"One day through the Rosary and
the Scapular I will save the world" These were the words spoken to Saint
Dominic by the Blessed Virgin Mary in the year 1208.
This Feast in honor of Our Lady of the
Rosary was instituted in gratitude for victory in the 1571 Battle of Lepanto, a
fight between Turkish and Christian navies for the freedom to sail in the Mediterranean
seas. While the battle raged, Christians
in Italy prayed the rosary.
Pope Benedict XVI gathered in the
Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray the rosary with the faithful. He said: Today, together we confirm that the
Holy Rosary is not a pious practice banished to the past, like prayers of other
times thought of with nostalgia.. Without a doubt, this is one of the most
eloquent signs of love…for Jesus and his Mother, Mary. In the current world, so
dispersive, this prayer helps to put Christ at the center, as the Virgin did,
who meditated within all that was said about her Son, and also what he did and
said. When reciting the Rosary, the important and meaningful moments of
salvation history are relived. The various steps of Christ's mission are
traced. With Mary the heart is oriented toward the mystery of Jesus. Christ is
put at the center of our life, of our time, of our city, through the
contemplation and meditation of his holy mysteries of joy, light, sorrow and
glory…The Rosary, when it is prayed in an authentic way, not mechanical and
superficial but profoundly, it brings, in fact, peace and reconciliation.”
All
Catholics should know how to pray the rosary, and to pray it often.
At
Lourdes and at Fatima, Our Lady urged the Church to pray the rosary, for the
conversion of sinners and for the sake of our world so bent on
self-destruction.
By
praying the rosary we enter into the ponderings of Mary’s heart upon the life
of her son. May she help us to keep
Christ at the center of our life, and help us to remain faithful in God’s
service, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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