A renewed challenge to revisit the Rosary

As Catholics begin the month of October, our hearts turn with renewed devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to one of the Church’s most beloved prayers – the Holy Rosary.
For centuries, the Rosary has been a source of grace, peace, and spiritual strength and comfort for the faithful. According to tradition, the Blessed Mother appeared to St. Dominic in 1214, entrusting him with the gift of the Rosary as a powerful weapon against sin and a pathway to deeper union with her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Rosary, in its current form of 15 mysteries – Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious – was formally established by Pope Pius V in 1569. In 2002, Pope St. John Paul II enriched this devotion by introducing the Luminous Mysteries, inviting us to contemplate the public life ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through each decade, we journey through the life, death, and Resurrection of Christ, seen through the loving eyes of his Mother, who was present at every moment.

October 7 marks the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, and the entire month is dedicated to this beautiful prayer. This year, at his General Audience on Sept. 24, Pope Leo XIV has called upon all Catholics to pray the Rosary daily throughout October, especially for peace in our troubled world: “I invite everyone to pray the Rosary every day during the coming month – for peace – personally, with your families and in your communities.” His appeal comes at a time of global unrest, and his words remind us that prayer is our most powerful response to conflict and division.

October is also Respect Life Month, a time when we are called to reflect on the sacredness of human life from conception to natural death. What better way to uphold the dignity of life than through the intercession of the Mother of Life herself? The Rosary is a powerful prayer for the protection of the unborn, the vulnerable, the suffering, the victims of violence and war and the dying. It is a prayer for the conversion of hearts and the healing of our culture.

I pray the Rosary daily. It is one of my most beloved devotions, allowing me to lift up the many intentions entrusted to me by parishioners and others I encounter in my visits throughout our Diocese. As your bishop, I encourage each of you – clergy, religious, and laity – to embrace this prayer anew. Whether you are young or old, saint or sinner, the Rosary is for you. If you are unfamiliar with it, I invite you to begin. Google it!  “YouTube” it!  If you already pray it, share it with others. Teach your children, pray with your families and bring it into your parishes and communities.

Let us unite this October in a great chorus of praying the Rosary, asking Our Lady to intercede for peace in our world, for the protection of all human life from conception to natural death, and for the grace to follow her Son more faithfully. May the Rosary be our refuge, our strength and our guide, always leading us to the heart of her Son, “now and at the hour of our death.   Amen.”

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