THE ROSARY A WEAPON OF MASS CONSTRUCTION

Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.

          As Our Lady of the Rosary, the Blessed Virgin Mary manifests herself as our spiritual Mother and the spiritual Mother of all mankind.  The Rosary is an invaluable gift she has given us, a powerful weapon she has placed in our hands.  The Rosary is a “weapon of mass construction.”   Praying it keeps us united to her, and aids us to live out our baptismal vocation.

          Father Frederick William Faber, noted 19^th century convert and hymn composer, explained that “the Rosary is Mary’s testament, just as the Eucharist is Jesus’ testament.”  We may conclude that just as we find Jesus whole and entire in the Holy Eucharist, so Mary is present in her fullness in the Rosary.  When we receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, He unites Himself to us Body and Soul.  When we pray the Rosary, Mary unites us wholly to herself.

          In the words of Rosary devotee, G. Ferrera, “The Eucharist and the Most Holy Virgin as so closely united that it seems as though Mary’s heart beats in unison with the Heart of her Son, Who resides in our tabernacles.”  Whether we receive Jesus in Holy Communion or pray the Rosary, we can assimilate those heartbeats of Jesus and Mary, and make them our own.

          Praying the Rosary frequently pleases the Immaculate Heart of Mary as it enriches our understanding of revealed truth simply couched in the twenty mysteries of the Rosary – twenty engaging events in the lives of Jesus and Mary.  In this crown of prayer is found the most complete Marian devotion.  At Lourdes and Fatima Mary appeared holding a Rosary, and exhorted the visionaries and us to pray the Rosary because it is a universal means of grace and salvation. 

          St. Pio of Pietrelcina, who prayed the Rosary throughout his waking hours, reminded us to “Love Our Lady and help others love her.  Pray the Rosary always.”

Ven. Fulton Sheen declared that the Rosary “engages our fingers, our lips, our hearts in a vast symphony of prayer.  This is why it is the greatest prayer ever composed by man.”  And Ferrera exhorted us to love the “little crown of the Rosary by which graces flow from the hands of Mary to us.” 

          Let us pray the Rosary fervently to draw close to Mary, to keep her company, and to ask for the necessary graces for all humankind, for our country, for our families, for our personal salvation.

          Indeed Our Lady’s Rosary is an effective “weapon of mass construction” for the building of the Mystical Body of Christ.  It is an effective instrument to fulfill our baptismal call.