October 7th - Our Lady of the Rosary
Weedy
(Commemorating the Victory of Lepanto in 1571)
In thanksgiving for the victory of Lepanto, an ancient stronghold of
Greece and
a modern port of that nation, Saint Pius V in 1571 instituted an
annual feast in
honor of Our Lady of Victory. Two years later, Gregory XIII changed
this title
to Our Lady of the Rosary, for a limited number of churches. Clement X
extended
the feast to all churches under the Spanish dominion, and finally, in
1740,
Clement XII made it universal.
We have related in the life of Saint Pius V the victory of Lepanto;
here we will
speak of the Rosary itself, granted to Saint Dominic by Our Lady
Herself in the
thirteenth century, with promises of the greatest blessings for those
who recite
it well. The Rosary of fifteen decades affords a simple means of
meditation on
the principal mysteries of our holy Religion, and a means of drawing
closer to
the Saviour through the intercession of the One to whom He never
refuses
anything. One can also say the chaplet of five decades, since the
fifteen are
divided into three groups of five: The Joyful, the Sorrowful, and the
Glorious
Mysteries of the life of Christ.
On the crucifix, one recites the Credo or Apostles' Creed, which the
Apostles
themselves composed at the first Council of Jerusalem, before their
definitive
separation, thereby resolving the question of what exactly should be
taught to
the neophytes. By it we honor the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity
and express
our faith in the Church established by God; in the Communion of the
faithful,
whether living or deceased; in the pardon of sins, the general
resurrection at
the end of the world, and eternal life.
Before each decade, the Pater or Our Father, taught by our Saviour
Himself when
His Apostles asked how they should pray, includes three petitions for
the glory
of God in heaven: May His Name be sanctified, rendered holy in the
sight of all
nations; may His Kingdom come - the interior reign of God which
renders Him the
Sovereign governing every heart and mind by His love - this, while we
await
Christ's own final return as visible King of His Church and all
creation;
thirdly, may His Will be accomplished on earth, to perfection, as it
is in
heaven. There follow four petitions for ourselves and our salvation.
We ask,
under the general term of "our daily bread," that God provide for all
our needs,
both spiritual and material; we beg His forgiveness for our sins, in
the same
measure we have forgiven our neighbor's offenses, real or imaginary.
And we
implore to be spared temptation or to be delivered from succumbing to
it and all
other evils that would separate us from God.
In the Ave Maria or Hail Mary, we repeat the words of the Angel
Gabriel to Mary
(Luke 1:18), repeated and augmented by Saint Elizabeth at the
Visitation (Luke
1:42), adding the invocation of the Church for Her aid at the present
moment and
at the formidable hour of our death.
After each decade, we add the Gloria Patri or Doxology, to honor the
Three
Persons of the Holy Trinity.
The Joyful Mysteries: The Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity
of Jesus,
the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, the Finding of Jesus in the
Temple.
The Sorrowful Mysteries: The Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, the
Scourging at
the Pillar, the Crowning with Thorns, the Carrying of the Cross, the
Crucifixion
and Death of Jesus.
The Glorious Mysteries: The Resurrection, the Ascension, the Descent
of the Holy
Ghost upon the Apostles, the Assumption of Mary, the Crowning of the
Blessed
Virgin in Heaven.
Can one imagine a more perfect prayer than the Holy Rosary of the
Queen of
Heaven, the Blessed Virgin and Mother Mary? It would require large
volumes or
even an entire library to narrate the graces and miracles that have
been
obtained by its humble recitation.
Sources: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul
Guérin (Bloud
et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 12; Little Pictorial Lives of the
Saints, a
compilation based on Butler's Lives of the Saints and other sources by
John
Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).
Saint Quote:
If we love God and are faithful to Him, we shall be at peace, and this
peace
shall endure.
-St. Madeleine Sophie Barat
Bible Quote:
46 Which of you shall convince me of sin? If I say the truth to you,
why do you
not believe me? 47 He that is of God, heareth the words of God.
Therefore you
hear them not, because you are not of God. (John 8:46-47
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PRAYER FOR FIRST SATURDAYS:
Most holy Virgin, and our beloved Mother, we listen with grief to
the
complaints of thy Immaculate Heart surrounded with the thorns that
ungrateful
people place therein at every moment by their blasphemies and
ingratitude. Moved
by the ardent desire of loving thee as our Mother and of promoting a
true
devotion to thy Immaculate Heart, we prostrate ourselves at thy feet
to prove
the sorrow we feel for the grief that people cause thee and to atone
by means of
our prayers and sacrifices, for the offenses with which people repay
thy tender
love. Obtain for them and for us the pardon of so many sins. A word
from thee
will obtain grace and forgiveness for us all.
Hasten, O Lady, the conversion of sinners, so they may love Jesus
and cease
to offend God, already so much offended, and thus avoid eternal
punishment. Turn
thine eyes of mercy toward us, so that henceforth we may love God with
all our
heart while on earth and enjoy Him forever in heaven. Amen.
Jesus, Savior of the world, sanctify Thy priests and sacred
ministers.