The Rosary
Many saints and community founders have jealously felt a certain pride in saying that he had received of the Virgin Mary herself the responsibility to preach and to spread the practice of recitation and devotion of the Rosary. A 17th century pope would even have asked that we stops this competition. All this to say that devotion to the Rosary belongs to the whole Church. It is often said that the Rosary is only the prayer of people simple and poorly educated. That is not true. It was given to me to meet and live with great intellectuals, eminent theologians whose Rosary was part of their daily. At the end of their working day, they liked to take a time out to refocus on what was at the heart of their life of faith, meditate on the great moments of history of salvation. The daily recitation of the Rosary has enabled many people to believers, for whom persecution prevented the practice of their faith, to keep their faith alive and to be there to water. Often when we are exhausted, tired at the end of our lives of a day’s work, we simply like to meditate and feed on the essentials of our salvation. The help of various comments on the Rosary (including what can be done find on the internet) can be of great help. The repetitive aspect of reciting the Rosary makes us to penetrate deeply into the mysteries of our salvation. This brings us great serenity. The resumption of the greeting of the angel to Mary, then ask her to pray for us – poor sinner – now and at the hour of our death gives us confidence and gives us a great joy.
Bernard East, O.P.
