10th Anniversary of Apostolic Letter on the Rosary

This month marks the 10th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's apostolic letter on the Rosary and his declaration of October 2002 to October 2003 as the Year of the Rosary. Blessed John Paul liked to refer to the Rosary as "the school of Mary," a way to experience the depths of Christ's love by seeing Christ through the eyes of Mary. We become closer to Christ when we pray the Rosary while thinking about the mysteries of Christ and the mysteries of Mary... when she heard from the angel Gabriel that she was chosen by God to give birth to Jesus through the Holy Spirit... when she first held Jesus in her arms when he was born... when she found the 12-year-old Jesus teaching in the Temple... when she spoke with Jesus at the wedding feast at Cana... when she saw Jesus dying on the cross... when she saw Jesus after the Resurrection... and when she experienced the joy and the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

When we remember events like these while we pray the Rosary, we can more fully understand what it means to embrace the will of God in our lives, to follow Mary's "yes" to God when she said, "Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word." 

As Christians, we should be on a never-ending quest to be more fully conformed to Christ and the will of God. It's an ongoing process that requires us to ask for -- and allow --  the Holy Spirit to transform our minds into the mind of Christ. It doesn't happen overnight. It takes time. And while there are lots of ways to pray (and we should take advantage of all of them), we shouldn't neglect the Rosary. Of all the "ways to pray," the Rosary offers us the ability to be more fully conformed to the mind and heart of Christ by seeing Christ through the eyes of the person who loved Him more than anyone, his mother. In his apostolic letter, Blessed John Paul quoted Saint Louis de Montfort:

Our entire perfection consists in being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus Christ. Hence the most perfect of all devotions is undoubtedly that which conforms, unites and consecrates us most perfectly to Jesus Christ. Now, since Mary is of all creatures the one most conformed to Jesus Christ, it follows that among all devotions that which most consecrates and conforms a soul to our Lord is devotion to Mary, his Holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to her the more will it be consecrated to Jesus Christ.

Praying the Rosary can mystically transport us to Mary's side while she was present on Earth. When the repetition of the "Hail Mary" and other prayers is done with an outpouring of love while contemplating each of the Rosary's mysteries, the power of the Holy Spirit can more easily penetrate the depths of our being.

If you make a commitment to pray the Rosary every day, and if you pray it in the spirit of love expressed by the Blessed Virgin Mary, you will experience the miraculous. You will not only experience the miraculous on a daily basis, but you will often be blessed in ways that bring the reality of Heaven into your heart, mind and body right here while you're still living on Earth. You will literally experience Heaven on Earth, and any fears you have of dying will be totally removed. But it doesn't happen overnight. It takes time.

If you're not familiar with how to pray the Rosary, it takes about 20 minutes and you can visit ComePrayTheRosary.org where you can join with others worldwide in praying the Rosary right now (or you can pray the Rosary individually there too). I just visited the website and could see that 131 people were currently praying together.

Clicking the "Enter" button will show a window where you can choose one of two options: a) a video with imagery from the Holy Land (Israel and Jordan) or b) a video of Fr. Dave Heney praying the Rosary with people at the Saint Paschal Church in California. You can also submit written prayer intentions that are viewable by others who are praying, and you can see the prayer intentions of others too.

If you choose the "Individual" mode, the video will start from the beginning of the Rosary. If you choose "Worldwide" mode, you will be joining in the praying of an ongoing "Perpetual Rosary" and you will begin at the point where the other people are praying (if you want to be synchronous with the other people praying).