What joy for a mother to receive a flower form her little child! Her joy would surely be greater if her little one did not just offer her one rose, but a beautiful bouquet. What joy would be hers if, on a very special day all her children were to decorate the house with more than 175 thousand flowers?
This is what the Rosary is like, this offering that we Catholics give daily to the Virgin Mary, to praise her and to confide to her intercession all our necessities, while meditating on the life of Jesus under Her guidance and as She did. Moreover, when we esteem someone and want heaven to favor them, we put them in our intentions for many Rosaries, and we offer them a spiritual bouquet, as a sign of our affection in the Lord.
When Pope Francis assumed the pontificate, he received, as is to be expected, messages of congratulation from all over the Catholic world. A group, attending to the constant request of the Bishop of Rome to pray for him, sent him a spiritual treasure of 3,525 Rosaries. However, he didn’t seem to like it much… When this became known, it caused perplexity… and not without good reason, – for the fact of diminishing the significance of this devout practice makes stop to think…. What degree of importance does Pope Francis attach to a prayer that he himself has recommended on several occasions? Does he consider praying the Rosary to be a valuable help on the supernatural level, as Catholic doctrine shows?
We know of the privileges, and above all, of the efficacy linked to this practice for centuries. The repetition of the Hail Mary, the basis of the Rosary, promotes a greater understanding of the mysteries of the life of Christ in our souls as we pray. The Church does not see in this repetition a pre-Conciliar custom, but rather, considers it an immortal and fervent manifestation of love.
To those who think that praying many Rosaries is an exaggeration, and that diminishing its frequency is in order, we recall the saying of Lacordaire: ‘Love has but one word, and, in saying that forever, it is never repeated.’ Read on…
