I Am the Lady of the Rosary!

In the final apparition of Our Lady to the three children at Fatima, Lucia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, on October 13, 1917, she revealed who she was, saying, “I am the Lady of the Rosary.” I find it amazing that of all the beautiful titles the Mother of God is known by, that she would reveal herself at such an epic time of the history of the world, in the midst of World War I, as the Lady of the Rosary. She also asked each time that she appeared to the children for people to pray the Rosary to end the war and obtain peace. When we think of the brilliance of the Rosary, it is really no surprise that she recommends it so much.
           
The Rosary is very dear to Our Lady, because by its recitation we are brought by her intercession deeper and deeper into the mystery of Christ her Son. It is a way of prayer that takes its form from prayers that are based in the words of Sacred Scripture (the Our Father, the Hail Mary) and prayers taken from Sacred Tradition (the Apostles’ Creed, the Glory Be, the Hail Holy Queen).
           
There is a hallowed tradition in the Church that the Rosary was given to St. Dominic by Our Lady herself. It is certainly true that the Rosary has a long history in the Latin Church. its power lies in its ability to strengthen the relationship between the person praying it and Jesus and His Mother.  We might say that it draws us to the source of our Faith.
           
St. Padre Pio remarked, “The Rosary is the weapon for our time.” I couldn’t agree with him more. We need it for it is such an aid to us in these times in which we live.  Pope Francis has emphasized again and again its importance.  Here are just some reasons to pray the Rosary with confidence and devotion:

• The Rosary obtains peace in a world filled with chaos, violence and division.
• The Rosary centers families in prayer when parents and children unite their hearts in praise of Jesus and Our Lady.
• The Rosary reintroduces structured vocal prayer that leads us into meditation on the mysteries of the life of Our Lord and Our Lady.
• The Rosary quiets the heart of the one who prays it and helps create an atmosphere of attentiveness to God in a world filled with noise and distraction.
• The Rosary proclaims the truth of the Incarnation of Jesu, giving our own bodies and souls dignity and worth, and the Redemption, proclaiming to the world the love of a God who would suffer and die for His children and the hope of the Resurrection Hem shares with us.
• The Rosary combats the forces of evil and protects us from spiritual and physical harm.
• The Rosary brings about the conversion of hearts in those who pray it and those for whom it is prayed.
• The Rosary strengthens our relationship with our Holy Mother, whom Jesus gave to us from the Cross.

So, my dear friends, during this month of the Rosary, let us pick up our beads again and pray with great confidence as people have done for many centuries and as Our Blessed Mother has asked us to do. Pope Francis has asked us rediscover the Rosary for again. We remember that he asked us to pray it to end the COVID pandemic, and he continues to ask us to pray it to seek the end of the war in Ukraine.
           
St. John Paul II taught us, “The holy rosary introduces us into the very heart of faith. With our thought fixed on it, we greet repetitively, joyfully, the holy Mother of God; declare blessed the Son, the sweet fruit of her womb; and invoke her motherly protection in life and in death.”

Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh