October is Rosary month

Yesterday, October 13, was the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima. It was also the birth anniversary of UV President Eduardo R. Gullas, congressman of the first district of Cebu. Greetings to you, Sir Eddie! All Visayanians are praying that you are in the best of health these days and in the days to come.

 To Catholics, October is Rosary month. Praying the Holy Rosary is therefore their form of devotion at this time of the year. Of course, the truly devout ones pray this prayer every day from January to December. For their love of the Mother of God is such that their day would not be complete without having recited five decades of Hail Mary's, five Glory Be's plus a contemplation of the mysteries.

But why is October being set aside for this popular Marian devotion? The explanation is that on the 7th day of this month the liturgical feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is celebrated. Also in the same month another feast, the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is solemnized, specifically on the 11th day.

For such feasts the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, as usual, takes center stage, along with religious processions, and (in parishes where these events have been made fiestas) there are retreats, lectures and of course, regular recitation of the Rosary.

The word Rosary means "Crown of Roses". Each Hail Mary, as revealed by Our Lady herself in several apparitions, is like a beautiful rose offered to her and each complete Rosary makes her a crown of roses. Roses, roses, why this flower and not other flowers? The rose is the queen of flowers, it is said, and therefore the Rosary is the rose of all devotions, an important prayer indeed. Moreover, is not the rose a symbol of love? "My love is like a red, red rose," says a poet. Hence, every Hail Mary recited is therefore an offering of love to God through the Virgin Mary.

In his Apostolic Letter entitled Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Pope John Paul II explains the importance of the Rosary thus: "The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer. In the sobriety of its clements, it has all the depth of the Gospel message in its entirety, of which it can be said to be a compendium. It is an echo of the prayer of Mary, her perennial Magnificat for the work of the redemptive incarnation which began in her virginal womb. With the Rosary, the Christian people sit at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depth of his love. Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer."

From this statement one can see that the Holy Father underscores the Christ-centered nature of the Rosary. It is Mary's prayer like the Magnificat dedicated to God and his only Son Jesus Christ, Our Redeemer. Thus when one prays it he comes to contemplate the face of Jesus and experience the depth of his love.

But beautiful as this prayer is there are people who doubt its importance. They say that since the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council stresses the centrality of the Liturgy it is but proper to give lesser importance to the Rosary. But the Holy Father, citing Pope Paul VI, says that the Rosary does not conflict with the Liturgy but in fact sustains it because it serves as an excellent introduction and an echo of the Liturgy.

How does the Blessed Virgin Mary regard the Rosary? In many past apparitions, Her usual appeal to the people is for them to pray the Rosary daily. For instance, in Bayside, New York, where Our Lady appeared several times to Veronica Lueken starting in 1970, she said (on October 6, 1970): "If you are with Me, if you truly love me and my Son, you will help each one to alleviate Our sufferings with your prayer for a soul. Bring him back with your Rosary. Your prayers are sorely needed." And again on June 18, 1979 she said: "I give you the sacramentals that are necessary for your protection in the days ahead: the Rosary of Prayer, beads of prayer to Heaven, the Scapular of faith to be worn constantly and never removed from your earthly body."

In these messages, Our Lady reminds us that through the Rosary one can help alleviate the sufferings of the souls in Purgatory. And for one's protection from harm the Rosary can be a potent weapon.

On the importance of the Rosary for the welfare and protection of the family, Our Lady says (on June 18, 1980 also in Bayside, N.Y.): "Pray constantly your Rosary, your beads of prayer to Heaven, remain unified in your family lives. The institution of your country - the great foundation is based on family life. Destroy the family and you destroy your country".

These days, when the RH bill controversy rages, it's good to pause and contemplate these words of the Mother of Jesus and our Mother too.

* * *

Email: [email protected]