THE HOLY ROSARY, A LADDER TO HEAVEN.
October 7, 2023.
Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary.
A Romanian proverb says: “Step after step the ladder is
ascended.” And a Yiddish proverb adds: “If a link is broken, the whole chain
breaks.”
Saint Dominic, once said: "One day, through the Rosary
and the Scapular, Our Lady will save the world." To this, Saint Louis de
Montfort echoes: "Never will anyone who says his Rosary every day be led
astray. This is a statement that I would gladly sign with my blood." Saint
John Paul II goes on to add: "The Rosary is my favorite prayer. A
marvelous prayer! Marvelous in its simplicity and its depth."
Among the many beautiful things said about the prayer of the
Holy Rosary and the devotion to Mary, Mother of the Most Holy Rosary, we could
highlight these words of Pope Leo XIII and it will open and lead today's
meditation. He says: "The Rosary is the most excellent form of prayer and
the most efficacious means of attaining eternal life. It is the remedy for all
our evils, the root of all our blessings. There is no more excellent way of
praying."
As simple as it sounds and is, the Holy Rosary is a powerful
prayer. It is a weapon in our hands. It is also a staircase, an elevator, and a
ladder that leads us without mistaking our way, to heaven. The Rosary is a
chain of graces. In each Hail Mary that we babble while saying this prayer, we
recall the whole mystery of the Incarnation that will lead to our salvation.
For, we recall the greetings of the Archangel Gabriel to Mary, "Hail, full
of grace...", the ecstatic cry of Elizabeth at the visitation of Mary,
"Blessed are you among women...", and the petitions of Christ's
disciples (the Church in prayer) to the Mother of the Lord, "Pray for us,
sinners..."
The Blessed Virgin Mary makes the journey with us, leading
us to see and contemplate through her, her beloved Son, and to adore him. In
that sense, our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary is an open Tabernacle where Jesus is
given to all who approach him through her. The most important and beautiful
thing about the Rosary is its ultimate focus on Jesus. For, the Rosary leads us
to Jesus through Mary.
Mary is always in the midst of the orant community. When we
gather as a community to raise our voices in prayer to her Son, Mary prays with
us. She mediates for us. And she prays for us. Just as she did with the first
Christian community as we read in the first reading. “All these devoted
themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the
mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” Because she was favored in a very singular
way by God, by becoming the Mother of the Son of God, she knows the easiest and
shortest way to get into God's love, into Christ’s heart. And that is where
Mary takes us when we humbly call upon her through the Holy Rosary.
Every time we raise our voices to say, "Hail
Mary...", we recall God's mysterious encounter with this humble woman.
Moreover, we recall the mysterious encounter of Christ with our humanity.
Christ, the Son of God became Jesus, the Son of Man to save man from sin. And
Mary had only one word in the fulfillment of this mystery: “Behold, I am the
handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” A total
surrender to God's will. Let's imitate her and set God's will as our priority.
As goes the saying, “The family that prays together, stays
together.” We could say it better by adding, that the family that prays the
Holy Rosary daily and together, strengthens their bond through this chain and
no adversity, no trials can win over them. Because they consecrate their being
together to Mary, she always protects them with her maternal mantle of love and
intercedes for them in all their needs. Never does she forsake their petitions.
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