The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (7 October)
Every year on 7 October the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Pope Pius V established a feast of thanksgiving after the Christian victory at the Battle of Lepanto in Greece, won with the help of the Virgin, whose aid they had sought by praying the Rosary; in 1573 Pope Gregory XIII made it the Feast of the Rosary.
This feast reminds the faithful of the need to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, guided by the Virgin Mary, who shared with her Son in his incarnation, passion and resurrection. So the Rosary is truly a Gospel prayer centred on the Lord Christ and his life.
The Rosary of the Virgin Mary, which spread gradually during the second millennium under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is a prayer loved by many saints and encouraged by the Church. It is not praise of the Virgin but praise of God together with the Virgin Mary, who said: “My soul magnifies the Lord.” Its repetition is a constantly renewed proclamation that expresses the faithful’s love for their spiritual Mother. In its simplicity and depth it remains powerfully alive today; it is a prayer full of meaning, meant to bear fruits of holiness and to accompany the Christian spiritual journey without losing any of the freshness of its roots.
We can say that the Holy Spirit drives it forward, to make the Lord Christ known and let people experience the depth of his love, and to proclaim to the world that Christ is Lord and Saviour, that he is the way, the truth and the life, and that he is the centre of history, civilization and peace. Through the Rosary the believer receives countless graces.
In all her apparitions the Virgin asks for the Rosary to be prayed to end wars and to convert sinners, in a world that has lost the sense of sin. This has been the Church’s experience for two thousand years. Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Rai says: “Let us not be afraid! Christ is risen, and the last word is his.”
“In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph” (the Virgin Mary, at Fatima).
Prepared by Rita of the Sawt el Rab team
