28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear Parishioners of the Epiphany of the Lord
The Most Holy Rosary: The School of Blessed Virgin Mary
In his Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, (On the Most Holy Rosary) published on 16 October 2002, the Roman Pontiff Saint John Paul II, writes the following:
[To rediscover the Rosary means to immerse oneself in contemplation of the mystery of Christ who is our peace since He made the two of us one and broke down the dividing wall of hostility (Ephesians 2:14). Consequently, one cannot recite the Rosary without feeling caught up in a clear commitment to advancing peace ]. (Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Paragraph No. 6)
The month of October is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary because of the Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary on 07 October, established by Pope Saint Pius V in 1571.
The English word Rosary itself is derived from the original Latin Rosarium, meaning a garden or garden of roses. In other words, Rosary refers to a rose garland for crowning the Blessed Virgin Mary. Thus, the Rosary is a Scriptural prayer that helps every Catholic meditate on the mysteries of salvation. Nonetheless, the Rosary is made up of fifteen mysteries, which are grouped into four sets, namely: Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, and Luminous.
However, the School of the Blessed Virgin Mary ensures that all the families that pray together stay together. The Holy Rosary is an effective prayer which brings all the Catholic families together. Individual family members, in turning their eyes towards Jesus, also regain the ability to look one another in the eye, to communicate, to show solidarity, to forgive one another and to see their covenant of love renewed in the Holy Spirit of God.
When a Catholic family that recites the Rosary together reproduces something of the atmosphere of the household of the Holy Family of Nazareth: its members place Jesus at the center, they share joys and sorrows of Jesus Christ, they place their needs and their plans in God’s hands, they draw from the Almighty Father the hope and the strength to go on.
Above all, the Rosary is by its nature a prayer for peace, since it consists in the contemplation of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, the One Who is Our Peace. In this School of the Blessed Virgin Mary, anyone who assimilates the mystery of Christ lives the secret of peace and makes it his life’s project. The School of Mary produces a peaceful effect on those who pray it, disposing them to receive and experience in their innermost depths, and to spread around them the true peace which is the special gift of the Risen Lord (John 14: 27). This is not all!
In other words, Rosary makes us peace makers in the world. The School of Mary nurtures in us a Creative hope that, even today, the difficult battle for peace can be won. The Rosary obliges us to see the problems of our families and of the world with the responsible and generous eyes and obtains for us the strength to face them with the certainty of God’s help and the maternal intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary for all of us who are Her Sons and Daughters.
Therefore, we could ask ourselves: How could one possibly gaze upon Mary Queen of Heaven while praying the Holy Rosary, without yearning to make this world more peaceful and beautiful, more just, humane and fraternal and more closely conformed to God’s plan?
Uniting with each family of our Epiphany Parish in praying the Most Holy Rosary everyday of the month of October.
Fraternally,
Fr. John Peter Lazaar SAC & Fr. Clement Sahaya Anand SAC