Fr Mario Attard, San Ġwann
The Marian month
The month of May is intimately connected with Mary, the Mother of God. In this month we are to pray intensely and with great fervour, the powerful prayer of the Rosary. For those who look at life from a sheer execution of pure rational programming they undervalue the fact that the Rosary is a simple yet a profound way of living contemplatively. The beauty of contemplation resides in immersing our lives in God's abundant mercy!
In his Apostolic Letter on the Rosary, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, the late Pope John Paul II portrays the beauty of the Rosary. "The Rosary is my favourite prayer. A marvellous prayer! Marvellous in its simplicity and its depth. [...]. It can be said that the Rosary is, in some sense, a prayer-commentary on the final chapter of the Vatican II Constitution Lumen Gentium, a chapter which discusses the wondrous presence of the Mother of God in the mystery of Christ and the Church. Against the background of the words Ave Maria the principal events of the life of Jesus Christ pass before the eyes of the soul. They take shape in the complete series of the joyful [lightful], sorrowful and glorious mysteries, and they put us in living communion with Jesus through - we might say - the heart of his Mother.
"At the same time our heart can embrace in the decades of the Rosary all the events that make up the lives of individuals, families, nations, the Church and all mankind. Our personal concerns and those of our neighbour, especially those who are closest to us, who are dearest to us. Thus the simple prayer of the Rosary marks the rhythm of human life." (Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 2).
The Rosary is the backbone that unites our families together. Through it our human lives are immersed, transformed and protected by God's intervention in our human history through the mighty intercession of Mary, the Mother of God. Pope Pius XII used to say: "There is no surer means of calling down God's blessings upon the family... than the daily recitation of the Rosary." This is so, since the Rosary is indeed a powerful protection against the evil spirits of infidelity and division which assail our families.
Let us profit from the immense spiritual benefits of the Rosary by praying this Gospel and Marian prayer with fervent heart. St Pio of Pietrelcina said: "Love the Madonna and pray the Rosary, for her Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world today." Blessed are we if we give heed to his words in faith!
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Joe Tabone-Adami
May 18th 2009, 16:06
It was a very wise and experienced American priest who coined the phrase "The family that prays together stays together". He certainly knew what he was talking about - so do those families who follow his advice. Thank you Fr Attard, for your heartening contribution.
JGallon
May 18th 2009, 11:10
This letter is most appropriate for the month of May, the month of Mary.
I would like to add a quote by Pope Pius 1X about the Rosary : "Among all the devotions approved by the Church none has been so favoured by so many miracles
as the devotion of the Most Holy Rosary."
The Rosary is a marvellous prayer for those who do not know how to pray. If families find it hard to recite the whole Rosary, I advise them to start with a decade. This will enable them to start building the chain which unites them to God.