Today we celebrate the External Solemnity of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
It was on October 7th, 1571 that a battle was won by Christian forces at Lepanto. Pope Pius V invoked the Blessed Mother with his rosary in hand and had asked the Christian faithful to do the same. It was the rosary which was attributed to this victory at Lepanto.
The Most Holy Rosary serves as a weapon against all spiritual enemies especially Satan who attempts to tempt us towards the plight of sin and death. Just as Mary crushed the head of the cursed serpent so too does the Most Holy Rosary crush his head as we hold it in our hand and pray our Aves.
The rosary serves as a way for us to mediate upon those principal events which exist in the history of salvation. Therefore, we have the opportunity to mediate upon the birth, death, and resurrection of our Blessed Lord. Through the rosary we enter not into repitious babbling, but into authentic prayer which brings us to our Lord through Mary.
At the heart of each prayer of the rosary is always the Lord. Jesus was the fruit of her womb and thus Jesus is at the heart of this prayer. As Saint John Paul II stated of it, “With the rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love.”
The world in which we live is in great need of experiencing the depths of Christ’s love. Through the praying and promotion of the rosary we make this reality known. The Battle of Lepanto came to be won through the rosary and so too many spiritual battles come to be conquered each day through its use.
As we come to celebrate this solemnity let us be concerned with the rosary. Let a day not pass by where we do not take it up in a spirit of prayer. The rosary should be that which joins the family together in prayer and centers their gaze upon Christ. Everything that we do on this earth should have its gaze centered upon Christ. With rosary in hand we place our gaze upon Him. Let us take it up in faith and promote it in the midst of this world which needs the presence of Christ in its midst.
Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.
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