of which is the contemplation of a mystery of the Gospel. There are three sets of five decades: the joyful, the sorrowful, and the glorious.

Pope John Paul II extended the rosary to include a further 5 decades in which are contemplated the luminous mysteries. They are:

The Baptism of Jesus. Fruit of the Mystery: Openness to the Holy Spirit
The Wedding at Cana. Fruit of the Mystery: To Jesus through Mary
Jesus' Proclamation of the Kingdom of God. Fruit of the Mystery: Repentance and Trust in God
The Transfiguration. Fruit of the Mystery: Desire for Holiness
The Institution of the Eucharist. Fruit of the Mystery: Adoration

Days of recitation

Including the Luminous Mysteries
The Joyful Mysteries are recited on Mondays and Saturdays.
The Luminous Mysteries are recited on Thursdays.
The Sorrowful Mysteries, on Tuesdays and Fridays.
The Glorious Mysteries, on Wednesdays and Sundays.

Addition to the traditional pattern

Of the many mysteries of Christ's life, only a few are indicated by the Rosary in the form that has become generally established with the seal of the Church's approval. The selection was determined by the origin of the prayer, which was based on the number 150, the number of the Psalms in the Psalter.

I believe, however, that to bring out fully the Christological depth of the Rosary it would be suitable to make an addition to the traditional pattern which, while left to the freedom of individuals and communities, could broaden it to include the mysteries of Christ's public ministry between his Baptism and his Passion. In the course of those mysteries we contemplate important aspects of the person of Christ as the definitive revelation of God. Declared the beloved Son of the Father at the Baptism in the Jordan, Christ is the one who announces the coming of the Kingdom, bears witness to it in his works and proclaims its demands. It is during the years of his public ministry that the mystery of Christ is most evidently a mystery of light: “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (Jn 9:5).

Consequently, for the Rosary to become more fully a “compendium of the Gospel”, it is fitting to add, following reflection on the Incarnation and the hidden life of Christ (the joyful mysteries) and before focusing on the sufferings of his Passion (the sorrowful mysteries) and the triumph of his Resurrection (the glorious mysteries), a meditation on certain particularly significant moments in his public ministry (the mysteries of light).

This addition of these new mysteries, without prejudice to any essential aspect of the prayer's traditional format, is meant to give it fresh life and to enkindle renewed interest in the Rosary's place within Christian spirituality as a true doorway to the depths of the Heart of Christ, ocean of joy and of light, of suffering and of glory.

(APOSTOLIC LETTER ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE: From the Vatican, on the 16th day of October in the year 2002, the beginning of the twenty- fifth year of my Pontificate.)

Our Lady of the Rosary

October 7, 2007
Our Lady of the Rosary

Pope St. Pius V established this feast in 1573. The purpose was to thank God for the victory of Christians over the Turks at Lepanto—a victory attributed to the praying of the rosary. Clement XI extended the feast to the universal Church in 1716.

The development of the rosary has a long history. First, a practice developed of praying 150 Our Fathers in imitation of the 150 Psalms. Then there was a parallel practice of praying 150 Hail Marys. Soon a mystery of Jesus' life was attached to each Hail Mary. Though Mary's giving the rosary to St. Dominic is recognized as unhistorical, the development of this prayer form owes much to the followers of St. Dominic. One of them, Alan de la Roche, was known as "the apostle of the rosary." He founded the first Confraternity of the Rosary in the 15th century. In the 16th century the rosary was developed to its present form—with the 15 mysteries (joyful, sorrowful and glorious). In 2002, Pope John Paul II added the Mysteries of Light to this devotion.

The purpose of the rosary is to help us meditate on the great mysteries of our salvation. Pius XII called it a compendium of the gospel. The main focus is on Jesus—his birth, life, death and resurrection. The Our Fathers remind us that Jesus' Father is the initiator of salvation. The Hail Marys remind us to join with Mary in contemplating these mysteries. They also make us aware that Mary was and is intimately joined with her Son in all the mysteries of his earthly and heavenly existence. The Glorys remind us that the purpose of all life is the glory of the Trinity.

The rosary appeals to many. It is simple. The constant repetition of words helps create an atmosphere in which to contemplate the mysteries of God. We sense that Jesus and Mary are with us in the joys and sorrows of life. We grow in hope that God will bring us to share in the glory of Jesus and Mary forever.

“The rosary sets forth the mystery of Christ in the very way in which it is seen by St. Paul in the celebrated ‘hymn’ of the Epistle to the Philippians—kenosis [self-emptying], death and exaltation (2:6-11).... 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 grasped by the heart of her who was closer to the Lord than all others”
(Paul VI, Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, 45, 47).

"Hail Blessed Mother full of joy
In thy consent, thy visit too:
Joy in the birth of Christ on earth,
Joy in him lost and found anew.
Hail, sorrowing in his agony-
The blows, the thorns that pierced his brow;
The heavy wood, the shameful Rood-
Yea! Queen and chief of martyrs thou.
Hail, in the triumph of thy Son,
The quickening flames of Pentecost;
Shining a Queen in light serene,
When all the world is tempest-tost."
(Augustine Rucchini, OP, 18th century)

Month of the Holy Rosary

October: Month of the Holy Rosary

The month of October each year is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary. This is primarily due to the fact that the liturgical feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is celebrated annually on October 7th. It was instituted to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary in gratitude for the protection that she gives the Church in answer to the praying of the Rosary by the faithful.

The feast was introduced by Pope St. Pius V (1504-1572) in the year 1571 to commemorate the miraculous victory of the Christian forces in the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. The pope attributed more to the "arms" of the Rosary than the power of cannons and the valor of the soldiers who fought there.

Legend tells us that the Rosary as a form of prayer was given to St. Dominic (1170- 1221) by Mary, the Mother of Our Lord, who entrusted it to him as an aid in the conflicts with the Albigensians. The Dominican pope, St. Pius V, did much to further the spread of the Rosary and it thereafter became one of the most popular devotions in Christendom. It was the same Pope St. Pius V, who in 1569 officially approved the Rosary in its present form with the Papal Bull, CONSUEVERUNT ROMANI PONTIFICES. It had been completed by the addition of the second half of the "Hail Mary" and the "Glory be to the Father" at the conclusion of each mystery.

Current scholarship traces the development of the Rosary to the High Middle Ages where it came into being in various medieval monasteries as a substitute for the Divine Office for the lay monks and devout lay persons who did not know how to read. Instead of the 150 psalms, they would pray 150 "Our Fathers" counting them on a ring of beads known as the crown or "corona." With the growth of popularity of Marian devotion in the twelfth century, the "Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary" developed now substituting 150 "Hail Marys" in place of the "Our Fathers."

The 150 "Hail Marys" were subsequently subdivided into 15 decades by the young Dominican friar, Henry Kalkar (1328-1408), with each decade referring to an event in the life of Jesus and Mary. The Dominican, Alanus de Rupe (1428-1478) further divided the episodes in the history of salvation into the joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries. He also attributed the origin of the Rosary, then known as the "Psalter of the Blessed Virgin" to St. Dominic and thus spurred the Dominican Order to make the Apostolate of the Rosary their special concern. The Dominicans have, since then, promulgated the Rosary with notable results.

The practice of dedicating the entire month of October to the Holy Rosary developed toward the end of the last century. Pope Leo XIII (papacy: 1878-1903) strongly promoted the increase of devotion to the Blessed Mother by encouraging the constant use of the Rosary.

Beginning on September 1, 1883, with SUPREMO APOSTOLATUS OFFICIO, he wrote a total of eleven encyclicals on the Rosary , ending with DIUTURNI TEMPORIS in 1898. We are currently celebrating the centennial of these papal encyclicals.

Many other popes have contributed to help increase devotion to the Rosary by their writings. In the recent past, Pope Paul VI ( papacy: 1963-1978) devoted the last section of his Apostolic Exhortation MARIALIS CULTUS to the Angelus and the Rosary (MC 40-55). In this document, he wrote that "the Rosary retains an unaltered value and intact freshness." (MC, 41)
The Rosary is primarily a scriptural prayer. This can be summarized by the traditional phrase used by Pope Pius XII (papacy: 1939-1958) that the Rosary is " a compendium of the entire Gospel" (AAS 38 [1946] p. 419). The Rosary draws its mysteries from the New Testament and is centered on the great events of the Incarnation and Redemption.

John Paul II called the Rosary his favorite prayer, in which we meditate with Mary upon the mysteries which she as a mother meditated on in her heart (Lk. 2:19) (Osservatore Romano, 44; 30 Oct. 1979).

In this month of October, let us consider this beautiful prayer of the Rosary as a means that we too can use in order to draw closer to Jesus and Mary by meditating on the great mysteries of our salvation.