Rosarium Virginis Mariae

Green Aventurine Gemstone Rosary with Cloisonne Our Fathers

In the spiritual journey of the Rosary, based on the constant contemplation – in Mary's company – of the face of Christ, this demanding ideal of being conformed to him is pursued through an association which could be described in terms of friendship. We are thereby enabled to enter naturally into Christ's life and as it were to share his deepest feelings. 

The Rosary mystically transports us to Mary's side as she is busy watching over the human growth of Christ in the home of Nazareth. This enables her to train us and to mold us with the same care, until Christ is “fully formed” in us.

Never as in the Rosary do the life of Jesus and that of Mary appear so deeply joined. Mary lives only in Christ and for Christ!

The Rosary is both meditation and supplication. Insistent prayer to the Mother of God is based on confidence that her maternal intercession can obtain all things from the heart of her Son.

The Rosary is at the service of this ideal; it offers the “secret” which leads easily to a profound and inward knowledge of Christ. We might call it Mary's way. It is the way of the example of the Virgin of Nazareth, a woman of faith, of silence, of attentive listening. It is also the way of a Marian devotion inspired by knowledge of the inseparable bond between Christ and his Blessed Mother: the mysteries of Christ are also in some sense the mysteries of his Mother...

..it becomes natural to bring to this encounter with the sacred humanity of the Redeemer all the problems, anxieties, labours and endeavours which go to make up our lives.

To understand the Rosary, one has to enter into the psychological dynamic proper to love.

One thing is clear: although the repeated Hail Mary is addressed directly to Mary, it is to Jesus that the act of love is ultimately directed, with her and through her. 

APOSTOLIC LETTER
ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAEOF THE SUPREME PONTIFF
JOHN PAUL II
TO THE BISHOPS, CLERGY
AND FAITHFUL
ON THE MOST HOLY ROSARY 

Virgin A Day ~ Day 11

These are my hands.  The hands of a rosary maker.  In the beginning, I felt Mary place her hands over mine and ever so gently show me "this way, this is how it is done".

Rosary making came very easy to me.  Others said how wonderful they thought my "bows" were, and marveled that they were so "perfect".  I told them always, "it is not me, it is Mary."  Yes, we are on a first name basis, she whispers my name all the time.  I recite a litany of "Hail Marys" whenever I am in need.   We are very close, we two.

Mary nudged me to have my rosary pliers blessed, which I did, way back in 2000?  Father Fryar (who later became Monsignor Thomas Fryar) looked at me sideways, shrugged, and blessed my tools. Tools which were held in my hands.  These hands.  Blessed by Father, blessed by Mother, and blessed by God himself, I'm sure.  My tools have never needed sharpening, nor replaced.  A fellow rosary maker told me he replaced his pliers every couple of years.

These hands have made thousands of rosaries over the years, rosaries that have gone far and wide to those who will pray to Mary for her intervention in their lives and sorrows, and in thanksgiving for their joys and happiness.

When I look at these hands with these pliers, I see Mary. Can you see her too?

Peace be with you!

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Tomorrow will be the last post featuring Virgin A Day ~ Mornings with Mary ~ recuerda mi corazon ~ remember my heart

This image is borrowed from Rebecca of recuerda mi corazon.  

Dominus tecum

      Numerous stories, some apocryphal, some true, abound in the literature describing the spread of devotion to Mary through the use of the Hail Mary.  One legend recorded widely during this period tells the amusing story of Eulalia, who was very devoted to the Blessed Virgin.  One day our Lady appeared to the holy woman.  Although Eulalia was at first alarmed, the legend tells us that the apparition reassured her in the following words:

    "Do not, my daughter, be afraid of the fond Mother to whom each weekday you pay all homage in your power.  But I caution you that if you wish the services you render me to benefit yourself more and to be more acceptable to me, then do not in the future pronounce the words [of the Hail Mary] so rapidly, for let me tell you that when you greet me with the Angelical Salutation, I experience a great thrill of joy, and more especially when you utter lingeringly the words  Dominus tecum [the Lord is with you].  The delight I feel then is more than can be expressed in words.  For then it seems to me that I feel my Son within me even as He, true God and man, was with me when he vouchsafed to be born of me for the sake of sinners.  And this was an unspeakable joy for me at that time, so is it now when Dominus tecum is said to me in the Angelical Salutation."

Taken from The History and Devotion of the Rosary by Richard Gribble, C.S.C.