OCTOBER, A MARIAN MONTH

The month is quickly slipping into the past and I should not allow that to happen without speaking of its significance in the Church’s year.  This month, October, is designated by the Church as a Marian month, the month of the Holy Rosary.  The Rosary’s roots can be found in several early Christian traditions which share similar formats to the rosary with repetitive prayers. The earliest form of the Rosary developed when Pope Gregory the Great (590-604) popularized an earlier version of the Hail Mary by having it prayed on the fourth Sunday of Advent.  Many people then began praying the Hail Mary in a repetitive fashion using a string of beads to keep track of the prayers.

Without doubt, the Hail Mary, also known as the Angelic Salutation, is the most well known and most beloved of Marian prayers. It took many years to come together as the prayer we know today.  The earliest version simply added Mary’s name to the message of the Angel Gabriel to Mary: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.” (Luke 1:28)

The Angel Gabriel and Mary

Sometime around the year 1050, the words of Elizabeth’s greeting to her cousin Mary, “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb” (Luke 1:42) were added.  

The Holy name of “Jesus” was added to the Angelic Salutation by Pope Urban IV in 1261.

Pope Urban IV

In 1555, St Peter Canisius published the Hail Mary in his Catechism with the initial part of the final petition: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners”.

In 1566, the Catechism of the Council of Trent included the final petition, concluding with the words “now and at the hour of our death.  Amen.” 

St Peter Canisius

The Hail Mary that we pray today was given official approval in 1568.  The term “Rosary” was finally given in 1597.

So, today, we have that beautiful prayer: “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

A house/shop in France

For more than 300 years the form of the Rosary remained the same.  In 1917, Our Lady appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal.  Mary asked them to return to the spot on the 13 of each month for the next six months. During these apparitions, Mary told the children to pray the Rosary every day for world peace.  She also instructed them to finish each decade with the short prayer: “Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who have most need of thy mercy.”  This is known as the Fatima prayer and, in accordance with Our Blessed Lady’s request, many Catholics incorporate the prayer into the Rosary.

Our Lady of Fatima

The Rosary has an interesting history and it is worthwhile browsing the plentiful information available in books and on the internet.  Oh, and think seriously about Mary’s request to pray the rosary every day.

 Queen of Martyrs, pray for us.

Queen of the most holy Rosary, pray for us.

OUR AMAZING PRIESTS

Throughout this awful Covid 19 pandemic, our amazing priests have been there for us.  Here in Wales, as well as in the rest of the U K, our priests have used YouTube, Facebook and all the modern technology to bring us the comforts of our Catholic Faith.  Such devoted pastoral care is not confined to this country either as priests all over the world are doing their very best for their parishioners.  Just as our priests are doing, priests everywhere are live streaming Holy Mass, Adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament,  the Rosary and Stations of the Cross.  

Holy Mass, live streamed

God has blessed us with wonderful priests and we owe them so very much. So, we say a heartfelt "Thank You" to priests everywhere.  May God shower blessings galore upon you all and keep you safe.

MARY'S MONTH

It is a centuries old custom to dedicate the month of May to the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Special ceremonies and traditions are all a part of our Catholic memories. May Crownings take place the world over and they are probably the most loved of all the traditions associated with Mary's Month.  May Altars in classrooms and homes were also very popular at one time.  Of course the Rosary has always held a special place in the hearts of Catholics everywhere.  Therefore, in the beautiful month of May, many Catholics make a sincere effort to pray the Rosary daily.

May is Mary's month

Rosary Beads have been around for a long time. Henry VIII's flagship, Mary Rose, went down off the Isle of Wight in 1545.  Early in the 1980s, the Mary Rose was raised and many well preserved items were recovered.  Among the items was a wooden Rosary. There is even a  poem which describes Robin Hood at his devotions!

"Robin Hood, Robin Hood,

Telling his beads,

All in the greenwood

Among the green weeds."

Robin Hood, "telling his beads"

Those who made prayer beads were known as "Pater Nosterers" and they commonly worked in the area surrounding St Paul's Cathedral.  Here they would display and sell an array of Rosary Beads.

The Reformation Martyrs were known to be devoted to the Rosary.  It is said that as John Boste mounted the gallows he was praying the rosary.  In a letter from prison, Alexander Bryant said that he was saying the Rosary.  It is well documented that Scottish Martyr, John Ogilvie, carried his Rosary Beads to the gallows with him.  Just before he was pushed off the gallows, he threw his beads into the crowd.  They hit a Protestant man in the chest.  That man said he would have held on to the beads except the Catholics who were there made such  a dash for them that he was afraid to keep them.

St John Ogilvie throwing his Rosary Beads into the crowd

Even as we pray the Rosary, we are reminded of Our Mother Mary's compassion and willingness to help.  In the Second Joyful Mystery, "The Visitation", the young Mary hastens to the aid of her elderly cousin, Elizabeth, who is six months pregnant with her first child.  Then in the second Luminous Mystery, "The Wedding at Cana", Jesus performs His first miracle.  At Mary's intervention He turns water into wine, thereby saving the host and the young married couple from a sad and embarrassing situation.

The word "bead" is from the Old English "bede", meaning to "request in prayer".  In this May of 2020, so blighted by Covid 19, we would do well to turn to Mary and to "request in prayer" her aid in this horrendous pandemic.  At Fatima, Mary herself said "I am the lady of the Rosary; pray the Rosary daily".  Can we answer Mary's plea?  As we struggle with the terrible illness ravaging the world, let's all ask the help of Our Lady with a Rosary a day for the month of May.  Are you up to the challenge?  

"I am the lady of the Rosary"

FEAST OF OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY

Today we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. On this day in 1571, the great naval Battle of Lepanto was fought between an alliance of Christian Countries and the Ottoman Empire. Our Lady’s intercession had been invoked and a Rosary Procession had taken place that day in Rome. In thanksgiving to the Virgin Mary, Pope Pius V instituted the Feast of Our Lady of Victory. In acknowledgement that the victory was the fruit of the Rosary, Pope Gregory XIII, in 1573, changed the name to the Feast of the Holy Rosary. The Feast was kept on the first Sunday of October but, in 1913, Pope Pius X changed the date of the celebration to 7th October. Another change came in 1969 when Pope Paul VI changed the name to Our Lady of the Rosary.

Although there have been changes to the name and date of the Feast of the Holy Rosary, one thing has remained constant. That is the sincere devotion to Mary and the Holy Rosary. Through the centuries, Catholics have turned to Mary in times of joy and times of sorrow. In the Mysteries of the Rosary, and accompanied by Mary, they have walked with Jesus from Bethlehem to Calvary and beyond.

Even during the life of King Henry VIII, those who clung to the Old Faith also clung to Mary. Ten years after the bloody martyrdoms began, Henry’s famous flagship, ‘Mary Rose’, went down off the Isle of Wight in 1545. In the early 1980s ‘Mary Rose’ was raised and many well preserved items were recovered. Among the recovered items was a wooden Rosary! Some long ago Tudor sailor’s love of Mary and the Rosary was stronger than all the King’s wrath.

In Penal times, both in England and its overseas colonies, the Rosary helped keep the faith alive. With no priest available to celebrate Mass and the Sacraments, Catholics would gather in secret to recite the Rosary. In Penal Days in Ireland, the Penal Rosary, a string of ten beads designed to be used discretely up a sleeve or in a pocket, was widely used. Not many original Penal Rosaries survive, but modern versions are readily available.

The martyrs too were devoted to Mary and the Rosary. St Henry Walpole, St Luke Kirby, and St Thomas Garnet, to name but a few, mounted the gallows steps with the ‘Hail Mary’ on their lips. Some sources say that St John Boste was saying the Angelus as he mounted the gallows while other sources state that he was praying the Rosary. Angelus or Rosary, John Boste sought the assistance of the Mother of God!

Shortly before his execution, twenty-five year old St Alexander Briant wrote to the English Jesuits; “The same day that I was first tormented on the rack, before I came to the place, giving my mind to prayer, and commending myself and all mine to Our Lord, I was replenished and filled up with a kind of supernatural sweetness of spirit; and even while I was calling upon the name of Jesus and upon the Blessed Virgin Mary (for I was saying the Rosary), my mind was cheerfully disposed, well comforted, and readily prepared and bent to suffer and endure those torments which even then I most certainly looked for."

St John Ogilvie was martyred at Glasgow Cross on 10th March 1615. He had secreted on his person his treasured Rosary beads and, after he was pushed off the gallows steps, he triumphantly flung his beads into the crowd. It was said that the beads were caught by one of his enemies who eventually became a Catholic.

The Blessed Virgin Mary herself has asked us to pray the Rosary daily. On this beautiful Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, let us be diligent in responding to her plea.