(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of
Perpetual Help on 22 January 2011)
Last week, we announced about “A Crown of Roses A Day”. Those of you
who have been attending this Novena might have guessed what we meant. Yes, it is
about the Rosary, which comes from the Latin word rosarium, meaning a garden or garland of roses. Recall what St.
Louis de Montfort wrote in The Secret of
the Rosary? Every five decades of the Rosary devoutly prayed is a little
crown of heavenly roses which we place on the heads of Jesus and Mary. So the
complete Rosary is a large crown of roses, which is the gift that we want to
give to Jesus and Mary as our Parish Golden Jubilee gift.
For three months last year, we have shared on various aspects of the
Rosary. We hope that all would be spurred to pray the Rosary daily. That, is
the ultimate goal of proposing “A Crown of Roses A Day”.
Last year, our BECs and several non-parishioners started hand-making
and sponsoring rosaries for the poor under the SFX Parish Assembly – May Group
2010 project. They made more than 2500 rosaries and are still counting. And so
this year, we would like to invite you to spiritualise our gift to them. How?
By praying the Rosary for each and every one of them. On its own, the rosary
beads may be meaningless to a hungry stomach, but with prayers attached, it
gives some hope of changing the situation. We place their needs in God’s hands.
This proposal comes with a firm believe in what the Rosary can do to
and for those who pray it faithfully.
Praying the Rosary daily would sanctify our Golden Jubilee Year.
This is in line with our Parish Priest, Fr. Simon Yong’s call for a renewal of
holiness in this year of grace.
At the same time, we pray for ourselves, our nation and the Church,
thus rekindling the Christian hope that we are called to live and bear,
especially in today’s climate of despair.
These three main objectives are encapsulated in the 5 special
intentions of our prayer, one for each decade of the Rosary.
Let
me explain now how we can weave “A Crown of Roses A Day” together. Everyday, at least four persons will pray the Rosary, each a different
set of mysteries, to make a complete Rosary of 20 mysteries a day as a parish.
We will start on our parish anniversary date, 2 February, and we will
pray until every recipient of our rosaries is prayed for.
We
hope that you, devotees of our Blessed Mother, would take the lead in this. To participate
is simple. Check for empty slots in the roster on the SFX website, or outside
the Santa Maria della Strada Chapel. Choose a set of mysteries and a date to pray. Register your
name in the empty slots. You may register to pray only once a day, so that
the complete crown would be a collective effort. However, you may register to
pray for any number of days. You may pray anywhere
and anytime of the day.
No reminders will be sent, as it is your own commitment to God, but please do keep your prayer appointments faithfully. You may use the cards available outside the chapel to remind yourselves of your respective slots.
In case of contingency empty slots, we would like to contact
pray-ers to fill up the slots and pray them. If you are able to take up a slot
at short notice, you may register to be a SOS Prayer Warrior. Leave your name
and contact in the box outside the chapel, or register online.
If you happen to notice empty slots about a week before its actual
date, we would encourage you to sign up for those slots if you can, so that our
gift remains unbroken. You may also encourage others to pray, or initiate groups
to pray “A Crown of Roses A Day” and register as a group or BEC. Please do also
help those who have no Internet access, sick or elderly or home-bound to
register as pray-ers.
More information is available on the SFX
website or outside the chapel.
Together, let us realise this spiritual gift. It is a gift for our
poor brethren and our gift to Our Lord and Our Lady. Ultimately, may it be a
pleasing Parish Golden Jubilee gift to God our Heavenly Father.
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