Why pray the Rosary every day for a year?
Each time the Blessed Virgin has appeared-- whether it be to Saint Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes; to Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco at Fatima; or to Mariette Beco at Banneux-- she has asserted the importance, saving grace, and power of praying the Holy Rosary on a daily basis. Based upon her words, the Rosary is penance and conversion for sinners, a pathway to peace, an end to war, and a powerful act of faith in Jesus Christ. Pope Paul VI presented the Rosary as a powerful means to reach Christ "not merely with Mary but indeed, insofar as this is possible to us, in the same way as Mary, who is certainly the one who thought about Him more than anyone else has ever done."
To show us how this is done, perhaps no one has been more eloquent than the great Cardinal Newman, who wrote: "The great power of the Rosary consists in the fact that it translates the Creed into Prayer. Of course, the Creed is already in a certain sense a prayer and a great act of homage towards God, but the Rosary brings us to meditate again on the great truth of His life and death, and brings this truth close to our hearts. Even Christians, although they know God, usually fear rather than love Him. The strength of the Rosary lies in the particular manner in which it considers these mysteries, since all our thinking about Christ is intertwined with the thought of His Mother, in the relations between Mother and Son; the Holy Family is presented to us, the home in which God lived His infinite love."
As Mary said at Fatima, "Jesus wants to use you to make Me known and loved. He wishes to establish the devotion to My Immaculate Heart throughout the world. I promise salvation to whoever embraces it; these souls will be dear to God, like flowers put by Me to adorn his throne."
As the first “work week” of the new year begins, we pray today for work-related happiness, success, productivity, ethics, and hope. We further pray that our places of work are honest, contribute to greater society, and provide assistance or service to those in need. Lastly, we pray for those without jobs at this time.
Today is the feast day of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, an American woman who experienced must loss and tragedy before becoming an early pillar of the American Catholic Church. Following a trip to Italy, she converted to Catholicism, finding herself renounced by friends and family upon her return to America. Among her many accomplishments, Mother Seton founded the first American parish school, first Catholic orphanage in America, and the first American religious community for women—the Sisters of Charity.
Saint Elizabeth Seton reported that three beliefs led to her conversion: belief in the Real Presence of the Lord, devotion to Mary, the Blessed Mother, and the unshakable conviction that the Catholic Church led back to Christ. She had two great devotions: abandonment to the will of God and love for the Blessed Sacrament. She told her sisters,
“The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner He wills it; and thirdly, to do it because it is His will.”
Today we pray to be more like Saint Elizabeth Seton, abandoning ourselves to the will of God whilst not abandoning those around us in need.
Day 4 of 365
Prayer Intentions: Those at work; Those without jobs; Charity towards others
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