Let’s Pray the Rosary Mauricette Vial-Andru Illustrations by Emmanuel Beaudesson Magnificat · Ignatius
Translated by Janet Chevrier Illustration page 22 by Jean-Marie Michaud. Illustration page 30 from Abbaye Sainte-Marie de Rieunette. Under the direction of Romain Lizé, Vice President, Magnificat Editor, Magnificat: Isabelle Galmiche Editor, Ignatius: Vivian Dudro Proofreader: Anne Dabb Assistant to the Editor: Pascale van de Walle Layout Designer: Elena Germain Production: Thierry Dubus, Sabine Marioni Original French edition: Priez le chapelet mes enfants! © 2013 by Librairie Pierre Téqui, Paris © 2015 by Magnificat, New York • Ignatius Press, San Francisco - All rights reserved. ISBN Ignatius Press 978-1-62164-034-9 • ISBN Magnificat 978-1-941709-02-3 The trademark Magnificat depicted in this publication is used under License from and is the exclusive property of Magnificat Central Service Team, Inc., A Ministry to Catholic Women, and may not be used without its written consent. Printed by DZS, Slovenia Printed on February 2015 Job number MGN15003 Printed in compliance with the Consumer Protection Safety Act, 2008. To my grandchildren With thanks to: Father Antoine-Marie Berthaud, O.P., and Father Didier Vernay, O.P.
Between the author and the reader “Do you pray the Rosary, as the Blessed Virgin so often requested?” “No, that’s only for old ladies.” “Not at all, many young people pray the Rosary.” “It’s always the same prayer. I get bored and my mind wanders.” “But even when that happens, the Rosary lifts up your heart to Mary, who prays with you and for you.” “I’d rather pray to Jesus.” “Jesus came to us through Mary and still comes to us through the Rosary. Without Mary, we wouldn’t have Jesus among us. The Rosary touches the heart of Mary. And she intercedes before God for you and your family. So, hang on tight to your rosary.”
“The Rosary is my favorite prayer.” Saint John Paul II
● Praying the Rosary as a Family............................................... 6 ● Mary, Our Mother in Heaven................................................ 8 ● A Little History of the Rosary............................................... 10 ● Praying to Mary for Religious Freedom................................ 12 ● The Prayer of the Chouans.................................................... 14 ● The Saints and the Rosary...................................................... 16 ● The “Living Rosary” of Pauline Jaricot.................................. 18 ● Fatima and the Prayer for Peace............................................ 20 ● The Rosary in Lourdes........................................................... 22 ● Pompeii and the Apostle of the Rosary, Bartolo Longo...... 24 ● Many Ways to Pray the Rosary.............................................. 26 ● What Joy to Say the Rosary!................................................... 28 ● Your Rosary and You............................................................... 30 ● How to Pray the Rosary......................................................... 32 Contents
6 “Come on, children, it’s prayer time.” Matilda, Helen, John, and Ann kneel down next to their mother before a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes. “Daddy, are you coming?” “Of course, I’m on my way.” Daddy kneels down next to his wife and begins the Rosary: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” He says the first half of the Our Father. Mommy and the children say the second half. Mommy continues, “Hail Mary, full of grace. . . ” The children respond, “Holy Mary, Mother of God. . . ” The rosary beads slip through Mommy’s fingers one by one as she leads each Hail Mary. The whole little family is deep in prayer. But Ann, who is only four, begins to sway. The Rosary is a bit too long for her, so with a nod, Mommy lets her go off to play. John, who is six, valiantly sticks it out to the end. Fidgety Helen receives a nudge from her big sister and immediately settles down. As the eldest, Matilda needs to set a good example. Right to the end of the decade, she responds with a fine Hail Mary. “Bedtime now, children.” This little family, who never misses a day without saying at least one decade of the Rosary, goes to bed calm and serene, to sleep in peace and trustfulness. This is a family that loves one another, in Jesus and Mary. Praying the Rosary as a Family
“The fathers and mothers of families particularly must give an example to their children, especially when, at sunset, they gather together. . . and recite the Holy Rosary on bended knees. . . This is a beautiful and salutary custom, from which certainly there cannot but be derived tranquility and abundance of heavenly gifts for the household.” Pope Pius XI In each decade of the Rosary, you entrust to God all the events in your life—those in your family, your nation, your Church, and the entire world. You entrust your own personal experiences and those of your loved ones. “The family that prays together, stays together,” as Pope Pius XII once said.
8 Mary, Our Mother in Heaven It is hard to lose your mom at the age of nine. That is what happened to Catherine Labouré. Amid her tears, the little girl grasped in her hands the statue of the Virgin Mary that had pride of place on the mantelpiece at home. “From now on, you’ll be my mama,” she whispered to her. Yes, Mary is our Mother. Long ago, on the day of their baptism, many babies were entrusted to Mary by being presented on her altar. She is always close to us throughout our lives, especially whenever we are sick or sad. One day, in the town of Pellevoisin, France, Estelle Faguette fell gravely ill. She was in despair, because her poor parents counted on her salary to make ends meet. So she wrote to the Virgin Mary, begging her to heal her, “O dear Mother, here I am, prostrate at your feet. . . Restore my poor body to health. See the sorrow of my parents. You know they have only me to support them.” The Blessed Virgin was touched by Estelle’s letter. She cured her and appeared to her fifteen times, each time while Estelle was praying the Rosary. All the saints have prayed to the Virgin. And Christians the world over continue praying to her today. Some wear her medal, others bear her name, some entrust their homes to her. Saint Bernard wrote her beautiful poems: each morning, he greeted her statue by singing the Hail, Holy Queen. One day, the statue leaned down toward him and answered: “Hail, Bernard.” Imagine Bernard’s joy!
9 Praying to Mary helps us on our way to heaven. The Holy Spirit is with her. When you pray to her in order to imitate her, the Holy Spirit will shower you with graces. In the past, people wore garlands of roses on their heads in honor of Mary, and decorated her statue with them. These little headpieces were called “chaplets,” from the word “chapel” (meaning “hat”). And so, a chaplet,* as rosary beads were once called, has its origins in these little garlands of roses in honor of Mary. The Rosary is like a crown of roses offered to Mary. Over time, Hail Marys took the place of roses. There are one hundred fifty of them in the original three chaplets of the Rosary, just as there are one hundred fifty psalms in the Bible. *Chaplet: For Christians today, a Rosary is made up of 3 or 4 chaplets (see page 30).
10 In religious communities of the twelfth century, learned monks recited the psalms in Latin, the official language of the Church at that time. But in these communities, some of the brothers did not understand Latin, so they recited the Our Father and the Hail Mary with the aid of a paternoster, a knotted cord, the ancestor of today’s Rosary beads. You might find it interesting to know that all religions use repeated phrases as an aid to prayer. In the fifteenth century, a Dominican, Blessed Alan de la Roche, composed the Rosary prayer as we know it today. He arranged it so that everyone can contemplate the mysteries of the life of Christ (see page 30). That way everyone can memorize and meditate on the essential episodes in the Gospels. Thus, the Rosary is an aid to faith, like the sculptures and stained-glass windows of cathedrals that show scenes from the lives of Jesus and Mary. Mary entrusted the task of preaching the Rosary to Brother Alan, and promised him: “Have no fear. I am with you. I will assist you and all those who recite my Rosary. The Rosary will be a powerful weapon against damnation. It will destroy evil, deliver from sin, and expose heresy.” According to Blessed Alan, Mary first gave the Rosary to Saint Dominic.* When Saint Dominic evangelized the heretics** in the south of France, the people would not listen to him. They ridiculed him. They threatened him. A Little History of the Rosary
Dominic was downhearted, so the Blessed Virgin appeared to him, “Dominic, my son, do not be surprised if you do not succeed. Urge the people to pray to me. Then you will harvest great fruits for the salvation of souls.” Dominic obeyed, and soon Hail Marys intermingled with Our Fathers were recited wherever the saint went. At last, Dominic was heard. From then on, Dominicans wore rosary beads on their belts. *Saint Dominic (c. 1170–1221) founded the Order of Preachers, called Dominicans. **Heretics are those whose religious beliefs are against those of the Church. 1585: Pope Sixtus V approved the use of the Rosary. “This prayer is a weapon against enemies, the sign of my love for Christians.” The Virgin Mary to Saint Dominic
In sixteenth-century Italy, the Turks massacred many Christians. Pope Pius V, who was a Dominican, took immediate action. He prayed the Rosary and asked all Christians to do the same. The Turks went on the attack. Christian ships gathered in the Mediterranean Sea and engaged the Turkish fleet near Lepanto,* off the coast of Greece. Badly outnumbered, the Christians prayed the Rosary and managed to win the battle. They freed fifteen thousand Christians who had been enslaved by the Turks. Praying to Mary for Religious Freedom
The great victory at Lepanto saved Christianity. It was the first time a Christian fleet had succeeded in repulsing the Turkish navy— not through overwhelming force, but through the prayer of the Rosary. As an act of thanksgiving, Pope Saint Pius V instituted the annual Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, celebrated every October 7. That is why the month of October is called the month of the Rosary. Ever since that great Christian victory, the Blessed Virgin Mary is often seen holding rosary beads when she appears and asks that it be prayed. Much later, other men would fight for religious freedom armed with the Rosary. *October 7, 1571: Victory of the Christian Holy League at the Battle of Lepanto. “Through the Rosary, everything can be obtained. It is a long chain linking heaven and earth: one of its ends is held in our hands; the other in the hands of the Blessed Virgin.” Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus
16 Even as a very young girl, Anne de Guigné liked to lead her playmates in processions to honor Mary. “We’ll place a little statue of Mary in a hole in an old tree in the park. Then, we’ll take four big silk garlands I found in an old trunk, and we’ll sing.” But Anne did not stop there. In October, the month dedicated to the Rosary, she gathered what she called “thornless” roses—which are sacrifices joyfully offered— and made them into a “bouquet” for the Blessed Virgin. She felt that Mary was truly our Mother. She would often take her rosary beads out of her pocket and fervently repeat: “Hail Mary, full of grace. . . ” One evening, she told a friend, “I said three Rosaries. Sometimes I got quite distracted, but as soon as I realized my mind was wandering, I refocused my attention.” Another child, a future saint, was just as devoted to Mary. Whenever the village church bell chimed the hour, Jean-Marie Vianney would make the Sign of the Cross and recite a Hail Mary. One day, his little sister, Marguerite, wanted to have his rosary, those precious beads that never left his side. John refused. His little sister screamed and screamed. “Out of love for God, give it to her,” his mother told him. In tears, the little boy gave his rosary to his sister. How hard it was for him to part with it! But his mother, moved by the sight, took him by the hand, led him into the house, and gave him a little statue of the Blessed Virgin. The future saint, the Curé of Ars, never forgot the joy he felt on receiving this wonderful gift. The Saints and the Rosary
17 Along with his friends, Saint Dominic Savio founded the Company of the Immaculate Conception with one magnificent goal: “We will do the will of the Blessed Virgin, and we’ll teach others to pray the Rosary,” he explained. Pope Pius XI used to say, “Until the pope has said his Rosary, his day is not complete.”
“If you wish peace to reign in your homes, recite the family Rosary.” Pope Saint Pius X The Sorrowful Mysteries: The Agony in the Garden The Scourging at the Pillar The Crowning with Thorns The Carrying of the Cross The Crucifixion The Glorious Mysteries: The Resurrection The Ascension The Descent of the Holy Spirit The Assumption of Mary The Coronation of Mary The Joyful Mysteries: The Annunciation The Visitation The Nativity The Presentation in the Temple The Finding of the Child Jesus The Luminous Mysteries: The Baptism of the Lord The Wedding at Cana The Proclamation of the Kingdom The Transfiguration of the Lord The Institution of the Eucharist How to Pray the Rosary The Rosary is made up of three or four chaplets. All together, the original three (the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries) equate with the one hundred fifty psalms in the Bible. The fourth chaplet, the Luminous Mysteries, was added by Saint John Paul II. Each chaplet contains five mysteries. Each mystery is prayed by a decade, or ten Hail Marys, preceded by one Our Father and concluded with one Glory Be. To start your chaplet, you say the Apostles’ Creed followed by three Hail Marys (often offered for the pope’s intentions or to grow in faith, hope and love) and a Glory Be.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzMzNzY=