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."
Today, we celebrate the anniversary of the appearance of Our Blessed Mother to four children in Pontmain, France. Mary, Our Mother of Hope, delivered a message of prayer and hope, saying:
“But pray, my children. God will answer you very soon. My Son lets His Heart by touched.”
During the apparitions at Pontmain, the faithful sang the Inviolata, a hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary composed in the 11th century:
INVIOLATA, integra, et casta es Maria,
quae es effecta fulgida caeli porta.
INVIOLATE, spotless and pure art thou,
O Mary Who wast made the radiant gate of the King.
O Mater alma Christi carissima,
suscipe pia laudum praeconia.
Holy mother of Christ most dear,
receive our devout hymn and praise.
Te nunc flagitant devota corda et ora,
nostra ut pura pectora sint et corpora.
Our hearts and tongues now ask of thee
that our souls and bodies may be pure.
Tu per precata dulcisona,
nobis concedas veniam per saecula.
By thy sweet sounding prayers
obtain for us forgiveness forever.
O benigna! O Regina! O Maria,
quae sola inviolata permansisti.
O gracious queen, O Mary,
who alone among women art inviolate.
For a brief history of the apparitions at Pontmain, visit last year's post here.
Today, on this blessed annivesary, we continue to pray for mental peace, hope, and our ability to share these holy qualities with others. Our Lady of Hope, pray for us!
O Lady of Mental Peace, Mother of Tranquility and Mother of Hope, look upon me in this time of my weakness and unrest. Teach my searching heart to know that God’s Love for me is unchanging and unchangeable; and, that true human love can only begin and grow by touching His Love. Let your gentle peace which this world cannot give be always with me. And, help me to bring this same Peace into the lives of others. Our Lady of Mental Peace, Pray for us. Amen.
Thank you for this beautiful blog!!