Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
You will hear much spoken and preached about the Rosary this year.
In my last Pastoral Letter on “Prayer and the Family”, I also
mentioned briefly the value of the family Rosary that united our Irish homes for
centuries and kept them in touch with God and His Blessed Mother.
In October last, Pope John Paul II issued a remarkable Apostolic Letter
on the Rosary declaring it to be his “favourite prayer” that held an
important part in his spiritual life since his youth.
It was a prayer that accompanied him in moments of joy as in moments of
difficulty (cf. Rosarium Beatae Mariae Virginis, No.1).
He advocated this venerable prayer of our Christian tradition as a
powerful weapon against the dangers that threaten our faith today.
It is our duty then to reflect again on the Rosary, and to regain or
deepen our appreciation of this prayer, held in such esteem by our forefathers.
Getting to know Christ
The Rosary is one of the most popular forms of devotion to Mary.
However, it is important to remember that the heart of all Marian
devotion is Christ himself. We
repeat our greatest Marian prayer ten times in every decade, but “the centre
of gravity in the Hail Mary, the hinge as it were which joins its two parts, is
the name of Jesus” (No.33).
That is how Our Lady would wish it to be:
although the Hail Marys outnumber the other prayers, the Rosary is
centred on Jesus and leads us to know and love him.
We need a companion on our journey of faith, a sure support to rely on
when we wish to approach and praise God. The
liturgy, the Mass and the Sacraments are the highest form of prayer, but in
popular devotion the Rosary has a power and value that should not be overlooked.
It has been described as “a compendium of the Gospel” that leads us
through the life of Christ while we contemplate, through the eyes of Mary, the
mysteries of his life.
From bead to bead, from decade to decade, we follow the course of his
earthly life: the joys of his birth
at
Bethlehem
; the light
from his preachings and miracles; the sorrows of His Passion and the glories of
his Resurrection and Ascension. His
ways gradually become our ways; his thoughts become our thoughts.
No one knew Christ as did his Mother.
She best of all can teach us to know her Son.
She was the companion that was never far from Him, and who was physically
present and active at important moments of his life.
As the Holy Father says:
“Mary
lived with her eyes fixed on Christ, treasuring his every word: ‘She kept all
these things pondering them in her heart’ (Lk
2:19
; cf.
2:51
).
The memories of Jesus, impressed upon her heart, were always with her,
leading her to reflect on the various moments of her life at her Son’s side.
In a way, those memories were to be the ‘rosary’ which she recited
uninterruptedly throughout her earthly life” (No.11).
No one ever prayed with such intensity of love and faith as did Our Lady.
She contemplated the face of her Son
in his moments of joy as in times of suffering, in the quiet of the family home
at
Nazareth
as in his
busy days of preaching and curing the sick.
While we say the Rosary, we join with Mary as she ponders on the life and
mysteries of Jesus.
A
Contemplative Prayer
Some people may say that the Rosary is a boring repetition that can
easily become a mechanical routine. The
repetition of the Hail Marys is not meant to numb the mind and keep it in a
void. On the contrary, it leaves the
mind and heart free to concentrate on the mystery that is being pondered over
and on the person who is loved. While
bead after bead slip through the fingers, the person who prays the Rosary
remains alert with faith and love. It
is not boring when “ the Rosary is thought of as an outpouring of that love
which tirelessly returns to the person loved with expressions similar in their
content but ever fresh in terms of the feeling pervading them” (No.26)
We pray through Mary and with Mary, but the praise and love we express go
ultimately to Jesus. He is “the
one Mediator between God and men” (1 Tim 2:5).
The Rosary helps us to become more closely conformed to Him, and in this
way to reach true holiness.
Therefore, Pope John Paul II presents the Rosary as a contemplative
prayer, “among the finest and most
praiseworthy traditions of Christian contemplation” (No.5).
Our Catechism tells us that “Christian prayer tries above all to
meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio
divina or the Rosary” (CCC 2798). This
meditation in the Rosary becomes a lingering or pondering over the mysteries of
Christ’s life, seen through the eyes of his Blessed Mother.
While those who say the Rosary remember and ponder the events of
Christ’s life, they cannot fail to receive some of their saving grace.
“Contemplating Christ’s birth, they learn of the sanctity of life;
seeing the household of Nazareth, they learn the original truth of the family
according to God’s plan; listening to the Master in the mysteries of his
public ministry, they find the light which leads them to enter the Kingdom of
God; and following him on the way to Calvary, they learn the meaning of salvific
suffering. Finally, contemplating
Christ and his Blessed Mother in glory, they see the goal towards which each of
us is called, if we allow ourselves to be healed and transformed by the Holy
Spirit” (No.25).
Recited in this prayerful manner, the Rosary calls for “a quiet rhythm
and lingering pace”. It should not
be rushed through, but prayed with devotion and with all voices in unison.
It then helps to conform the hearts of the faithful to the Sacred Heart
of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
A Prayer in
Times of Need
At various periods of history when danger threatened the life and faith
of the Christian people, they turned with confidence to Our Lady’s
intercession and to the Rosary. Seven
hundred years ago, when heresy was spreading, it was used by the Dominicans to
protect the Christian faith. In the
sixteenth century, victory at the Battle of Lepanto over the invading forces was
attributed to the recitation of the Rosary and the Feast of Our Lady of the
Rosary on 7th October was instituted.
In our own country, when the churches were confiscated and penal laws
enforced, our people held on to the Rosary as an anchor of salvation.
In 1651 Cromwell’s report to authorities spoke of the bravery of the
people: when brought “before the
muzzles of my guns, they hold up in their hands a string of beads, and they
never surrender” (cf. Knock, Roots of
Irish Spirituality,
Dublin
1988, p.24).
At
Fatima
, Our Lady
asked for the recitation of the Rosary. In
1979, during his visit to Ireland, Pope John Paul II, speaking at Knock, also
mentioned the importance of this prayer: “By
reflecting on what the Lord tells us when we recite the Rosary and combine our
devotion to the Mother of God with prayerful meditation on the mysteries of her
Son’s life” (Homily at Knock, 30 September 1979),
we become more familiar with Christ’s words to us and are strengthened
to carry out his Mother’s request: “Do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2:5).
A Prayer for
Today
Who can deny the challenges that face us today?
Among them are the ominous threats of warfare and terrorism with the loss
of many innocent lives; the challenges facing our youth in a society where moral
values are crumbling, where alcohol and other drugs are widely abused; where
there is much ignorance and indifference with regard to our faith; where we have
what St. Paul calls “the effects that proceed from corrupt nature: such things
as adultery, impurity, quarrels, jealousies, outburst of anger, and
drunkenness” (cf. Gal 5:19-21).
Should we not once again turn with confidence to the recitation of the
Rosary as a means to obtain grace and save us from evil and find refuge in the
Immaculate Heart of Mary? Children
will join in the Rosary or at least in some decades, if they get the example in
the home from their early childhood. This
prayer will bind a family together and win many blessings from heaven.
Pope John Paul II has requested us to take our Rosary beads in our hands
once again and by saying the Rosary prayerfully to come to know Jesus better and
win grace for many people. “At
times when Christianity itself seemed under threat, its deliverance was
attributed to the power of this prayer, and Our Lady of the Rosary was acclaimed
as the one whose intercession brought salvation ... Today we are facing new
challenges. Why should we not once
more have recourse to the Rosary, with the same faith as those who have gone
before us?” (No.39.7).
I ask you all to reconsider the value of this traditional prayer, so dear
to the people of
Ireland
down the
centuries. If parents make it a part
of family life, young children will learn it in a natural way.
Chaplains and teachers of religious education will not forget to teach
and promote it. For every priest and
evangeliser it “retains all its power and continues to be a valuable pastoral
resource” (No.17).
For special occasions it can be solemnised by the reading of an
appropriate passage from Scripture or a meditation before each decade.
The Holy Father, in order “to give fresh life and enkindle renewed
interest” (No.19) has suggested five new mysteries of light that may be
recited on a Thursday. They deal
with five luminous events in the public life of Our Lord, namely (1) Christ’s
baptism in the
Jordan
; (2) The
Wedding at
Cana
; (3) The
Proclamation of the Kingdom with the call to conversion; (4) The
Transfiguration; (5) The Institution of the Eucharist.
(See the Appendix to this Letter:
Short Meditations on each of the Luminous Mysteries.)
Conclusion
If said with faith and devotion, the Rosary will help to create a
prayerful atmosphere in the home and will keep people near to Jesus and his
Blessed Mother. It will make them
familiar with the saving mysteries of the life of Christ.
It will be a source of countless graces for individuals and for families.
The prayerful repetition of Hail Marys will secure for us the
intercession of Our Lady and her presence “now and at the hour of our
death”. These are two decisive
moments in our existence: “now”
when we shape our lives by the choices we make and in which we decide to do
God’s will or not, to choose good or evil.
“When Our Lady takes our “now” in her safekeeping, it will lead us
more surely to God than if we tried to reach our final destination by
ourselves.” The other moment is
“at the hour of our death” when life ends, when we make our final most
important decision for God and “the hour of the eternal encounter is at
hand”.
Let
us remember what Sr. Lucy of
Fatima
said when I
asked her last summer for a message for the Raphoe pilgrims at Our Lady’s
Shrine: “Tell them what Our Lady
said, namely, that they should say the Rosary every day”.
May the Rosary, this “golden chain” linking us to heaven be
rediscovered in the hearts and homes of all in the Diocese for, as Pope John
Paul II states, it is “a prayer of great significance, destined to bring forth
a harvest of holiness” (No.1).
+
Philip Boyce
Lent
2003
Reflections on “The Mysteries of Light”
1)
The
Baptism in the
Jordan
Jesus permitted Himself to be baptised by John. This
was not because He had any sins to be washed away. As God, Jesus could not sin.
But, to save us He became man and was numbered with sinners. He became “sin”
for our sake (2 Cor
5:21
).
This great emptying on the part of Christ is difficult for us to grasp. He who
is our God, He who is without sin allowed Himself to be taken as a sinner – He
who takes away the sins of the world.
In the baptism Jesus gives us a great example of
humility. God Himself willed to be baptised by a scruffy man wearing clothes
that were strange and eccentric, even by the standards of two thousand years
ago. All of Christ’s choices – how He choose to be born, to be baptised, to
suffer and die – act as a powerful challenge to us, to our pride and to some
of the notions we have about ourselves. Note the contrast: Jesus, without sin
was baptised and counted with sinners. We, who are sinners, claim we are not and
often disregard the forgiveness God holds out to us.
In this mystery let us pray for the gift of humility
and sorrow for our sins.
2)
Christ’s
self-manifestation at the Wedding of
Cana
(Jn 2:1-12)
Our Lord’s teaching and His miracles went hand in
hand. His miracles illustrated His teaching and vice versa. Jesus has many
reasons for turning water into wine: one was to save the embarrassment of the
wedding party and to bring joy back to their hearts. Another reason was because
His mother asked Him to do something. The main reason however was deeper. He
used the opportunity and the intervention of His mother to reveal His glory, to
evoke faith, to give a sign as to His identity. John tells us that it was the
first of His signs. It “manifested His glory and His disciples believed in
Him.”
Christ was revealing the New Covenant that would be in
His blood. The Old was symbolised by the six stone water jars for the
purifications of the Jews. He would bring a new purification from sin. The
number six in Old Testament imagery was imperfection. Seven was the perfect
number. Abundance of wine was an Old Testament sign of the coming of the
Messiah. At Cana Jesus revealed Himself as Messiah. The idea of Christ as
Bridegroom is also there.
Jesus told the stewards to fill up the water jars
themselves and then draw some out. He would do the rest. There is a lesson for
us here: the water into wine symbolises how our poor human effort can be
transformed by grace.
Mary’s role is obvious here. The Son could not refuse
the Mother. Indeed the Son has given the Mother to us as our own: “Behold your
Mother” (Jn
19:27
).
In this mystery we ask for the grace of confidence in
prayer.
3)
Jesus proclaims the
Kingdom
of
God
and calls to
Conversion
Jesus
proclaims the core of the Gospel message in the first words of his public
ministry: “Repent and believe in
the Gospel” (Mk
1:15
).
His call meets a deep yearning within each of us to change, to be better,
to reach our full potential, to be the best we can be.
This call involves a readiness to change and to be shaped by Christ.
It involves the constant process of dying to ourselves and being reformed
by Him so that His qualities and His image might be engraved upon our souls.
When
we repent we advance the kingdom Christ proclaimed.
As we gradually leave our sins behind the ground is cleared for the
kingdom
of
God
to grow
within us and around us.
Sin
doesn’t make us more human. It
fragments us, makes us mediocre, even evil - but not human in the real sense. Sin
dehumanises us and distorts the image of God within us.
That’s why Jesus took the sin so seriously during His earthly life.
Jesus set Himself against sin and offers us the way of separating us from
sin by turning to Him.
We
pray for the grace to discover God’s will in our lives and to follow it with
courage.
4)
The Transfiguration
In
the Transfiguration the Old Testament comes to meet the New.
Moses, representing the Law and Elijah, representing the prophets, both
appear basking in the light of Christ. On
Mount Tabor Jesus shone in radiance as He gave Peter, James and John a glimpse
of the glory that was His. He humbly
laid aside that glory in becoming man to save us and win eternal life for us.
Just
a week before this Jesus had told His Apostles of His imminent passion and
death. They were weighed down at the
prospect. Jesus then took Peter,
James and John, the key apostles and gave them a vision of His glory to sustain
them in the dark days that lay ahead. He
wanted to strengthen them for the scandal of the Cross.
Jesus
gave them a glimpse of His glory. In
the midst of trials He gives us the consolation we need to go on.
If we hold on in trust and faith then the radiance of the Glorified
Christ will enlighten our path. Our
task is to live in His presence and to try and see the hand of God at work in
our lives.
We
pray for the gift of perseverance and the virtue of hope in our trials.
5)
The Institution of the Holy Eucharist
At
the last Supper the Lord Jesus did sacramentally what He would carry out the
next day on
Calvary
.
There He offered Himself, Body and Blood to the Father for the sins of
the world. He is the new Paschal
Lamb ushering in a new and eternal covenant.
To His Apostles, the first bishops and priests, He gave the power to
renew this wonder until the end of time. He
commanded them: “Do this in memory of me.”
It is at His word that we celebrate the Holy Eucharist.
At the altar and through the worthy reception of Holy Communion we
receive the fruits of what Christ won for us on
Calvary
.
Jesus
is the Bread of Life. He instituted
the Holy Eucharist to feed us with His own Body and Blood.
He offers Himself to us as food to satisfy our deepest longings and
yearnings. As He draws life from the
Father, so we draw life from Jesus. In
the Eucharist He is fully present to us so that we who live in the world can be
fed and nourished by Him, so that we can live His life.
It was at the Last Supper He said: “Because
I live, you also will live” (Jn
14:19
).
None
of us is worthy to receive Christ into our souls.
But He invites us, not because we are worthy, but because we have need of
Him. He wishes to reveal to us the immense love God has for us.
We pray for a
greater appreciation of the Holy Mass and for its healing effects in our lives.
THE YEAR OF THE ROSARY