FEAST OF OUR LADY OF THE HOLY ROSARY

O Queen of the Holy   Rosary                            Oh, bless us as we pray,                             And offer thee our roses     In garlands day by day,                             While from our Father’s garden                            With loving hearts and bold 
We gather to thine honour                        Buds white and red and gold.  

Feast of the Holy Rosary: 2012

The Postulants and Novices decorated our chapel and statues of Our Lady beautifully for the Feast of the Holy Rosary.



A statue was especially prepared to be carried in procession to the parish Church while praying the Rosary and singing hymns in Our Lady’s honour.


The essence of a Christian life we learn is the imitation of Christ. The followers of Christ must thus always have the life and the virtues of Our Lord Jesus Christ before their eyes in order to pattern their lives after His. The chief concern of a Christian soul therefore should be the practice of a life of virtue – a life tending to the perfection of Christ.

In order to do this, to truly be His disciples, Our Lord tells each one of us that we must: “deny ourselves, and take up our cross, and follow Him” (Mt.16:24). But in order to do this, true apostles must also pick up their Rosaries and meditate on the very life of Him whom they wish to follow. In so doing, the followers of Christ will begin to fulfil Our Lord’s commandment to tend towards perfection, and they will be taking the surest and quickest route to Our Lord through Our Lady.

“…a powerful means of renewing our courage will undoubtedly be found in the Holy Rosary…” ~ Pope Leo XIII.

 

With our eyes on the Crucifix – we follow after Our Lady in procession.
The Rosary is like a book, some beautiful, wondrous story, or rather history.  You open the book and glance at the Table of Contents and you find that it is divided into three Parts.  Each part has five chapters.  The heads or subjects of these chapters most Catholics know by heart.  The Rosary is a powerful meditation on the life and virtues of Christ. It is the perfect combination of vocal and mental prayer, focusing our thoughts and our aspirations on the chief mysteries of the life, death and glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ. By praying the Rosary, a Christian soul enters into the mysteries of Our Lord’s life and he turns to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the perfect imitator of Christ, for guidance in his imitation of Christ. In the Rosary we go over the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary with its joys, its sorrows and its glory. 

This beautiful devotion has been well compared to a wreath of spiritual roses, for, as the rose consists of the leaf, the thorn and the bloom, so the Rosary consists of the Joyful Mysteries, representing the leaves; the Sorrowful Mysteries, representing the thorns; and the Glorious Mysteries, representing, the blooms. As we pass over the lives of Jesus and Mary, we are made familiar with their joys, sorrows, and triumphs as we live with them in spirit, speak with them in prayer, and follow them through the various scenes and events thus vividly and practically brought before us.

“We do not hesitate to affirm again publicly that We put great confidence in the Holy Rosary for the healing of evils which afflict our times.”  ~ Pope Pius XII
  
The angel Gabriel said, “Hail, full of grace!”, as if afraid to call her by her name. She was his Queen, but not his Mother. But we do not fear to say “Hail Mary, full of grace,” ten times to every chapter or decade; for she is our Queen, but she is our Mother too. And at the beginning of every chapter of the book we recite the Lord’s Prayer, which her divine Son taught us; and at its close the “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost!” For everything, of every kind and description, Glory to God! Whether it be for joy, or for sorrow, or for glory – always and everywhere Glory to God!


            
O Queen of the Holy Rosary,                            We share thy joy and pain,                              And long to see the glory                                Of Christ’s triumphant reign.                             Oh, teach us holy Mary,                                To live each mystery,                         And gain by patient suffering                           The glory won by thee.
“Among all the devotions approved by the Church none has been favoured by so many miracles as the devotion of the Most Holy Rosary.” ~ Pope Pius IX