Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, Wednesday, October 7th
The month of October each year is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary in honor of the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, which is celebrated on October 7th. We honor the Blessed Virgin Mary in gratitude for the protection she gives the Church in answer to the praying of the Rosary by the faithful.
The Battle of Lepanto was won in 1571 on October 7. Known for several centuries by the alternate title of “Our Lady of Victory,” the feast day takes place in honor of a 16th-century naval victory that secured Europe against Turkish invasion. Pope St. Pius V attributed the victory to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was invoked on the day of the battle through a campaign to pray the Rosary throughout Europe.
Since October is the month of the Rosary, we also encourage all parishioners to join us in praying the Rosary every Wednesday after 9:15 AM Daily Mass during the month.
Rosary Coast to Coast- Sunday, October 4th
Meet us on the porch at 4 PM on Sunday, October 4th, and we will process to Lockwood Blvd. We will pray the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary at the same time people from all over the Nation are praying for our country. For those who do not wish to walk or if it is raining, we will have the Rosary on the front porch of the church. Hope you can join us!
Thank you to everyone who came out to pray the rosary with us. To God be the glory!
Stewardship of Prayer: The Rosary
In the midst of our busy lives, October strikes a peaceful note. Summer travel is over, and we’re back into a routine. Crisp football weather and vibrant autumn colors abound, and the snow shovels remain out of sight. The holiday rush lies weeks in the future, with the simple pleasures of Halloween the only red-letter date on our calendars.
If October provides a bit of a lull in a hectic world, how appropriate that October is designated the month of the Rosary. The popularity of the Rosary has waxed and waned in recent years, but perhaps nothing testifies to the Rosary’s strength and durability more than the example of James Foley, the American journalist beheaded by the terror group ISIL in 2014. A Marquette University graduate, Foley had earlier been captured and held captive in Libya. Released from that first captivity, he told his alma mater that prayer had seen him through the ordeal. “I began to pray the Rosary. It was what my mother and grandmother would have prayed.”
Indeed, millions of Catholic women still sleep with the Rosary under their pillow or by their bedside. Next to the crucifix, it’s probably the most common Catholic sacramental in our homes. Yet, sometimes, we neglect to pray the Rosary. Why? Perhaps it was those childhood Rosaries, with our minds wandering to the playground as we waited for the droning of repetitive prayers to end. But if it’s just meaningless recitation, it’s not what the Rosary is meant to be. Perhaps it’s more of an adult prayer than we realize.
The Rosary presents a unique combination of recitation and meditation. The simple cadence it presents helps our minds give way to mystery. Does anything slow down our frantic lives like the slow recitation and meditation of this ancient prayer? Tradition tells us the Rosary was given to St. Dominic by Our Lady herself in the 12th Century. The Rosary has remained a popular devotion over the centuries, a favorite of popes and peasants alike. The Rosary, Pope Leo XIII declared, “is composed of two parts, distinct but inseparable — the meditation on the mysteries and the recitation of the prayers. It is thus a kind of prayer that requires not only some raising of the soul to God, but also a particular and explicit attention” (Incunda semper). October is the ideal time of year to once again savor the mysteries of the Rosary
Source: ICSC
How to Pray the Rosary
The Rosary is a Scripture-based prayer. It begins with the Apostles’ Creed, which summarizes the great mysteries of the Catholic faith. The Our Father, which introduces each mystery, is from the Gospels. The first part of the Hail Mary is the angel’s words announcing Christ’s birth and Elizabeth’s greeting to Mary. St. Pius V officially added the second part of the Hail Mary. The Mysteries of the Rosary center on the events of Christ’s life. There are four sets of Mysteries: Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and––added by Pope John Paul II in 2002––the Luminous.
The repetition in the Rosary is meant to lead one into restful and contemplative prayer related to each Mystery. The gentle repetition of the words helps us to enter into the silence of our hearts, where Christ’s spirit dwells. The Rosary can be said privately or with a group. – from usccb.org
With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on 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.
—From On the Most Holy Rosary. . . (Rosarium Virginis Mariae)
Learn more about the Rosary prayers and how you can pray to specific intentions ( click links below):
