HOLY ROSARY
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Fr Gabriel Amorth was very well known throughout the Catholic Church and was the chief Exorcist of the Vatican. He wrote on the power of the Holy Rosary:One day a colleague of mine heard the devil say during an exorcism: "Every Hail Mary is like a blow on my head. If Christians knew how powerful the Rosary was, it would be my end." [1]
Christians are the disciples of Jesus Christ who invites everyone to the eternal salvation [2]; the way to attain this eternal glory only through Jesus [3]; thus every Christian has an obligatory to proclaim this good news to all creature [4].Concerning Holy Rosary, as a Christian we have to analyze ourselves about the knowledge of Jesus Christ. If anyone imagines that he knew Jesus well and does not honor Blessed Virgin Mary and Holy Rosary, then what is the use of his knowledge? The One who had a depth knowledge on Jesus can only understand the value of Mary in his life; because Mary - the Mother of God, Mother of the God’s Power, Mother of the God’s word, Mother of the God’s wisdom, Divine spouse of the Holy Spirit, Handmaid of the God’s Will, the living altar of the bread of life, an earthly paradise for son of God, fountain of the Jesus love for man, a most pleasing house of the Holy Trinity …. [5]. A perfect disciple of our lord would receive Mary as his mother and contemplate Rosary as a spiritual journey through Jesus life in Mary’s company.
The word Rosary means “Crown of Roses”. Rosary is both Prayer and meditation on the mysteries which focus upon Jesus Christ and that of his Blessed Mother.
Holy Rosary starts with the Sign of the Cross [2 Corinthians 13: 14, Galatians 3:1] and mainly composed of:
a) The recitation of Apostles creed.
b) Meditation on Jesus life along with Mother Mary.
c) The recitation of God’s word. [6]
d) Intercedes for every single human.[7]
a. The recitation of Apostles Creed or The Profession of Faith:
St. Augustine explains these words of St. Paul, “All that is not of faith is sin” [Rom 14:23], in this way: “Where there is no knowledge of the eternal and unchanging Truth, virtue even in the midst of the best moral life is false.” [8] As Romans 10:9 says “if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” As a Christian, we must have a solid faith in our hearts which is derived from an insight of eternity and thus profess this faith throughout our life. Hence, Rosary’s primary part begins with the profession of faith which reminds us that “the righteous shall live by his faith”, “overcomes the world by faith”, “please God by faith”, “the shield against the evil one by faith”, “United with God by faith” and essentially “attain eternal salvation by faith” [9]. You are my witnesses,” says the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He.” [Isaiah 43:10].
b. Meditation on Jesus life along with Mother Mary:
Let us meditate “Why Mother Mary required to fill with Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost since she was already overshadow with the power of the Most High and given birth to the God’s Son?” It’s nothing but, God has planned that “the handmaid of God’s Will –Mary” was required to accompany the apostles prior to the anointment of Jesus’s Spirit as same she did obey Lord’s Will in the case of John the Baptist. “Filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” [Luke 1:15, 41, 44, and 56] .As our Lord Jesus said: “he who believes in me will live even if he dies” and this verse are very fitting for our Blessed Virgin Mary. Who have more belief in Jesus than her? Who have most pleased human being to God than her? Who can know Jesus better than her? Who was with Jesus from beginning of his human manifestation to the end of it than her? Who have the profound knowledge of his mystery better than his Mother? [10] Jesus called his disciples as brothers, thus He gave her to us “Behold, your mother!” [11]. Hence, Like our beloved apostles we can encourage ourselves to acquire the aid of our heavenly mother for the spiritual journey on Jesus life to attain another Pentecostal experience –Rosary brings us this experience. [12]
c. The recitation of God’s word:
“But it is not as though the word of God had failed” –Romans 9:6. As we are well aware that Jesus is the incarnation of God’s word, Let us meditate “whatever Jesus has spoken in his earthly life was the word of God; The God who creates heaven and earth through His word?” How marvelous this word with us!! The first human who personally heard this divine word through son of God was our Blessed Virgin Mary. Imagine she have given birth, cared, touched, loved and served the word of God –Jesus; how much blessed Mary was? [13] When we go through the mysteries and decades in Rosary, we are saying the Lord’s Prayer and Hail Mary repeatedly and these all are purely word of God except the intercessory prayer in the second part of Hail Mary. In Rosary, we repeatedly utter the words which are delivered from the lips of God along with the Mother of God’s Word would bring the Holy Trinity in us and lead us to a complete sanctification of our soul. [14]
d. Intercedes for every single human:
Even we recite rosary alone, In Our Lord’s Prayer we can see the terms “Give us, forgive us, lead us, and deliver us”; In the Hail Mary we can see “pray for us sinners”; In the Fatima Prayer [15] we can see “forgive us, save and lead all souls to Heaven” and in the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary we see “have mercy on us”, “pray for us”, “spare us” and “graciously hear us”. Let us meditate “God is Love and a Good Father of all Mankind” [16]. A good father would be happy, if all His children are in good Communion, Cooperation [17] and Love –which binds everything together in perfect [Colossians 3:14]. Thus St Pope John Paul II wrote “A fine way to expand the symbolism of the Rosary beads is to let them remind us of our many relationships, of the bond of communion and fraternity which unites us all in Christ.”[18] In Rosary, we all mankind are chained with love as like rosary chains between beads and raise intercession for all; especially for wounded brethren. [19].
Blessed Alan de la Roche said “After the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, there is nothing in the Church that I love as much as the Rosary.”
St.Pope Paul VI said "The Rosary is the compendium of the entire Gospel".
St. Pope John XXIII said "The Rosary is a magnificent and universal prayer for the needs of the Church, the nations and the entire world”.
“We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” - Hebrews 6:12
1. Matthew 8:29; Acts 16:16-18, taken from Father Gabriel Amorth interview who had performed over 70,000 exorcisms
4. Mark 16:15 ; Matthew 28:19
5. Wisdom 1:4 ; 1 Corinthians 1:24, John 10:30,John 14:23,John 1:14, Colossians 1:15-19, Proverbs 8:22-31,John 6:35,Hebrew 1:3
6. Lord’s Prayer and Hail Mary first part, Matthew 5:9-13,Luke 1:28,42,43
7. 2 Corinthians 1:11, Ephesians 6:18, 1 Timothy 2:1-3, Revelation 3:21,2 Corinthians 12:2-4,2 Kings 2:11, Genesis 5:24,Hebrews 1:14 (Mary is above than angels in Heaven), Matthew 22:31-32,Tobit 2:12,15 , Revelation 5:8.
8. Taken from “The Apostles' Creed by St. Thomas Aquinas- What Is Faith?”
9. Habakkuk 2:4, 1 John 5:4,Hebrew 11:6,Ephesians 6:16,Hosea 2:20,1 Peter 5:8,9 , John 3:36,
11. Mathew 12:50, John 20:17-18, Romans 8:29, Hebrews 2:11-14.Genesis 3:15
12. Acts 1:14, Acts 2:1-4, 2 Maccabees 15:7-16.
13. Luke 1:48, Luke 11:27, Matthew 7:17.
14. 1 Peter 1:23 , John 15:3, Jeremiah 15:16,19,John 3:34,John 6:63,Isaiah 55:3
15. The Fatima Prayer: "O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Your Mercy".(Our Lady at Fatima, 13th July 1917).
16. 1 John 4:8,16 , Malachi 2:10, Jonah 4:10,11
17. Catholic belief holds that the Church exists simultaneously on earth (Church militant), in Purgatory (Church suffering), and in Heaven (Church triumphant); thus Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the other saints are alive and part of the living Church.
18. Apostolic Letter-Rosarium Virginis Mariae, John Paul II para.36. From the Vatican, on the 16th day of October in the year 2002, the beginning of the twenty- fifth year of my Pontificate.
19. Blessed Bartolo Longo saw them also as a “chain” which links us to God. A chain, yes, but a sweet chain; for sweet indeed is the bond to God who is also our Father., Apostolic Letter-Rosarium Virginis Mariae, John Paul II para.36.
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