A Crown of Roses A Day - A gift of prayer in conjunction with the SFX Golden Jubilee Year

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 22 January 2011)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

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.

The Rosary as a Path to Holiness

(Sharing during Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 4 December 2010)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Recently, I was advised against promoting the Rosary as a path to holiness, as it may put off the young. Holiness, it seems, is no longer an ideal. However, in this penultimate sharing in our Rosary series, there is no escape, for it is the title itself. Indeed, as Christians, holiness is certainly our “business”. Mother Teresa once told a journalist that holiness is not a choice, but a necessity.

In the Bible, God often commanded the Israelites to be holy, for He, their God, is holy. Jesus also taught, “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5:48) The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that all are called to holiness. Impossible for us weak human beings? But as a priest said, if we cannot be holy, then Jesus’ coming and dying on the Cross would have been in vain. We can be trained to be holy.

Genuine training in holiness, said Pope John Paul II, involves contemplating the Christian mystery (Novo Millennio Ineunte, 2001) and the Rosary is a most effective way towards it. (Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 2002, 5). Throughout the centuries, countless Popes and Saints had strongly encouraged the Rosary devotion. They themselves being its ardent devotees, became the proof of its efficacy in leading one to holiness.

How does the Rosary effect this? Blessed Bartolo Longo equated it with two friends frequently in each other's company tending to develop similar habits (RVM, 2002, 15). So from frequent meditation on the Mysteries, as Pope Pius XII wrote, the soul gradually and unnoticeably absorbs the virtues they contain, and is wondrously inspired with a longing for things immortal. It becomes strongly and easily moved to follow the way which Christ and His Mother have followed. (Ingruentium Malorum, 1951, 9) Thus the Rosary helps us in answering our Christian calling to be conformed to Christ. Many people have testified being healed of addictions, or inexplicably filled with a thirst for the knowledge of God after praying the Rosary.

But the best tool is useless unless correctly used. So how to pray the Rosary correctly and effectively? You have heard them in our previous sharings.

Foremost, the secret is in the contemplation, without which the Rosary would be like a body without a soul. We should not recite the Rosary prayers unthinkingly and mechanically, but we must contemplate and meditate on the mysteries of the life of our Lord with His Mother. To counter distractions, we can use pictures and images from leaflets, booklets, the Internet, and even statues. Looking at the scenes of the mysteries meditated on helps a lot. Remember our sharing on the Ignatian way of praying the Rosary? For our sights, God will give us insight. We can take a step further and imagine that we are in the scenes. Picture Jesus and Mary looking at us and talking to us. Rosary leaflets and books are sold at bookstands outside the church. On the Internet, meditations and images to help in praying the Rosary abound. Just google “Praying the Rosary”. To ensure more trustworthy content, you may use the Catholic search engine, Cathoogle. Other means to consider are using beads to pray, praying before our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and joining in public Rosary prayers in the church. At our parish, we pray the Rosary every Saturday at 5.20 p.m. Since it is only once a week, we pray the mysteries in a monthly cycle following Jesus’ life cycle, i.e. His birth, public ministry, passion and death, and Resurrection.

Lack of time? Well, we can pray the Rosary anywhere, anytime. If really hard-pressed, we can pray while waiting, walking, driving (as long as we can remain careful), washing, etc. Ultimately, it is making a point to pray. Mother Teresa said, “God doesn’t require us to succeed; he only requires that you try.” The Devil increases attacks on those who start praying, but perseverance is the key. Our Lady’s 15 promises may encourage us.

At our recent Parish Assembly, our Parish Pastor, Fr. Simon, has outlined the way for us in entering our Jubilee Year, i.e. towards a renewal of holiness. The Rosary is simple and efficacious towards this end, so why not put to use this precious tool given to us? Trustingly with our Mother, let us “learn” Christ and conform to Him more and more.  

Pray the Rosary, Pray the Gospel

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 20 November 2010)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

We, Catholics, are often accused of not reading the Bible. This may be true, but, as a remark I came across the Internet says, we pray the Bible. How so? By praying the Rosary.

Do you know that in the Rosary prayer, we have a very handy “compendium of the entire Gospel”, as traditionally phrased by Pope Pius XII? The Rosary is biblical because its mysteries are drawn from the New Testament. In the Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus, Pope Paul VI described it as “a Gospel prayer, centred on the mystery of the redemptive Incarnation…”. And so, although the Rosary may seem to be more Marian in character, at heart it is actually Christ-centred. Pope Paul VI wrote: “…the succession of Hail Mary's constitutes the warp on which is woven the contemplation of the mysteries. The Jesus that each Hail Mary recalls is the same Jesus whom the succession of the mysteries proposes to us-now as the Son of God, now as the Son of the Virgin…”.

To illustrate, let us now see the Gospel in the Rosary mysteries.

The Joyful Mysteries present the joyous and decisive moment of our Redemption in the Annunciation and Mary’s “yes” to God’s mission for her. We travel with Mary to visit her cousin Elizabeth, where she imparted the Holy Spirit to St. John the Baptist, the herald of Jesus Christ, while still in his mother’s womb. We hear Mary praising God for fulfilling His promises in the Magnificat. Further on unfold the mysteries of Jesus’ virginal birth, His infancy and His childhood.

The Luminuous Mysteries bring us into the public life of Jesus – His Baptism in the Jordan at the start of His ministry; the first manisfestation of His glory at the wedding at Cana; His proclamation of the Kingdom of God by His teaching, preaching, calls to conversion and healing; His Transfiguration where God reveals the glory to be given to Him; and His institution of the Eucharist by which He made Himself present to us for all time to come.

The Sorrowful Mysteries remind us of Jesus’ humble submission to the Father’s will even while in agony in the Garden of Getshsemane; the horrendous torture, pain and humiliation that He went through in His scourging at the pillar, His crowning with thorns, His carrying of the Cross and finally His death on the Cross – all for the sake of saving us.

The Glorious Mysteries proclaim the triumphant victory of Jesus Christ over sin and death by His resurrection. He was raised to His rightful place at the right hand of the Father at His Ascension. We then see the Church born in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit by its prayers as a family together with Mary (JPII, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, #23, 2002), the Mother of the Church. We are reminded of the glorious end we are destined for in the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven. The last mystery presents Mary as Queen of the Angels and Saints (JPII, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, #23, 2002), shining forth in the glory bestowed by the Father for her faithful and perfect discipleship. We are thus assured of her powerful intercession for us as we journey towards our heavenly home. The last two mysteries, although not explicitly written in the Bible, flowed from the faith of the Church based on revelations of the truths in the Bible.

There you have the entire Gospel presented in the Rosary. Indeed, a complete Rosary is the entire 20 mysteries. Brother John M. Samaha wrote on the Mary Page website: (quote)

“To know how to pray the twenty mysteries of the rosary means that we know the basics about the life of Jesus and his teachings – his life, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension; the meaning of Jesus’ Incarnation and Redemption.  This challenges us to ponder what these mysteries mean for us today. In reality the rosary is a compendium of the Gospel; it is the Gospel strung on beads.” (unquote)

And so, the Gospel can be easily prayed anywhere, anytime (as long as not interfering with our duties), and by anyone, even the illiterate. We don’t even have to carry the Bible with us! And we can be sure that we would be pleasing God, since the Gospel is the very Word of God. So let us pray the Rosary, and we’ll be praying the Gospel – in a simple way, and in union with Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother.

The Hail Mary Prayer

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 30 October 2010)

Last week we heard about Glorifying the Blessed Trinity, and this week as we continue on the theme of the Rosary, I shall share on the Hail Mary Prayer.

I believe all of us here, however young or old we may be, pray the rosary, be it all 4 mysteries, one mystery, one decade, 3 Hail Mary’s or even one Hail Mary.

However, the question that perhaps we should ask ourselves are :

1)    Do we pray the rosary and the Hail Mary meaningfully?

2)    Do we contemplate on the Hail Mary as we pray or do we merely say it while our heart and mind wander thinking about other matters ?

3)    Do we truly understand the Hail Mary prayer when we pray it?

As such, today my sharing is divided into 2 main aspects:

1)    A brief  history of the Hail Mary prayer

2)    The meaning of the Hail Mary Prayer.

Some of us may be familiar with the tradition that goes back many centuries and which has been accepted in the writings of many Popes, as to the connection of St. Dominic with the beginnings of the Rosary devotion. 

According to tradition, Mary appeared to St. Dominic during the Albigensian heresy which ravaged Christendom, and told him to use her Psalter in conjunction with his preaching of the mysteries of our salvation, as an instrument in combatting the great heresy of his day during the 13th century.

We have to keep in mind that over the centuries there has been a considerable evolution in the form that this devotion called the Rosary has taken. We have to remember that in the time of St. Dominic, the HAIL MARY did not exist as we pray it today. Only the first half of it was then used. The word JESUS was not added until the 14th century, and the second half of the prayer came later still. 


Some of us perhaps when asked about why Catholics pray the Hail Mary, would have explained that it was a prayer in which we ask the mother of Jesus to pray for us. Since Mary is so close to her Son in heaven, she serves as an ideal intercessor whose prayers bring us closer to Jesus. 

While this is true, today I would like to share the approach Pope John Paul II took when explaining the Hail Mary in his apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae (RVM). For Pope John Paul II, the Hail Mary is not just an intercessory prayer that is permissible for Christians to recite. It's actually a Christ-centered prayer that gives Jesus great praise.He explains the Hail Mary prayer in 4 main aspects :

1^st aspect:  Put Yourself in Gabriel's Shoes

First, Pope John Paul II explains that although the Hail Mary is addressed to Our Lady, "it is to Jesus that the act of love is ultimately directed" (RVM, no. 26). When expounding on this prayer, he divides the Hail Mary into two halves. The words from the first half of the Hail Mary express "the wonder of heaven and earth" over the mystery of Christ in the womb of the Virgin Mary (RVM, no. 33).

So what does he means about "the wonder of heaven and earth" in the Hail Mary?  The first line -- "Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee" -- is drawn right from the angel Gabriel's words to Our Lady in the Annunciation (Lk. 1:28). To fully appreciate the meaning of this opening line in the Hail Mary, imagine what these words originally meant to the Archangel Gabriel. Gabriel is an angel who existed long before Mary did. In fact, Gabriel was there when God first created the world. From the beginning of his existence, Gabriel has been worshipping, adoring, and loving the infinite, almighty God, the Creator: the Blessed Trinity.

In awe over that profound mystery of his eternal God becoming a little embryo in Mary's womb, Gabriel greets Mary saying, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk. 1:28). In joyful wonder, Gabriel recognizes this, and his words give praise to God for becoming man in her.

The 2^nd aspect :Joining Heaven and Earth

Similarly, Elizabeth greets Mary with great honor. The biblical account of the Visitation tells us that Elizabeth was "filled with the Holy Spirit" (Lk. 1:41), which indicates that she was given prophetic insight. Before Mary has a chance to say anything about her own pregnancy, Elizabeth already knows. And she knows Mary is pregnant not with any ordinary child, but with the Lord Himself. In wonder over this mystery of God becoming man in Mary, Elizabeth exclaims, "blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" Like Gabriel, Elizabeth's words give praise to God for the Incarnation.

The 3^rd aspect : God's Own Wonderment

Since these words of Gabriel and Elizabeth are from the inspired Word of God in Scripture, they also represent God's own response to the mystery of the Christ. Hence, whenever we repeat these words in the Hail Mary, we participate in God's joy over the Incarnation. As Pope John Paul II explains, "These words could be said to give us a glimpse of God's own wonderment as he contemplates his ‘masterpiece' -- the Incarnation of the Son in the womb of the Virgin Mary. . . . The repetition of the Hail Mary gives us a share in God's own wonder and pleasure.

The second half of the Hail Mary also is focused on Jesus. Here, we entrust our lives to Mary's intercession, asking her to "pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death."

As a 1^st model disciple of Christ, who said "yes" to God's will all throughout her life -- from the time when Gabriel first appeared to her all the way to the Cross -- Mary is the ideal person to be interceding for us through the many trials and struggles we face in our lives. We ask her to pray for us, so that we may follow God faithfully like she did. As the CCC teaches, "She prays for us as she prayed for herself: ‘let it be to me according to your word.' by entrusting ourselves to her prayer, we abandon ourselves to the will of God together with her: ‘Thy will be done'" (no. 2677).

The 4th aspect :The Language of Love

Finally, we see just how Christ-centered the Hail Mary is when we come to what Pope John Paul II calls "the hinge" of this prayer: the holy name of Jesus. Not only is the name of Jesus the hinge that binds the two halves together, but it is truly meant to be the "center of gravity" of the entire Hail Mary.

This should encourage us to examine how we pray the Hail Mary: Is Jesus' name truly "the center of gravity" of our prayer? Do we treat the name of Jesus with extra care and speak His name with love when we recite the Hail Mary?

Pope John Paul II notes how emphasis should be given to the name of Jesus in this prayer. However, if we pray the Hail Mary too quickly, we may not give the proper reverence and loving attention to Jesus' name that we should. "Sometimes, in hurried recitation, this centre of gravity can be overlooked" (RVM, no. 33)

Another analogy might be taken from the language of love. Like a lover tenderly speaking the name of one's beloved, we should speak the name of Jesus in this prayer. With each Hail Mary, we should affectionately repeat the name of our Bridegroom -- "blessed is the fruit of thy womb . . . Jesus" -- so that the holy name of Jesus, spoken with tender love, truly becomes the heartbeat of every Hail Mary we pray.

So dear friends, do you realize that every time you recite the Hail Mary, you are repeating these words of Gabriel and Elizabeth? And in doing so, you enter into the ecstatic joy of "heaven and earth" over the mystery of Christ: heaven, represented by Gabriel, and earth, represented by Elizabeth. Both come together to praise God for becoming man in Jesus Christ, the child conceived in Mary's womb. And we join in that praise of God every time we pray the Hail Mary. Indeed, the Hail Mary is truly a Christ-centered prayer!

Difficulties in Praying the Rosary

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 16 October 2010)

My dear friends,

Today’s sharing is on “The Difficulties in Praying the Rosary” and I would like to begin by sharing with you an experience. It is an experience that all of us go through each day in all seasons. It is called “DAWN”.

Many of us have seen the word ‘dawn’ in songs and movies but may not be aware that ‘dawn’, although often associated with ‘emergence of light after a period of darkness’ is not sunlight itself.

Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise.  It should not be confused with sunrise. It is the period of time in-between night and morning where it is the coldest and darkest. It is the time where we do not wish to wake up, especially those of us who have to work or go to school in the next few hours. It is the time where things seem lifeless as there is nothing much going around. It is the time where our surroundings look eerie. In short, dawn is the dragging moment before sunrise.

As dawn progresses, faint beams of sunlight began to emerge. Slowly, the sun rises from the horizon, illuminating our land and bringing light back to our world once more. As we wake up, activities began. Those of us who work, goes to work. Children who are schooling go to school. Those of us who are holy go to Church, singing praises to God for a new day! Indeed, the coldest, darkest part of the night has passed.

My dear friends,

Starting to pray the Rosary may be like “dawn” to some of us. We may feel distracted or discouraged as it may be perceived to be long and repetitive. After all, we are praying five decades of Hail Mary’s, which may seem ‘long’, not forgetting the Our Father, Glory Be and Apostles’ Creed.

Perhaps we may be lazy, just like during dawn when we are in slumberland, not wishing to wake up.

It may also be difficult in keeping focus on the Mysteries as very often our minds tend to wander and let distracting thoughts enter.

Or, perhaps we may be facing some of life’s challenges which may seem overwhelming.

In other words, the process of starting to pray the Rosary is like the coldest and darkest part before morning comes.

But, just like we endure the chill and lifelessness of dawn, we need to endure the ‘dawn’ in our minds which takes us away from meditating upon the Holy Mysteries of the Rosary. Some ways could be:

• Try not to let ourselves float and slide and be carried away by imagination.

• When tired and without much focus, "concentrate" on the peaceful repetition of the Hail Mary’s, entering its rhythm and imaging to be in the company of Mary.

• If we are in somewhat better disposition, let us try to focus on images of Jesus, Mary or scenes of their lives as in the Mysteries. Look at and contemplate what we see, while praying the different decades. It will lead us to a reflection on the deeper meaning of each one of the Mysteries.

• In a special manner, let us also try to develop a personal habit to pray the Rosary in company with Mother Mary.

A Redemptorist priest once shared that praying the Rosary is like making and putting a crown of roses on Mother Mary’s head; each bead representing one rose.

Just like the flow that comes after dawn, daybreak will emerge as sunlight appears slowly and surely. The Rosary brings hope just like daybreak, which heralds morning. Mother Mary has promised that whoever prays the Rosary shall receive special protection and the greatest graces. Indeed, Mother Mary is like morning after dawn and that is why she was bestowed with the title “Morning Star.”

Praying the Rosary and overcoming the ‘dawn’ that distracts us from praying are our best ways to reach Our Mother of Perpetual Help and seek her intercession to pray with us and for us.