Reflection by Saint Josemaría on the Holy Rosary. Very appropriate for the month of October, the month of the Rosary, in which the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary was celebrated on October 7th. ---------------------------------------------------- As it was in other times, such as the battle of Lepanto, the Holy Rosary is a powerful weapon to win over the great tribulations the Church and your country must overcome. Use it with confidence and you will be amazed at the results. When you look at your rosary bead, does it not resemble the slang and the five stones with which David defeated and killed Goliath? Even today, there is no Goliath that cannot be destroyed thanks to the Holy Rosary. The efficacy of this prayer, so dear to the Blessed Virgin, is disproportionate to its simplicity. Offer reparation to the Lord, exalt His Mother with your lips: your God asks for atonement, for praises from your tongue, because, as Pope Pius XII reminds us: The hostility of the enemies of Christ and of the Church has been served in all times, not only by wicked criticisms, and vehement attacks, but especially by that poisonous slander, those sly insinuations and vague, anonymous rumours, which skillfully spread, have often deceived persons of good faith, even some ignorant and credulous Christians. “Their tongue is a piercing arrow”, says the prophet Jeremiah (9:8). I hope you will have the knowledge and the will to cure those wounds, with this beautiful devotion to Our Lady that pleases her a lot, and with your vigilant charity. For you, my dear friend, I have written these reflections, so that you and I may learn how to become absorbed in prayer when we are praying to Our Lady. These reflections are written for all men and women committed to their Christian fate, who at times, no doubt, have raised their hearts to God, crying out to Him with the Psalmist: Make the way known to me, wherein I should walk; for I have lifted up my soul to Thee (Psalm 142:8). I must tell these men and women a secret that may very well be the beginning of the way that Christ wants them to follow. My friend, if you want to be great, become little. To be little it is necessary to believe as children believe, to love as children love, to give yourself up as children give themselves up, to pray as children pray. And all of this is necessary to accomplish what I am going to reveal to you in these lines. The beginning of the way, at the end of which you will find yourself completely carried away with love for Jesus, is a confident love for Mary and for Joseph, her husband most pure. To Jesus, through Mary, under the protection of Joseph, and with Peter. Do you want to love Our Lady? Well, get to know her. How? By praying her Rosary well. But, in the Rosary we always say the same things! Always the same? And do not those who are in love always say the same things to each other? Could it not be that there is monotony in your Rosary because, instead of pronouncing words like a man, you emit sounds like an animal, while your mind is very far from God? Moreover, listen: before each decade we are told the mystery to be contemplated. Have you ever contemplated these mysteries? I have come to see that every Hail Mary, every greeting to Our Lady, is a new beat of a heart in love. Blessed be that monotony of Hail Marys which purifies the monotony of your sins! That apparently monotonous way of beseeching Our Lady as children do their Mother, can destroy every seed of vainglory, selfishness and self-pride. Become little. Come with me and, this is the essence of what I have to confide: we will live the life of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Each day we will render them a new service. We will hear their family conversations. We will see the Messiah grow up. We will admire His thirty years of hidden life. We will be present at His Passion and Death. We will be awed by the Glory of His Resurrection. In a word: we will contemplate together, carried away with Love, each and every important instant of the life of Jesus Christ, who is the only true and perfect Love. Enter and immerse yourself in each scene of every mystery, and take part in it, as one more of the characters. Become very familiar with Christ Himself, Our Lady, Saint Joseph, the apostles, and all the other characters encountered while contemplating each mystery, and get to know them intimately through unending conversation. The minutes you spend in this way each day when you recite the Holy Rosary will enable you to incarnate the Gospel, reflect it in your life and help others to reflect it. From the writings of Saint Josemaría Escrivá (1902-75).
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 21:03:44 +0000
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