Tuesday, October 06, 2015

An easy way to nourish and preserve our faith

Une Minute avec Marie
An initiative of the Mary of Nazareth Association
October is the Month of the Rosary. This year A Moment with Mary has chosen to dedicate each daily meditation to the holy Rosary that Pope Benedict XII (d.1730) called: "The supreme remedy for errors and vices."

October 6 - Our Lady of the People (Italy)

An easy way to nourish and preserve our faith

We well know the Rosary's powerful efficacy to obtain the maternal aid of the Virgin. By no means is there only one way to pray to obtain this aid. However, we consider the Holy Rosary the most convenient and most fruitful means, as is clearly suggested by the very origin of this practice, heavenly rather than human, and by its nature…

There emerges another very great advantage (of the Rosary), so that all, even the most simple and least educated, have in this a prompt and easy way to nourish and preserve their own faith.

And truly, from the frequent meditation on the Mysteries, the soul little by little and imperceptibly draws and absorbs the virtues they contain, and is wondrously enkindled with a longing for things immortal, and becomes strongly and easily impelled to follow the path which Christ Himself and His Mother have followed. The recitation of identical formulas repeated so many times, rather than rendering the prayer sterile and boring, has on the contrary the admirable quality of infusing confidence in him who prays and brings to bear a gentle compulsion on the motherly Heart of Mary.

Pope Pius XII
Excerpt from the Encyclical Letter Ingruentium malorum, September 15, 1951

Immaculate Heart of Mary.jpg
A painting depicting the Immaculate Heart of Mary in PeterskircheViennaAustria (Wikipedia)
The month of October, a month when we especially like to pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary, is traditionally called the Month of the Rosary. The holy Rosary is composed of twenty decades. Each decade is recited in honor of a mystery in the life of Christ and that of Our Lady. It is customary to recite five decades at a time while meditating on one set of mysteries. We usually pray one specific set on each day the week in the following way:

On Monday and Saturday we pray the Joyful MysteriesThe Annunciation, The Visitation, The Nativity, The Presentation of Jesus, and The Finding of Jesus in the Temple.
On Tuesday and Friday we pray the Sorrowful MysteriesThe Agony of Jesus, The Scourging, The Crowning with Thorns, The Carrying of the Cross, and The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus.
 - On Wednesday and Sunday we pray the Glorious MysteriesThe Resurrection, The Ascension, The Descent of the Holy Spirit, The Assumption of the Virgin Mary, and The Coronation of the Virgin Mary.
On Thursday we pray the Mysteries of LightThe Baptism of Jesus, The Wedding at Cana, The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God, The Transfiguration, and The Institution of the Holy Eucharist.

The feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is celebrated on October 7th. This feast was instituted by Pope Pius V in 1573, to thank the Virgin Mary for the victory of Lepanto (1571).

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