After concluding the series on the Letters of St. John, we return today to our usual daily meditation framework, following the liturgical calendar. Today, we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. The origin of this feast is as follows:
In the 14th century, the Ottomans conquered much of the Balkans. Constantinople fell in 1453, the Near East was subjugated at the beginning of the 16th century, the Turks besieged Vienna in 1529, and Cyprus fell in 1571. Crete was also threatened, and Europe was at risk of being Islamized. Pope Pius V managed to unite the Spaniards and the Venetians in a defensive alliance.
On October 7, the decisive naval battle took place. The Christian fleet seemed hopelessly inferior to the Turkish fleet because it had fallen into a trap. In this situation, in which there seemed to be no chance of victory, the Christian admiral Andrea Doria prostrated himself before an image of the Virgin Mary: it was the first replica of the image of Guadalupe.
Suddenly, the wind changed direction, blowing in the Christians’ favor. They were able to use their weapons more effectively and board the flagship of the enemy fleet. The Turks panicked, and the Christians won the battle. The Ottoman danger had been averted. Aware of the great spiritual help needed to win the battle, Pope Pius V had appealed to all the faithful to pray the rosary, asking Our Lady for intercession and victory. The night before the famous Battle of Lepanto, the sailors prayed the rosary on their knees.
The following year, Pius V added the feast of “Our Lady of Victory” to the liturgical calendar, to be celebrated on October 7th every year. All Christians knew they owed their victory to Our Lady.
So, what makes the Rosary so valuable and effective in cultivating and enhancing the life of faith?
- The Holy Rosary is a meditative prayer and a classic form of Christian meditation.
Repeating the Hail Marys creates a chain that introduces us to the mysteries of salvation. Many spiritual masters emphasize the benefits of repetitive prayer, which can quiet the restless spirit and bring the heart into focus. A calm and recollected spirit can more easily concentrate on the essence of prayer. The mysteries of the Holy Rosary, which are the stations of Jesus’ life, gradually settle in the heart through meditation and repetition. They become an inner certainty. This, in turn, leads to greater love and gratitude toward Jesus. It is essential to pray the rosary with the heart. Frequent repetition brings the scattered spirit back to the true center of prayer again and again.
- The Holy Rosary is a biblical prayer.
In fact, the first part of the Hail Mary are the words of the Archangel Gabriel and Elizabeth’s greeting when she recognizes that the Virgin is carrying the Messiah in her womb. Through this greeting, Mary learns of God’s plan for His Son to become human and is invited to participate in this divine plan by giving her consent. By repeating the angelic salutation in the rosary, one enters into this mystery and makes this event real, which was initially destined for the Virgin but extends to all humanity. Those who pray the rosary greet Mary with the same words as the angel, thus actualizing the salvific event and allowing it to become more deeply rooted in their hearts. Moreover, the Annunciation becomes a question for the person praying: “Am I ready to accept the angel’s message and do God’s will to bring Christ into the world?”
- The Holy Rosary is a realistic prayer.
The Church has long known the loving power of Mary’s intercession before God. The second part of the Hail Mary prays for this intercession to be extended to us, especially at the hour of our death. Our Lady’s intercession is especially powerful because of her closeness to God. No one else was as closely involved in the mystery of salvation as Mary, who was both the mother and disciple of Jesus. Asking for her help at the hour of death is grounded in spiritual experience. People cannot simply displace the reality of death from their lives; they must integrate it. Thus, this supplication invokes Mary’s protection, fosters a relationship of trust with her, and encourages a conscious confrontation with the inevitable reality of death. Thanks to faith, death can be stripped of its bitterness and hopelessness. Therefore, we must integrate the reality of death into our lives so that our lives may become more realistic.
From any perspective, it is worthwhile to recite the Holy Rosary. This prayer unites us not only to Our Lady but also to the countless faithful who daily recite the Hail Mary with the Archangel Gabriel, praising God’s greatness and the election of the Virgin Mary.
NOTE: Since today is the 7th day of the month, which we always dedicate in a special way to our Heavenly Father, we want to invite you to listen to the “3 minutes for Abba”, which is a small impulse that we publish daily in order to deepen the relationship of trust with God the Father. You can find them in the following links:
-Telegram: https://t.me/threeminutesforAbba
-Webpage: http://en.elijamission.net/category/3-minutes-for-god-the-father/
