THE ROSARY IN MARONITE SPIRITUALITY

by Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.

Origin of the Rosary

         

          The Rosary, the blessed beads that quietly slip between our fingers as we pray over the mysteries of Jesus’ redemptive life, has an ancient origin.  Most likely it originated in the ancient East and not in the medieval West, perhaps in India.  It was and still is a popular prayer device among the Muslims, who use the Arabic term masbahat , which means to give praise.  Devout Muslims used the masbahat  in repeating the attributes of God, just as it was used by the early Christian hermits.  Following the Crusades the Rosary found its way to the West.  The missionary who worked hardest to spread this devotion was Abed El-Ahad, Saint Dominic, and his Dominican companions.

          The Rosary became a popular method of prayer and spread quickly in the West during the Middle Ages.  For Christians it has always been “the Gospel strung on beads.”   It is a simple and easy prayer that can be employed for vocal prayer or silent contemplation by individuals, families, and communities.

Papal Encouragement

         

          Since the 16^th century the popes have frequently encouraged the faithful of East and West to pray the Rosary.  The first was a Dominican pope, Saint Pius V, who wrote a papal letter about the Rosary in 1569 shortly after the Council of Trent, and instituted the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

          In the late 19^th century after the First Vatican Council the illustrious Pope Leo XIII wrote more than ten encyclicals and instructions promoting the use of the Rosary.

          To make pastoral applications of the Marian teachings of the Second Vatican Council Pope Paul VI in 1974 authored the apostolic exhortation Devotion to Mary (Marialis Cultus).  Paul VI discussed the Rosary at some length as a summary of the Gospel comprised of prayers based on Gospel texts.  He urged the faithful to pray the Rosary, and especially recommended the family Rosary in these words:

                   “We would like now to join our voice to the voices of our         predecessors and strongly recommend the prayer of the Rosary in       the family…because the Christian family is a family church….If the    family neglected this communal prayer, it would lose its character as   a Christian family.”

                    “In addition to the prayer of the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours) …the Rosary of the Virgin Mary would be the most preferable          communal prayer for the Christian family.”

Pope Paul VI concluded his recommendation by saying: “We would like to repeat that the Rosary is an excellent and magnificent prayer….”

          In a pastoral letter about the 1987 Marian Year, our Patriarch, His Beatitude Nasrallah Peter Sfeir, encouraged all Maronites to honor the Mother of God by praying the Rosary.

           Pope St.  John Paul II, enthusiastic devotee of our Blessed Mother, in 2002 issued  a pastoral letter entitled The Rosary of the Virgin Mary, in which he proclaimed October 2002 until October 2003 the Year of the Rosary, and put forth the Luminous Mysteries based on the public life of Jesus. 

          Our present Holy Father, Benedict XVI, values the prayer of the Rosary as a means of contemplating Jesus with Mary’s eyes.  For him pondering the mysteries of the Rosary calms a “restless spirit, allows the soul to settle into tranquility…and grants a vision of God.”  He associates the Rosary with consolation and healing, an inner refuge which enfolds us “in the rhythm of the prayer of the whole Church.”  “I do it quite simply,” he said, “just as my parents used to pray.”

The Rosary Today

          Unlike some Eastern Christians who erroneously consider the Rosary foreign to Eastern spirituality, Maronites have emphasized the prayer of the Rosary for centuries.  On a visit to Maronites in Lebanon in 1580, Jesuit Father Eliano recorded that he brought them “about one thousand rosaries.”

          Early on, the Rosary was a common method of prayer in the East among Christians and non-Christians.  Even though it came to us through Western missionaries, it was and still is an easy and rich method of prayer to help the faithful fathom the mysteries of God along the journey of salvation.  And we do so with a special companion, the Mother of God and our Mother.  Praying the Rosary, particularly in the family, is an excellent method of bringing us together in the faith under the protection of her who always and everywhere intercedes for all people.  Let us spare no effort to remain close to her.

May 13th - The Rich Content of the Message of Fatima - on the 99th Anniversary

The following is from The World Apostolate of Fatima Spiritual Guide for the Salvation of Souls and World Peace.  This blog post will also appear the World Apostolate of Fatima Hawaii Division Blog.

The message of Fatima which springs from the apparitions of Our Lady, is a solid blueprint for life.  It cries out to be put into practice for the good of the world, and the salvation of souls.

Its teachings are in harmony with the Gospel, calling to mind the following elements with new emphasis:

-  The mystery of the Blessed Trinity;

-  The providence of God, which directs and governs the world and presides over the events of human history;

-  The omnipotence and omniscience of God, Who knows and realizes all things according to His exalted designs.  It foretold future events and revealed miraculous signs to prove the truth of God's predictions;

-  God, Who rewards or punishes, according to the good or evil done, though He is ever merciful towards sinners;

-  The reality of heaven, hell and purgatory;

-  The existence of Guardian Angels, not only of individuals but also of nations;

-  The real presence of Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament, and the necessity and value of Holy Communion;

-  The real presence of Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament, and the necessity and value of Holy Communion;

-  Sanctity as a condition of true happiness even on earth, and docility and correspondence to grace, the mysterious mixture of divine action and human effort;

-  The reality of sin as an offense against God with its tragic consequences for sinners and nations;

-  The flight from sin and amendment of life as an indispensable condition of the sate of grace;

-  The Christian solidarity of the Mystical Body of Christ;

-  The intercession of the Mother of God as a powerful mediatrix and dispenser of grace;

-  The necessity of penance and prayer, with their value of atonement and intercession;

-  The love of the Heart of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary - the great revelation of Fatima;

-  The importance of Marian devotions, particularly, the excellence and efficacy of the Rosary, the new devotion of the first Saturdays, and the value of Consecration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary;

-  The powerful action of grace, which so transformed the three little children at Fatima and led them to such a close union with God.

-  Russia, simultaneously a scourge that punishes the sins of the world, and the object of Divine Mercy, by the promise of its conversion through the intermediary of the Heart of Mary;

-  The sanctification of the family, in imitation of the vivid scene of the last apparition;

-  Devotion to the Holy Father and the and the necessity of purity and modesty;

-  The final triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Our Lady of Fatima and Muslims

"Many believe that Mary's appearance at Fatima can be of great importance in the Christian outreach to the Muslim people. Archbishop Sheen, for example, saw in our Lady's choice of Fatima a great significance for her message. She did not come down from heaven to the only place in all of Portugal with a Muslim name simply to convert Russia, he said. Unless we have the conversion of hundreds of millions of Muslims, there will never be world peace." - Father Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R.

Fatima for Today:  The Urgent Marian Message of Hope

Our Dear Mother Angelica is Called Home

Eternal rest grant unto her O Lord and may Your perpetual light shine upon her...

EWTN's Life in Pictures

Mother Angelica's earthly life came to an end on Easter Sunday.

‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ - Matthew 25:21-22

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This is how I would like to remember her, with her infectious laughter was she taught us scripture on her EWTN live show.  She will be sorely missed.  

May she rest in peace.

St. Alphonsus de Liguori's Meditations for Passion Thursday - Jesus is crowned with Thorns, and treated as a Mock King

"The Crowning with Thorns" - from Hans Holbein's Grey Passion Series

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"...And when the thorns, by the pressure of their hands alone, could not be made to penetrate deeper in that divine head which they were piercing, with the self-same reed, and with all their might, they battered down that barbarous crown:  And spitting upon Him, they took the reed, and struck His Head.  O grateful thorns, do you thus torture your Creator?  But what thorns?  what thorns?  You, ye wicked thoughts of mine; it is you that have pierced the head of my Redeemer.

O, my God! how the blood is now streaming down from that pierced head over the face and the breast of Jesus!

And Thou, my Saviour, dost not even utter a complaint of of such unjust cruelties!   Thou art King of heaven and of earth: but now, my Jesus, Thou art brought down so low as to appear before us a king of derision and of sorrows, being made the laughing stock of all Jerusalem...

But no; these men for whom Thou art suffering have not yet their fill of torturing and making game of Thee.  After having thus tortured Thee, and dressed Thee up as a mock king, they bend their knee before Thee, and scornfully address Thee:  Hail to Thee, O king of the Jews.  And the, with shouts of laughter, they deal out more blows upon Thee, thus rendering twofold the anguish of the head already pierced by the thorns:  And bowing the knee before Him, they derided Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews, and they gave Him blows.  Do thou at least go, O my soul, and recognize Jesus for what He is, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; and return thanks to Him, and love Him, now that thou beholdest Him become for love of Thee, the king of sorrows..."

-The Passion and the Death of Jesus Christ

St. Alphonsus de Liguori's Meditation for Passion Monday

"Christ Before Caiphas" by Nicolo Frangipane

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Jesus is apprehended, and led before Caiphas

..."'They apprehended Jesus, and bound Him."  O amazement!  A God bound as a criminal by His own creatures!  Behold, my soul, how some of them seize hold of His hands; others put the handcuffs on Him; and others smite Him; and the innocent Lamb lets Himself be bound and struck at their will, and says not a word:  'He was offered because it was His own will, and opened not His mouth.  He is led as a sheep to the slaughter.'  He neither speaks nor utters complaint, since He had Himself already offered Himself up to die for us; and, therefore, did that Lamb let Himself be bound and led to death without opening His mouth.  

They bring Him up before Caiphas, who is pleased at seeing Him and asks Him about His disciples, and about His doctrine.  Jesus replies that He has spoken openly...'Behold, these (the Jews) know what I have said.'  But upon this reply, one of the officials of the court gives Him a blow in the face, saying, 'Dost Thou answer the high-priest so?'  But, O God, how does a reply, so humble and gentle, deserve so great an insult?

Ah, my Jesus, Thou dost suffer it all in order to pay the penalty of the insults that I have offered to Thy heavenly Father.

'What more need have we of witnesses?  Behold, ye have now heard His blasphemy; what is your opinion?  And they unanimously replied, He is guilty of death.'  And then, as the Evangelists relate, they all began to spit in His face, and to abuse Him, and slapping Him with their hands, and striking Him with their fists; and then tying a piece of cloth over His face, they turned Him into ridicule, saying, 'Prophesy to us, Thou Christ; who is it that smote Thee?'...St. Mark writes, And some began to spit upon Him, and to cover His face, and to deal upon Him blows, and to say to Him,  'Prophesy.  And the officers did smite Him with the palms of their hands.'"

- The Passion and the Death of Jesus Christ

Saint Joseph in Perspective

St. Joseph as a young man

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by Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.

The Dream of St. Joseph by Anton Raphael Mengs

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To appreciate Saint Joseph properly we need a clear perspective more than historical facts from Holy Scripture and Tradition. In fact we know very little historically about the man who raised Jesus.

The Marriage of Joseph and Mary by Pietro Perugino

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The three critical instances recorded about Joseph's life are his betrothal to Mary, learning that Mary is with child, and the revelation in a dream about Mary's condition. This ordinary worker and righteous Jew was a carpenter building useful things for others and to honor God. These special moments teach us about the transition from the Old Law to the New Law and the hope it brings. They indicate the shift that must take place in our own lives when God asks us to do the extraordinary and unimaginable.

The Holy Family by Juan Simon Guiterrez

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Fascinating insights into the character of Joseph come to us when observe him through various lenses as spouse of Mary, father of Jesus, man of obedience, man of faith, man of hope, man of charity, man of courage, man of poverty, man of purity, man of prayer, man of patience, man of labor, man of virtue, man of the church; shepherd, protector, and guardian. Then we understand better why God chose Joseph to help raise Jesus with Mary. Jesus needed an earthly father who was mature in age and wisdom, and would have the attributes needed to cope with the challenges of parenting the Son of God.

Rest on the Flight into Egypt by Fra Bartolomeo

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Joseph was head of a household that sheltered the most extraordinary persons. His overarching intention was to care for Jesus and Mary because in doing so he was serving God. Every service for them was an expression of love and thanksgiving. God entrusted Joseph with the greatest and most unimaginable gift. And Joseph through his dedicated care returned the gift perfectly. He was the man closest to Christ.

Christ in the House of His Parents by John Everett Millais

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For us to observe Joseph as he raised Jesus is a lesson about the basic elements of our Catholic faith and presents a model of Christ-like living. This is Joseph in proper perspective.

The Death of Saint Joseph by Francisco Goya

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A Call from the Marian Helpers to Help Save the World

Starting on March 1st, we are to start Father Michael Gaitley's new book:  33 Days to Merciful Love:  A Do-It-Yourself Retreat in Preparation for Consecration to Divine Mercy in order to finish right before Divine Mercy Sunday.  If you receive Marian Helpers magazine this information can be found in the Spring 2016 Issue on page 15. If you do not receive this wonderful magazine, ask to be put on their mailing list. But in the meantime, you can read the article HERE

The best part about our participation in this preparation for Divine Mercy Sunday (and year), is that the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy will be televising live this year on Divine Mercy Sunday via EWTN beginning at noon EST.  During that time period, we will all have a chance to consecrate ourselves together!

This book is being offered for any donation, even a dollar plus $5.25 to anyone in the continental United States. Sadly, this means the folks in Alaska and Hawaii must purchase the book either through Marian Helpers by clicking HERE  or any other reputable book seller.

To order your book, click HERE or call 1-800-462-7426 Product Code: B29F-33DML. Note: only one book per household.

Keep in mind, March 1st is less than 2 weeks away.

Father Damien Quote by the "Saint of Urakami"

LENT IS THE ANNUAL CATECHUMENATE FOR ALL

by Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.

         

          The restoration of the adult catechumenate (RCIA) by the Second Vatican Council and the return of the Easter Vigil by Pope Pius XII a decade earlier led to the recovery of the baptismal character of Lent.

Correct context

          In previous times Lent was about doing without treats, and concentrating on prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

          The adjustments of postconciliar renewal have brought the observance of Lent into clearer focus by emphasizing that it is a season of catechumenate for all the baptized, when all review the meaning of  putting on Christ by our baptismal consecration, not only those who will be baptized or brought into full communion with the Church at the Easter Vigil.

The Lenten liturgy

          The first days of Lent after Ash Wednesday and the following two weeks of Lent suggest a penitential spirit.  The prayers and readings of the Masses and Liturgy of the Hours ask us to examine our faithfulness to our Christian commitment.  Are we becoming more Christlike? 

          The tone shifts in the Gospels of the next three Sundays of Lent to reflecting on the meaning of baptism and how well we are imitating Christ:  Jesus and the woman at the well; Jesus curing the blind man; Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  They ask how we are responding to Christ’s call to partner with him. 

          These questions remind the already baptized to experience again a new catechumenate and preparation to join with Christ in his redemptive mission.

Today’s challenge

          In this third millennium Catholics are challenged to confront and correct a culture of secularism that rejects the biblical vision of the human person and human relationships.  Not an easy task, but it can be a great adventure when we live in the confidence of the Easter Vigil and realize that love is stronger than death. 

          The annual catechumenate of Lent prepares us to be missionary disciples of Christ who bring his redemptive grace to others because we have experienced it in our own lives through baptism.  Baptism is about going down into death with Christ and being raised up with him in glory.  Lent is about dying to self for the life of others, about knowing the deepest meanings of life are found in Jesus.  Activating our baptismal grace makes this possible.