Today is the memorial of Our Lady of Czestochowa. The icon located in Poland is believed to be painted by St. Luke. It is our Lady holding the baby Jesus. It's called the Black Madonna due to the black soot from votive candles over years. In 1430, a man attempted to steal the icon. When he placed the image on his horse, the horse refuse to move. The man took his sword and slashed Our Lady’s face twice. On his 3rd attempt, the man suddenly died.
In 1683, the Muslim Turks were coming to conquer Vienna with nearly 300,000 soldiers. Pope Innocent XI called the religious houses and churches to pray the Rosary. The King of Poland gathered a small army of 20,000 Catholic soldiers. Before going into battle he stopped and prayed at the shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa. They mounted a surprise attack on Sept 11th and defeated the Muslim army on Sept 12th, which is why Sept 12th became the feast of the Holy Name of Mary.
In the first reading today of St. Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, he states, “We were gentle among you, as a nursing mother cares for her children. With such affection for you, we were determined to share with you not only the Gospel of God, by our very self as well, so dearly beloved had you come to us.”
This is what Jesus and Mary does when we pray the Rosary. They give their self to us, when we meditate and think about the mysteries of Our Lord and His Blessed Mother.
Imagine for a moment, what the Virgin Mary thinks about each one of us. How She loves each of us individually as though we were Her only child. When Jesus was an infant, She nursed the baby Jesus, as gentle mother, and since we are Mary’s children, She nurses us a nursing mother cares for her children. But, how does She do that? Most especially, through the Holy Rosary.
When we pray the Rosary, Mary prays for us, now and until hour of our death. When we meditate on the sacred mysteries of the life of Jesus and Mary, Mary pours many graces and gifts into our soul, through Her prayers and intercession. The Rosary is a double pray. We pray with our mind and we pray with our voice. This is why the Rosary is the second most powerful prayer, after the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
As we meditate on the mysteries with the backdrop of our voice praying Hail Marys, our soul is touched by grace. Because the events involve God, they have eternal effects on our soul. Listen to some of the many effects the Rosary has on our soul.
First, the meditations we pray are really the Gospel in miniature because it covers important events often called mysteries in the lives of Jesus and Mary. St. Louis de Montfort said, “A mystery is a sacred thing which is difficult to understand. The works of Our Lord Jesus Christ are all sacred and divine because He is God and man at one and the same time. The works of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary are very holy because She is the most perfect and the most pure of God’s creatures. The works of Our Lord and of His Blessed Mother can be rightly called mysteries because they are so full of wonders and all kinds of perfections and deep sublime truths which the Holy Spirit reveals to the humble and simple souls who honor these mysteries”.
When we meditate on a Rosary mystery, it becomes present to us. It increases our faith. We become more like Christ. We grow in virtue. God gives us insights into the mystery. We receive grace into our souls. We learn to imitate the virtue associated with the mystery. Our mind is reminded of the truth associated with the mystery. The Holy Spirit will reveal divine truths to simple souls, who think about the mystery with faith and love. When we meditate on the mystery, we avoid falling into error because we experience divine truth.
When we pray the Rosary, since Mary treasured all the mysteries in Her Heart, She will help us to meditate on them, so we too can treasure them in our heart. When we gaze upon the mysteries, we are gazing upon them with the eyes of Mary. We begin to love Jesus as Mary loves Jesus. We feel what Jesus feels. We see what Jesus sees.
When we are meditating on the mystery of the Rosary, allow the mystery to come alive in your mind. Be there at the mystery and participate in it. For example, when meditating on the Birth of Jesus, allow Mary to hand the baby Jesus to you and you hold Him in your arms. You see His smile and reach out your finger to touch His nose.
St. Padre Pio said, “The Rosary is the weapon for these times. Some people are so foolish that they think they can go through life without the help of the Blessed Mother. Love the Madonna and pray the rosary, for her Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world today. All graces given by God pass through the Blessed Mother.”
St. Padre Pio prayed 35 Rosaries a day. How many rosaries can you pray in a day? Several years ago, when I was in an airplane flying over the ocean from Kansas to Medjugorje, I had a medical emergency. During that crisis, I prayed at least 14 rosaries. When we landed I was taken to a hospital and had surgery. It was through Our Lady’s intercession, and the Rosary, She saved my life.
How many rosaries can you pray in 20 minutes? One, right. Well, did you know you can pray 30 rosaries in 20 minutes. How is that possible to pray 30 rosaries in 20 minutes and without bilocating? St. Louis de Montfort said, “Somebody who says his Rosary alone only gains the merit of one Rosary, but if he says it together with thirty other people, he gains the merit of thirty Rosaries. This is the law of public prayer. How profitable, how advantageous this is!”
To pray the Rosary with a group, you receive the same graces as the number of rosaries prayed with the group. Imagine what it would be like if prayed the Rosary at Lourdes, or Fatima or Medjugorje, when at times there are thousands of people praying the Rosary together. Imagine the power this has for families, if they were to daily pray the Rosary together. All those who pray the Rosary with the sisters here at the shrine receive tremendous graces.
In one of the alleged messages of Our Lady of Medjugorje, She asks families to daily pray the Rosary together. She also asked that we pray 3 rosaries a day (joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries).
Most people pray the Rosary too fast. If you pray the Rosary in less than 20 minutes, you are praying to fast. When we are praying the Rosary, remember we are praying to a person, and that person is the Virgin Mary.
Before praying the Rosary, mention your specific intentions to Our Lady asking Her to pray for them.
When you pray the Rosary in a group, or praying the Rosary before Jesus in the Eucharist, you can obtain a plenary indulgence. To gain an indulgence, you are to confess your sins 20 days before or after the day of the indulgence, pray an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be for the pope, receive Holy Communion and be detached from sin.
If you daily pray the Rosary in a group or before Jesus in the Eucharist, you can obtain a plenary indulgence for yourself or for a poor soul in purgatory every day. Today, turn to the Virgin Mary and ask Her to help you pray as many Rosaries a day as you can, trusting She will pray for us now and at hour of our death and will do so, as a “nursing mother cares for her children”.
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