The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary falls on October 7 – it is also the anniversary of the decisive victory of the united Christian army in 1571 over the Ottoman Empire in the naval battle of Lepanto (near the western shore of Greece). In the Church, it was first established by Pope Pius V as the "Feast of Our Lady of Victory." Shortly thereafter, Pope Gregory XIII changed it to the "Feast of the Holy Rosary." In 1960, Pope John XXIII changed the name of the feast to "Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary."
For many saints, the rosary is not just a prayer, but a weapon. It can be used to obtain a shortening of purgatory for the suffering souls and, above all, the conversion of sinners who are threatened with eternal hell. St. Padre Pio claimed that he could pray thirty-four rosaries in a single day. Mystics say that we should not think that nothing happens in the spiritual world when we pray. On the contrary, all of heaven rejoices with each Hail Mary or any other prayer, the forces of hell are terrified, no prayer goes unanswered, each one is put to good use.
Thanks to St. John Paul II, we can connect the joyful and sorrowful rosary with the Luminous mysteries, that is, selected events from Jesus' adult life between finding Him in the temple and His suffering in Gethsemane. The rosary is a nearly universal prayer intended for meditation on the key events of our salvation, on the immeasurable greatness of God's love for us sinners. It particularly contains the addressing and glorification of the Holy Trinity, the Lord's Prayer, the profession of faith, petitions for the forgiveness of sins and for suffering souls, a long arc of selected events – mysteries from the Annunciation to the heavenly crowning of Mary. A great number of requests and confessions. The rosary prayer is repeatedly urged and requested in her apparitions by none other than the Virgin Mary herself.
It is a touchstone of our life with a transcendence into eternity, whether in this world we "dig" only for ourselves or selflessly behave as part of a larger team, where everyone tries to help the other. Especially the souls in purgatory, who can no longer help themselves. Only our requests and prayers can help them. The Virgin Mary is the ideal Mediatrix. After all, what son could refuse the requests of his mother? A mother who is, moreover, the purest and most immaculate person. I believe that the main activity of the Virgin Mary in heaven (and with her all the saints) is not a static position on the heavenly throne, but rousing and turning all the stubborn, sinful and rejecting of God, for whom this world is everything and who face eternal damnation.
The rosary – a powerful weapon
The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary falls on October 7 – it is also the anniversary of the decisive victory of the united Christian army in 1571 over the Ottoman Empire in the naval battle of Lepanto (near the western shore of Greece). In the Church, it was first established by Pope Pius V as the "Feast of Our Lady of Victory." Shortly thereafter, Pope Gregory XIII changed it to the "Feast of the Holy Rosary." In 1960, Pope John XXIII changed the name of the feast to "Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary."
For many saints, the rosary is not just a prayer, but a weapon. It can be used to obtain a shortening of purgatory for the suffering souls and, above all, the conversion of sinners who are threatened with eternal hell. St. Padre Pio claimed that he could pray thirty-four rosaries in a single day. Mystics say that we should not think that nothing happens in the spiritual world when we pray. On the contrary, all of heaven rejoices with each Hail Mary or any other prayer, the forces of hell are terrified, no prayer goes unanswered, each one is put to good use.
Thanks to St. John Paul II, we can connect the joyful and sorrowful rosary with the Luminous mysteries, that is, selected events from Jesus' adult life between finding Him in the temple and His suffering in Gethsemane. The rosary is a nearly universal prayer intended for meditation on the key events of our salvation, on the immeasurable greatness of God's love for us sinners. It particularly contains the addressing and glorification of the Holy Trinity, the Lord's Prayer, the profession of faith, petitions for the forgiveness of sins and for suffering souls, a long arc of selected events – mysteries from the Annunciation to the heavenly crowning of Mary. A great number of requests and confessions. The rosary prayer is repeatedly urged and requested in her apparitions by none other than the Virgin Mary herself.
It is a touchstone of our life with a transcendence into eternity, whether in this world we "dig" only for ourselves or selflessly behave as part of a larger team, where everyone tries to help the other. Especially the souls in purgatory, who can no longer help themselves. Only our requests and prayers can help them. The Virgin Mary is the ideal Mediatrix. After all, what son could refuse the requests of his mother? A mother who is, moreover, the purest and most immaculate person. I believe that the main activity of the Virgin Mary in heaven (and with her all the saints) is not a static position on the heavenly throne, but rousing and turning all the stubborn, sinful and rejecting of God, for whom this world is everything and who face eternal damnation.
