| TRAINING IN HOLINESS: the POWER of the Holy Rosary |
| Ours is a society of lost souls suffering from a spiritual deprivation entirely of our own making. Unable to define, nor confront its' causes, we continue to pursue various paths that promise happiness but yield only more unhappiness, error, sin, and at worst, self-destruction. We yearn for more meaning to our lives than what we can readily perceive. We search for a purpose in life, but do not know where to turn. Without God we are lost. I know that every human being is "programmed" to look for God. Even people who firmly attest to atheism, and whose "faith" stubbornly clings to science, as if it were a god, must ultimately face the truth - that there does exist a Supreme Creator - God, whose presence in our lives is very real. If it is difficult for people ( even the Christian faithful ) to find God, it is not because He is beyond our reach. It is because we are not making use of the means He made available to us to make the "connection" with Him. God planted within each one of us the seed of holiness, the growth of which depends entirely on our willingness to acknowledge it and nurture it. The only way to reach this fruition is through prayer. It opens the "spiritual lines of communication" betwen us and our Heavenly Father. And the most powerful prayer is the Holy Rosary, by which we contemplate the mysteries of Jesus' Life, Death, and Resurrection. In order for holiness to develop, and be revealed in us, we must allow His Spirit to guide our thoughts, words, and actions. Only then, may the Spirit of God radiate through us. When we become a reflection of His love, we will have met God within our souls and experience a glimmer of the majesty of the Kingdom to come! |
| The following are excerpts selected from Pope John Paul II, " Apostolic Letter on the Most Holy Rosary. " ( October 16, 2002 ) |
| At the start of a millenium which began with the terrifying attacks of September 11, 2001, a millenium which witnesses every day in numerous parts of the world fresh scenes of bloodshed and violence, to rediscover the Rosary means to immerse oneself in contemplation of the mystery of Christ who " is our peace " since He made " the two of us one ", and broke down the dividing wall of hostility. ( Eph 2:14) Consequently, one cannot recite the Rosary without feeling caught up in a clear commitment to advancing peace, especially in the land of Jesus, still so sorely afflicted and so close to the heart of every Christian. |
The Rosary...has all the depth of the Gospel message in it's entirety, of which it can be said to be a compendium. It is an echo of the prayer of Mary, Her perennial Magnificat for the work of the redemptive Incarnation which began in Her virginal womb. With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary, and is led to contemplate the beauty of the face of Christ, and to experience the depths of His love. Through the Rosary, the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer. In Her many Apparitions on earth, like in Lourdes, and Fatima, the Virgin Mary always recommended the recitation of the Rosary to obtain peace, and to stop heresies. |
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