ROSARY GUIDELINES

by Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.

          Any expression of Christian spirituality gives prominent place to Mary, Mother of our Redeemer.   Praying is at the heart of living the Gospel, and that normally includes praying her rosary.  The rosary is a means of summarizing the Gospel.  This enables us to live the rosary by entwining its prayers and mysteries into the very fabric of our lives.

In praying the rosary we offer our Spiritual Mother a garland of roses, our heartfelt conversation. 

          In the rosary we find a unique synthesis of the entire Gospel,  both Scripture and Tradition, in a beautifully Marian format that is easily remembered as we implore God's grace.

          Pope St. John Paul II taught that praying the rosary is "a most effective way of fostering among the faithful that commitment to contemplation of the Christian mystery and a genuine training in holiness."  He regarded the rosary as "an exquisitely contemplative prayer" and "a treasure to be rediscovered." 

          More than one hundred official documents of the papal magisterium attest to the efficacy of the rosary as a school of virtue and contemplation and a means of obtaining divine graces.  The rosary succeeds in protecting our gift of faith from all kinds of sin because it is a gift from God, the  weapon chosen for us by Our Lady.  The Servant of God, Frank Duff, reminded us that the rosary is our "prime devotion" because it contains Mary.  Barbara  Kloss, a twentieth century mystic of Poland, was told by Our Lady, "I am wholly in the rosary.  Seek me there...find me there."

          Archbishop Fulton Sheen once compared the rosary to the Eucharist:  "What the Eucharist is in the order of the sacraments, the rosary is in the order of sacramentals."   This means, he continues, "the rosary contains Mary."

          For Maisie Ward, the noted British writer and publisher, the rosary is a guide to reality.  If the rosary contains Mary, then it also contains the Holy Spirit, spouse of Mary and the Spirit of truth (Jn 16:13), the only true guide to reality.

          Taking his cue from the Joyful Mysteries, Pope St. John Paul II tells how the rosary transports us to reality.  "The rosary mystically transports us to Mary's side as she is busy watching over the human growth of Jesus in the home of Nazareth.  This enables her to train us and mold us with the same care until Christ is 'fully formed' in us (Gal 4:19).  By immersing us in the Redeemer's life, the rosary insures that what Jesus has done and what the liturgy makes present is profoundly assimilated and shapes our existence."

          Since our objective is to live the Gospel, we are called to live the rosary, an epitome of the Gospel, all the time.  This requires skillfully entwining its mysteries in our lives.  By doing so we become divinized by incorporating the virtues of Jesus and Mary by praying always with Mary.  Living the rosary continually requires a deep respect and real love for the rosary by recognizing at its core Jesus, love incarnate -- "the way, the truth, and the life."

          "Abide in me and I in you," says Jesus, because "without me you can do nothing."

         

ROSARY SPIRITUALITY

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 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….”

           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. 

          Pope Benedict XVI, valued 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

          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.

Pope Paul VI encyclical: Christi Matri Rosarii (Rosaries to the Mother of Christ) for Peace

Pope Paul VI issued the encyclical Christi Matri Rosarri pleading for worldwide praying of the holy rosary, to be offered especially for peace.  The emphasis is mine.

The following is from his holiness' salutation:

To His Venerable Brothers the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops and other Local Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See. 

Venerable Brothers, Health and Apostolic Benediction.

It is a solemn custom of the faithful during the month of October to weave the prayers of the Rosary into mystical garlands for the Mother of Christ. Following in the footsteps of Our predecessors, We heartily approve this, and We call upon all the sons of the church to offer special devotions to the Most Blessed Virgin this year. For the danger of a more serious and extensive calamity hangs over the human family and has increased, especially in parts of eastern Asia where a bloody and hard-fought war is raging. So We feel most urgently that We must once again do what We can to safeguard peace. We are also disturbed by what We know to be going on in other areas, such as the growing nuclear armaments race, the senseless nationalism, the racism, the obsession for revolution, the separations imposed upon citizens, the nefarious plots, the slaughter of innocent people. All of these can furnish material for the greatest calamity.

The Month of the Holy Rosary

Today, this first day of October begins the month of the Holy Rosary.

Never in recent history has our Lady of Fatima's message to pray the rosary been so urgent.

In answer to our lady's call to pray her rosary for peace and the family, human life, marriage and religious freedom, the World Apostolate of Fatima urges us to pray the 54 Day Rosary Novena.  This novena began on September 29th, but you can begin today.

Start on September 29, 2014 Feast of the Archangels

End on November 21, 2014 Feast of the Presentation of Mary

In response to the spiritual crisis in our culture and nation, and to the U.S. Bishops’ call for prayer, please join us and members of all the partnering organizations throughout the country in praying the rosary daily individually or with your family, parish community or other groups. Please share this initiative with as many others as you can and ask them to do the same.

The Novena consists of 54 days in all: 27 days in petition, followed by 27 days in thanksgiving.

The Novena Intention is:
“For peace and the family, human life, marriage and religious freedom.”

The Novena Booklets are available in our online gift shop.

Visit the website for more information www.54days.org.

The World Apostolate of Fatima is also spreading the word on praying the holy rosary by way of bumper stickers available for your car. (see photo above).

I have some bumper stickers available and will be happy to send you.  Just email me your mailing address.

My email can be found in the profile section on the sidebar.

Let's HELP AMERICA PRAY THE ROSARY!

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.

         

          

Praying the Holy Rosary with Our Families During the Month of October

Our Lady's statue, Blessed Sacrament Church, Paterson, NJ

The month dedicated to the Holy Rosary starts tomorrow October 1st.  Please consider joining me in praying the Holy Rosary with our families for the whole month of October.  If this request is too difficult to accomplish every night, at least commit to praying one decade of the Rosary nightly and 5 decades each week during this month.

There is so much love and help we receive from God's dear mother and ours, there is so much heartache, pain and suffering in this world that we need her constant intercession.   If we pick up our rosaries, praying the Holy Rosary and meditating on the life of Christ, imagine the peace we can obtain not only in our own families and communities, but throughout the entire world.

In his autobiography All for Her, Father Patrick Peyton, whose cause for canonization is underway, has this to say:

"Suddenly the thought struck me... that if all of us prayed fervently enough, we could put an end to the war.  ...What was needed was not simply an end to the fighting but an atmosphere of true peace, peace in the heart, peace in the home peace in the family.  Yes, I told myself, here was the key:  family prayer, and in particular the prayer that had consistently brought God's favor through the centuries, that had saved Christendom at Lepanto, that had been preached and practiced and promoted incessantly by saints and popes, the Rosary.  My mind ran forward with this idea.  I would enlist in a great Crusade for the family Rosary not only these seventy men with whom I lived, but all the millions of servicemen, like the soldiers and sailors before the battle of Lepanto:  and not only the servicemen, but their mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters, every family in the United States, every family in the world, all giving jut ten minutes a day to recite the same prayer as the men of Lepanto, a prayer drawn from the Scriptures, breathing the inspired word of God. 

...That was the decision I made, to devote my entire life, my every effort, to the promotion of family prayer, and particularly of family prayer expressed in the form of the Rosary said every day or every night by the family gathered together in its own home...This was what I was going to do, and I knew that I was going to succeed because Our Blessed Mother would see to it.  It was not my reputation that was at stake, but hers.

We start our little Rosary Crusade tomorrow. Won't you please join in?

The Rosary

Mahalo to Ann for sharing this beautiful video.