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."
We continue our celebration of
Mary’s month of May with a poem written by Alice Claire Mansfield entitled, “
The Silence of Mary.” We are reminded in reading this poem of the special devotion that Our Blessed Mother had to the Lord and to her Son. We are reminded of her unique role in the world, and how her never-to-be-repeated or replicated chosen status set her apart from others. We are reminded of her deep contemplative connection with the Lord—which grew out of obedience, faith, hope, and love—that allowed her to fulfill her mission and bring the redeemer of the world to life.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us now and always that we may enter into that silence of yours which unites us to Jesus!
Silence of Mary
Holy Mary, Mother of God, you who treasured all things and pondered them carefully in your heart, teach us that deep, interior silence which enfolded you throughout your lifetime –
· the silence of the Annunciation, of faith, mission and obedience;
· the silence of the Visitation, of humility, service and praise;
· the silence of Bethlehem, of birth, incarnation and wonder;
· the silence of the flight into Egypt, of perseverance, hope and trust;
· the silence of Nazareth, of simplicity, intimacy and communion;
· the silence of Mt. Calvary, of courage, death and abandonment;
· the silence of Easter, of resurrection, jubilation and glory;
· the silence of Ascension, of fulfillment, transformation and new creation;
· the silence of Pentecost, of peace, power and love.
Mary, in your wisdom, teach us that silence which enables us to listen to the small, still voice of our God; which compels us to worship Him alone in spirit and in truth; which empowers us to acknowledge our nothingness and exult confidently in our Savior; which frees us to lose ourselves in unceasing adoration of the God who is Infinite Love.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us now and always, that we may enter into that silence of yours which unites us to Jesus, your Son, in the mystery of His silence before the Father of mercies. Amen.
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