RosaryEucharist

3 praise to God to thank him for the great grace of our redemption.” It is this redemption that we receive, above all, in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Now how can we more intimately know the abiding connection between the mysteries of the Rosary and the Eucharistic mystery? While giving the traditional structure of the prayers of the Rosary, the booklet adds a general opening prayer and a concluding prayer. For each of the mysteries, a Scriptural passage and an original prayer precede the Our Father. The additional prayers allow our hearts to connect the mysteries of this supreme Marian prayer with the Holy Eucharist. Moreover, when we pray the Rosary with the beautiful artwork offered in these pages, we can see in ever-new ways that our Rosary can prepare us to adore and receive Christ himself in the Eucharist. Saint John Paul II’s apostolic letter on the Rosary recognizes a number of possible adaptations. But he insists on one thing above all others: “What is really important is that the Rosary should always be seen and experienced as a path of contemplation. In the Rosary, in a way similar to what takes place in the Liturgy, the Christian week, centered on Sunday, the day of Resurrection, becomes a journey through the mysteries of the life of Christ, and he is revealed in the lives of his disciples as the Lord of time and of history.” When we pray the Rosary during our earthly journey, we are moved to contemplate the face of Christ with his Mother— even when we may be tempted to give up. Pope Francis has said, “Never abandon the Rosary. Never abandon the Rosary.” God is now lavishing the graces of a Eucharistic Revival, a time for the Holy Spirit to work in new ways in our hearts and across our land. By the power of the Spirit, we can pray the Rosary with a love that will lead us to adore and receive Christ himself, present in the Holy Eucharist, to the glory of God the Father. In this way, when it is time to approach Holy Communion, we can receive the grace to become living tabernacles of the Lord in a world made for his presence. ■

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