October – A month of Rosary

Ts Matthew Holyson Monsang *

What is a Rosary?According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, "Rosary is a Roman Catholic devotion consisting of meditation on usually five sacred mysteries during recitation of five decades of Hail Marys of which each begins with an Our Father and ends with a Gloria patri"or "a string of beads used in counting prayers especially of the Roman Catholic Rosary".

Rosary is a Catholic prayer devotion dedicated to the honour of Mary, the mother of Jesus of Nazareth. The term 'Rosary' has Latin roots that alternately imply a bed of roses, a garland of flowers, and a collection of nice quotations. The Christian roots of the rosary lie in a daily prayer devotion of 150 Our Father, later 150 simpler Hail Marys, observed by some Christians in the early middle ages. The largely illiterate Christian population of the time used strings of beads to keep count of their 150 prayers. In more recent Christian history, the type of Rosary most Catholic communities in the western world have used is the Dominican Rosary. Some traditional material indicates that St. Dominic received this particular devotional Rosary from an apparition of Mary, the Blessed Virgin. This Catholic story can be traced, according to some sources to Alan de la Roche in the 15th century.

By 1573 an official feast of the Rosary was declared and made part of the annual Catholic Liturgical cycle. Many Popes have encouraged Catholics in local communities to pray the Rosary. Pope Pius XI granted a full (plenary) indulgence to all who say the Rosary in the presence of the Eucharist. Pope Pius XII recommended that Catholics pray the Rosary devoutly and often.

October has annually been seen as a month of the holy rosary by the Catholic Community since 16th century. The feast of Our Lady of the Rosary was permanently placed on the Church's Liturgical Calendar in 1716. This feast is still celebrated every year on October 7. Pope John Paul II a lover of the holy mother and rosary has added five more mysteries to help us to medidate on the entire life of Christ. This is called the mysteries of light (Luminous) taken from the public life and ministry of Jesus. Many Roman Catholics have a great love for Mary, the mother of Jesus. Central to this devotion is the prayer called the "Hail Mary";

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you,
Blessed are you among women (Luke 1:28)
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus(Luke 1:42)
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

History of the Holy Rosary: According to the tradition, it was given by our Lady (Mary) to St. Dominic (1170-1221), at the beginning of the 13th century to help combat the Albigensian heresy in France. (The heresy involved the willful denial of the divinity of Christ). Tradition also has it that she (Mary) promised Dominic his Order would flourish if he spread devotion to the Rosary.

The devotion in use today consists mostly of a prayer taken directly from Holy Scripture, with the first part of the Hail Mary recalling the words of the Archangel Gabriel, who called Mary 'full of grace'; the second part of the greeting comes from the lips of her cousin Elizabeth, who exclaimed: "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb". (Luke 1:42)

Looking beyond the words to the mysteries themselves, the rosary has been described as the life, ministry and passion of Jesus, given us by the Virgin Mary for meditation and prayer, enabling us to learn who Jesus is. Altogether a sweet chain linking us to the Son of God.

Pope St. Pius V introduced the Rosary into the Roman Catholic liturgical Calendar, naming the 7th of October as the Feast day of 'Our Lady of the Rosary'. Pope John Paul II described Rosary as 'my favourite prayer', pointing out that it can be prayed by simple folk as well as by profound theologians. He said, 'through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the hands of the Redeemer'.

On May 13, 1917, Mary chose to give her Rosary message to three shepherd children in rural Portugal. The children's names were Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta and the town was Fatima. Mary appeared to them dressed in white and holding a rosary just like she did to St. Bernadette at Lourdes. Also similar to Lourdes, Mary prayed the Rosary with them at each visit, which occurred monthly between May 13th through October 13th of the same year. The events during the final visit in October are most important. Lucia saw three scenes in the sky that represented the joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries.

* The first being, a vision of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus as a young child,
* Next, a vision of Jesus as a grown man and Mary appearing sad as Our Lady of Sorrows,
* In the final scene, Lucia saw Mary alone appearing gloriously crowned as Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

When these scenes disappeared, 70,000 people witnessed the sun "dancing" in the sky. Mary asked for people to pray the Rosary daily. She said; "Pray the Rosary everyday to obtain peace for the world". The message of the Fatima reminds us that we have to say the rosary everyday (esp. the Catholics). There were no other prayers she asked us to say. Therefore, we should do what she asked. Our Lady (Mary) comes to Fatima and tells us, not just once but six times, that we must say the rosary every day, do we disregard that warning?

The daily rosary drives demons out from the house. Mice fear the very smell of cats. So, a home where the rosary is said every day, after a time the demons realize they are impotent in front of Our Lady, and go else where. This must be one reason why, as Bishop Fulton Sheen said, "the family that prays together stays together":

"The Rosary is a powerful weapon to put the demons to flight and to keep oneself away from sin…if you desire peace in your hearts, in your homes, and in your country, assemble each evening to recite the Rosary. Let not even one day pass without saying it, no matter how burdened you may be with many cares and labors." Pope Pius XI

Miracle of the Rosary. How?

In the Battle of Lepanto, 1571 on Sunday, October 7, the Christian and Turkish fleets met in Lepanto Gulf, off the coast of Greece. The bitter battle finished with a brilliant victory of the Christians who where vastly outnumbered. That very evening Pope Pius V had at Rome a clear knowledge of success. The same afternoon, the confraternities of the Rosary, particularly in Rome, had marched through the streets in procession reciting the Rosary. This victory put an end to the naval power of the Turks and saved Christian Europe. To this day this victory has been attributed to the praying of the Rosary. The feast of "The most Holy Rosary" is celebrated on October 7 now and the month of October is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary. Besides, there are various magnificent victories that the Rosary brought in the history of the Catholic Church.

Today, the 21st century in the State of Manipur, so called 'Sanaleibak' (the Golden land) has turned into 'E-gee leibak' (Blood land) by killing our own brothers and sisters. Yes, the year 2015 is going to be a bad year or we could say, the year 2015 is a bad year with bandhs and Protest called by the different ethnic groups. As we wake up in the morning, we read or hear bad news rather than good news. This overturns our mentality into bad motives as we usually began our daily activities. How long is our land of Manipur going to be with turmoil? It is very difficult to examine and predict the future of our state of Manipur.

But, we should not let go the past mistakes rather face the outcome with good challenging thoughts for the betterment of our state. The lives of the public are not secure in this 'Sanaleibak' anymore with the various problems and issues prevailing in the past and the present. Therefore, we shall pray for peace, the peace that we pray, we shall put into practice so that every citizen of Manipur may rightly exercise their freedom.

When we pray the Rosary everyday, we are enabling ourselves to find peace, we become the peace makers. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God". (Mt 5:9)

How to attain PEACE? To receive this promised peace, Mother Mary asked her children to pray the Rosary everyday (Fatima). When we pray the Rosary, Mary is close to us because it is her prayer. Mary loves the Rosary and it is a powerful means of attaining peace and holiness in our lives. Therefore, in order to gain this peace, we must fulfill Mary's request by praying the Rosary everyday. As we keep praying, we shall always pray for our State. So that, Manipur truly remains 'Sanaleibak (the Golden land). Alike the miracle of Battle of Lepanto 1571, let Manipur also encounter the same miracle.