Letter from General Prioress – Our Lady of the Holy Rosary 2022

Por 9 October, 20222022-Letter

Our Lady of the Holy Rosary 2022

Dear sisters:

The Dominican Order has inherited the Rosary from Saint Dominic and of so many brothers and sisters who have always extended devotion to our Lady of the Rosary.

October is the month especially dedicated to the Rosary. Millions of people in the world pray it to ask for or in thanksgiving for what they carry in the intimacy of their hearts, since they feel the Virgin as a mother who accompanies them.

Today, because it is her feast day, we go to her in a special way, through the recitation of the Rosary. In the midst of the repetition of the Hail Mary, we focus on the person of Jesus, on his birth, life, death and resurrection. The five joyful mysteries, the sorrowful, the glorious and also the luminous have Jesus as the main protagonist, he is our brother, friend and savior, but we also see how in one way or another in all of them we find the presence of the Virgin Mary. Perhaps for this reason, several Popes have highlighted “the evangelical nature” of this prayer and its deeply Christological orientation.

In the words of Saint Pius X, “The Rosary is the most beautiful of all prayers, richest in grace and the one that most pleases our Mother Mary.

Saint Paul VI: “The recitation of the Rosary demands a quiet and reflective rhythm that favors those who pray it as a meditation of the mysteries of the life of the Lord, seen through the heart of the one who was closest to the Lord”.

Saint John Paul II said, “The Rosary is my favorite prayer. Wonderful prayer! Marvelous in its simplicity and profundity”. The Rosary has accompanied me in moments of joy and in those of tribulation. To him I have entrusted so many concerns and in him I have always found comfort.

Benedict XVI says: “Contemplating in the Mother of God an existence totally shaped by the Word, we too are called to enter into the mystery of faith, with which Christ comes to dwell in our lives” (Verbum Domini 28).

Pope Francis explains that “by praying the Hail Mary, we are led to reflect on the central moments in the life of Jesus, so that, as for Mary and for Saint Joseph, He may be the center of our thoughts, attentions and actions.”

There are many stories of saints who have expressed, with profound words, the effective and, at the same time, tender way of approaching God through this prayer.

For Saint Teresa of Calcutta: “Mary is our mother, the cause of our joy. Being a mother, I have never had any difficulty in talking to Mary and feeling very close to her.”

When his spiritual children asked him to leave them his spiritual heritage, Padre Pio responded immediately without even thinking: “The Rosary.”

Sisters, I would like to invite you not only to be lovers of this very Dominican prayer – the Rosary, but also to be great promoters of this Marian devotion.

Wishing you all a blessed feastday of Our Lady of the Rosary.

A warm embrace and with my prayer,

                                               Sor Mª Asunción González, O.P.

                                                         Prioress General

 

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