Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - In this month of October, dedicated to the prayer of the Rosary when parishes and communities intensify prayers for missionaries, on the roads of the world to proclaim the Gospel the pilgrim Church urges us to make our own the apostolic spirit of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, by means of the Marian prayer par excellence, the Holy Rosary .
Mary, Star of the new evangelisation, points the way to the Lord, she lead us to Him, and she not only accompanies us to Him, she gives Him to us!
Mary’s universal maternity and her maternal mediation are, for us her children, realities of life, our own lives in the simple things of every day illuminated by the multiple truths of light of the Christian faith contemplated in the mysteries. As beads in hand we pray the Rosary, a simple daily gesture, we remember that Our Lady holds our hand in hers.
How often we see people who suffer, bedridden in pain, holding tight a rosary beads as one would cling to the hand of a loved one in times of need and consolation!
How often the rosary beads are put as an eloquent sign between the hands of a dear person who has passed away accompanied by the prayers and tears of his family who never tire of repeating “Hail Mary… Hail Mary”!
The Holy Father recently reminded us of the importance of this prayer given to us directly from Heaven: “Next Saturday 7 October we will celebrate the feast of Our Lady Queen of the Rosary and it is as if every year Our Lady calls us to rediscover the beauty of this simple yet profound prayer. Our beloved John Paul II was a great apostle of the Rosary: we remember him kneeling with his rosary beads in his hand, immersed in contemplation, as he urged us to do in his Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae. The Rosary is a contemplative Christ-centred prayer, inseparable from meditation on Sacred Scripture. It is the prayer of the Christian who advances on the pilgrimage of faith, following Jesus, preceded by Mary. Dear brothers and sisters I encourage you to recite the Rosary during this month in the family, in parishes and in communities for the intentions of the Pope, for the mission of the Church and for peace in the world” (Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus 1 October 2006).
The sweet memory of “beloved John Paul II kneeling with his rosary beads in his hands”, called to mind by Benedict XVI, spurs us to be like him apostles of the Rosary in these times filled with tension but also rich in hope and luminosity. Let us contemplate the radiant faces of Jesus and Mary, and like them place all our trust in the Father and his merciful love. (Agenzia Fides 4/10/2006, righe 34, parole 484)
