The Rosary as an Intercessory Prayer

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 2 October 2010)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Next Thursday, 7 October, the Church celebrates the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. It is the anniversary of the Christian’s victory in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, two years after Pope St. Pius V officially approved the Rosary. The Church celebrates it not only to commemorate the victory, but also to thank God for His providence and remember the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Ottoman Turks were ravaging Eastern Europe then. If they succeeded in raiding the coast of Italy, they would gain control of the Mediterranean, and possibly invade Rome. As the Christian’s Holy League prepared for battle to stem this, Pope St. Pius V asked that the Rosary be recited publicly throughout Europe, for Our Lady’s intercession for victory. On the day of the battle, members of the Confraternity of the Rosary in Rome processed praying the Rosary (Feeney, downloaded 2 Oct 2009). Although outnumbered, the Christians won the battle miraculously in just a few hours.

While historians see it as a major battle of minor significance, the victory was a religious triumph to the Christians, and a psychological boost to the European world – the seemingly unbeatable Turks were beaten.

Closer to us, exactly 75 years after that, another celebration due to the intercession of Our Lady through the Rosary took place. It was the Feast of La Naval de Manila, first celebrated on 8 October 1646 in Manila. It marked the victory of the Spanish and Filipino Catholic forces against the invasion of the Dutch in 1646.

In the Battles of La Naval, the joint Filipino-Spanish forces had only two aged and ill-equipped Spanish warships to fight against the Dutch fleet that arrived in Manila. Remembering Lepanto, and as advised by the Dominican friars, the sailors prayed the Holy Rosary before each encounter with the Dutch between 15 March and 4 October. (Manila Bulletin, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009) They recited it in alternating choruses on the bridges of the two ships (Faroni and Crisostomo, 2006). Finally, the Dutch fleet gave up and left the country (Manila Bulletin, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009). In thanksgiving, the Spanish church leaders declared the first celebration of the feast in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary. Every year since then, on the second Sunday of October, there is a procession from Manila to Quezon City (Manila Bulletin, 2008). According to Fr. Marie-Dominic, as cited by Fr. Faroni and Crisostomo (2006), this victory was important because it saved Catholicism in Asia; had the Protestant Dutch won, Christendom might have been destroyed as in Sri Lanka when they conquered it in 1657.

Dear brothers and sisters, these are just two of many true and significant examples of how powerful the Rosary is. Fr. Faroni and Crisostomo wrote in “The Five Warnings” that even greater victories were won through the Rosary in the 20^th century, especially against the apostate forces of Freemasonry and Communism.

The intercessory nature of the Rosary is evident by the invocation to our Holy Mother to “pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death”. St. James wrote in the Bible, “…the fervent prayer of a righteous man is very powerful.” What more the prayer of our Blessed Mother, who was sinless and Jesus’ most perfect disciple, and now living with God in heaven?

In the Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Pope John Paul II wrote that in the Rosary, we pray to Christ with Mary. He wrote, “If Jesus, the one Mediator, is the Way of our prayer, then Mary, his purest and most transparent reflection, shows us the Way.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church (#2679) says, “The prayer of the Church is sustained by the prayer of Mary”. As at the wedding of Cana, Mary makes our needs known to Jesus. Thus Mary, sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, fulfils her role as the Queen Mother of the Church, who prays with us and for us before the Father and the Son. (Pope JPII, 2002) And we know, that never was it known, that anyone who sought her intercession was left unaided.

Pope JPII further wrote, “To pray the Rosary is to hand over our burdens to the merciful hearts of Christ and his Mother”, for the psalmist says (Ps. 55:23), “Cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you”.

Do we not hear of despair nowadays? Can our problems be too difficult for God? Accompanied by our Blessed Mother, we dare to go before Him and plead unceasingly. Praying the Rosary is the best way to do so.

References:

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Faroni & Crisostomo. 2006. The Five Warnings.

Feeney, R. n.d. St. Dominic & The Rosary. Downloaded on 2 October 2009 from the Catholic-pages.com website: http://www.catholic-pages.com/prayers/rosary_dominic.asp

John Paul II. 2002. Apostolic Letter: Rosarium Virginis Mariae.

Manila Bulletin (via Highbeam Research)