OCTOBER: THE ROSARY OF MARY
The Rosary (from rosarium, or “rose garden”) was partly founded and much promoted by St. Dominic (1170-1221), to whom it is attributed the Rosary as the “Angelic Psalter”: 150 Hail Mary’s. I remember the story from the Dominican tradition: St. Dominic was a bit downcast: his preaching adventure against the heretics was not going well at that particular time. Mary appeared to him and told him: Why don’t you try the angelic salutation Hail Mary. It will make fertile the souls of believers. He tried – and succeeded.
By the start of the 14th century, the 150 Hail Mary’s were divided into 15 decades of 10, each preceded by an Our Father. Pope Pius V added to the 150 Hail Mary’s, 150 Holy Mary’s, and officially approved the Rosary as a Marian devotion, and strongly recommended its recitation to all Catholics. Pope Leo XIII declared that the month of October be dedicated to the Holy Rosary (Encyclical Supremi Apostolatus ).
The Rosary is the classical form of devotion to Mary. It has been described as an excellent prayer by Leo XIII, a compendium of the entire Gospel by Pius XII, and a beautiful garden of flowers by St. John XXIII. Inviting us to pray the Rosary, Pope Francis tells us that “The Rosary is a simple and effective prayer.”
All the saints have great devotion to the Rosary of Mary, including saints Francis, Teresa of Avila, Ignatius of Loyola, Alphonsus Maria Liguori, Louis Grignion de Montfort and Saint Teresa of Calcutta. St. Padre Pio was asked: How do you learn to pray? His answer: Pray Rosary always. Fr. Marie-Joseph Lagrange, the famous biblical scholar did three thigs every day, study the Bible, read the newspaper, and pray the Rosary.
Our Lady appeared to the little shepherdess Bernadette at Lourdes dressed in white with the Rosary in her hands. Mary herself prayed the Rosary with her in one of her apparitions. Similarly, Our Lady of Fatima, who appeared to the three little shepherds Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta, and asked them to pray the Rosary. Mother Mary told them: Keep me company for 15 minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary with the intention of making reparation to me. In his wonderful Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae RVM (The Rosary of the Virgin Mary, October 16, 2002), St. John Paul II proposed the initiative of adding the five luminous mysteries to bridge the gap between the joyful mysteries of the infancy of Jesus, and the sorrowful mysteries of his passion and death that are followed by the glorious mysteries (cf. RVM, 19). It was a highly fruitful initiative
Through the beads, we go to the prayers – the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Holy Mary, and the Glory -, and through the prayers, to the twenty mysteries, which take us to encounter Mary and Jesus: “Our Rosary is a ladder and we climb it to meet Our Lady” – and Jesus. It is not merely a vocal prayer (although no true vocal prayer is only vocal!), but also a contemplative prayer. Without contemplation, the Rosary is a body without a soul (St. Paul VI, Marialis Cultus, 1974). Benedict XVI said in Fatima (May 12, 2010) that Fatima is “an upper room of faith.” It is marvelous to pray the Rosary and meditate on its mysteries as if we were in the upper room of Jesus and his apostles.
We may pray the Rosary generally focusing on the divine mystery we are contemplating; sometimes, on the meaning of the vocal prayers we are reciting; at other times, just listening to the voice of silence, the voice of God. In some places and communities, pauses of silence or the reading of the appropriate biblical text initiate every mystery (cf. RVM, 30-31).
What it the goal of our devotion to the Rosary of Mary? Jesus, the Son of God, who is the end of all our devotions (cf. Vatican II, LG, 66). The goal of our recitation of the Rosary, then, is Jesus. Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort wrote: “If devotion to Our Lady distracted us from our Lord, we would have to reject it as an illusion of the devil” (True Devotion to Virgin Mary). The goal of praying the Rosary, then is not just learning what Jesus taught us, but “learning him,” learning from Mary to ‘read’ Christ, to discover his secrets and to understand his message (RVM, 14). The Rosary leads us to the contemplation of the mystery of salvation in which the Virgin Mary is intimately associated with the work of her Son.” Indeed, the Rosary as a way of contemplating the mysteries of Christ, is a school for developing evangelical life. (Constitutions, OP).
As Christians, we are asked by Mother Church to pray the Rosary, especially in our dangerous times immensely wounded by lethal wars that continue killing thousands of innocent children and many other innocent civilians - and the world continues piling up weapons in the midst of the growing poverty of many. We are asked to “redouble through October the devout recitation of the Holy Rosary so that through the intercession of Our Lady “may dawn for all the light of true peace” (Pius XI). May Our Lady of the Rosary deliver us from the sins against peace.
How is our devotion to the Rosary of Mary? Certainly, to pray the Rosary well is a wonderful experience, as it is made clear in the lives of our saints, and produces good fruits, the fruits of holiness: love of God and neighbor, humility, love of the cross, forgiving others, and compassion.
We are told that St. Albert the Great, who lived a long and productive life, when he was old asked God often: Nunquid durabo? Will I endure - till the end? Before his end, Albert the Great could only pray the Hail Mary. This impressed very much theologian Karl Rahner, who was also devoted to the Rosary and considered it a great blessing. Lay Saint Bartolo Longo (1841-1926), “Apostle of the Rosary,” dedicated his life to spread the devotion of the Rosary and to serve the poor – an offshoot of his Marian devotion (cf. RVM, 8).
I remember a devout missionary in Batanes Islands, Philippines (in the 1960s). After his ordination to the priesthood, he always had with him, in his room: the Bible, the Breviary of the Divine Office, the Summa Theologiae of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Rosary. As he became old and his eyesight started to fail him, he gave up first the Summa, second the Bible, third the Divine Office. Only the Rosary accompanied him up to his last breath.
Our Lady of the Rosary: pray for us!
