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Our Lady of the Rosary
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Dear Parishioners,
On Friday, October 7, we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. For us as Catholics, we traditionally consider October the month of the Holy Rosary. I offer the following articles for your consideration and meditation.
The purpose of the rosary is to help us to meditate on the great mysteries of our salvation. Pius Xll called it a compendium of the gospel. The main focus is on Jesus—his birth, life, death and resurrection. The Our Fathers remind us that Jesus’ Father is the initiator of salvation. The Hail Marys remind us to join with Mary in contemplating these mysteries. They also make us aware that Mary was and is intimately joined with her Son in all the mysteries of his earthly and heavenly existence. The Glorys remind us that the purpose of all life is the glory of the Trinity.
(Saint of the Day)
Reality of Redemption
The mysteries of the Rosary are no less than the mysteries of our redemption. Through the incarnation, life, ministry, death and resurrection of our Lord, we are redeemed and rescued from the curse of sin and death.
This is not simply a theological theory or a preaching point. It is a reality—the reality of redemption, and this reality becomes active in our lives through the sacraments, through the Scriptures and devotions like the Holy Rosary.
The poet T.S. Eliot wrote, “Humankind cannot bear very much reality.” What he meant was, “The truth hurts.” Indeed, reality can sometimes be harsh and hard to hear, but it is also true that reality is glorious and full of light and life. Heaven is pure reality. St. Therese of Lisieux made the point when she said in her simple, poetic way, “In heaven every grain of dust is a diamond.”
The reality of the Rosary helps these greater realities to come into clear focus and brings us closer to the one who is reality itself: Christ the Lord.
Father Dwight Longenecker
Priest Magazine
God bless us all!
Fr. Citino
