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 19th
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.
