FROM THE SUPREME KNIGHT’S DESK
INTRODUCTION
Dear Brothers, the Lord has blessed us with a new month. I bring you fraternal greetings as we rejoice in it and bless His holy name. Our reflections for this month is on the Holy Rosary.
ROSARY DEVOTION IN OCTOBER
The month of October is one of the Marian months. All Christ’s faithful including us intensify the praying of the Holy Rosary, so that through the intercession of the Blessed Mother, we will be closer to God. The Church in its wisdom dedicated the month of October to the Rosary because, the Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, previously called the Feast of Our Lady of Victory, is celebrated on the 7th of October. This feast was instituted in gratitude and in commemoration of the decisive victory of a small Christian army defending continental Europe against the attack by a large powerful Ottoman Muslim army at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Facing an existential threat, the then Holy Father, Pope Pius V, codified the prayers of the Rosary into the three traditional mysteries of Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious and called for Christians to recite the Rosary to invoke our Lady’s intercession. The Christian army, though outnumbered and outgunned, won a decisive naval battle, attributed to Virgin Mary’s intercession and the power of the Rosary. This battle shaped the geo-religious and political world we have today.
In the year 2002, The Holy Father, Pope St. John Paul II added the Luminous Mysteries.
AN INDISPENSIBLE TOOL IN OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOURY
In praying the Rosary, every mystery corresponds with an aspect of our Lord’s Birth (Joyful Mystery), Life (Luminous Mystery), Death (Sorrowful Mystery) or Resurrection (Glorious Mystery). Meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary adds vivid imageries to the words we read in Sacred Scriptures. For Catholics, the Rosary can be explained further as very important aspects of the Gospel of our salvation on simple beads. The Rosary was most relevant as means of transmitting the Catholic faith when printing press were not fully developed and mechanized or in places in our contemporary world where carrying and reading the Bible is criminalized.
The Rosary prayers are also in perfect harmony with the Church’s cyclical liturgical life and season. In that, every mystery corresponds with a specific Liturgical Season. The Joyful mysteries aligns with the reading and seasons of Advent and Christmas. The Sorrowful mysteries is in perfect sync with the season of Lent and Good Friday. The mysteries of Light matches well with the season of Ordinary Time whereas the Glorious mysteries and the season of Easter, Pentecost and Major Marian Feast align well.
Through the recitation of the Holy Rosary we experience and meditate on the Church’s Sacraments through which our Savior impacts his sacramental and actual graces to us. In the Luminous mysteries, we are presented with the sacrament of Baptism, Holy Matrimony, Holy Orders and Holy Eucharist. In the 3rd Glorious mystery we see the work of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation. In all the mysteries, we experience the companionship, the directions and guidance of the Blessed Mother in our journey towards salvation.
In the words of St Padre Pio, “the Rosary is a spiritual weapon for our time against the evils of the world”. In our world today, where magic is branded as miracle, foretelling is branded as prophecy, quick results is worshipped and our media space filled with many heresies and controversies: the Holy Rosary remains the perfect channel for the gifts of Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord from the Holy Spirit.
In fact, the Holy Rosary, helps us to fulfil Christ’s advice of persistence in prayer (Luke 18:1-8) even when the prospects are not so good (Luke 11:5-8) and St. Paul’s advice of praying without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
DOS FOR THIS OCTOBER
- Pray the Rosary well every day.
- Go to Mass, support your local church and council.
- Visit a Marian Grotto or Parish near you to pray the Rosary.
- Participate actively in Rosary Congresses and Rosary processions at the Diocesan and Parish levels.
- Teach and encourage our children and grandchildren on how to pray the Holy Rosary.
- Intercede for our Family, the Noble Order, the Church and the Country.
- Meditate on one aspect of the litany of the Blessed Mother per day.
- Remember to intercede for all departed relatives, brothers and all faithful departed and those who have no one to pray for them.
Above all let us all pray the Rosary for breakthroughs, God’s abundant graces and mercies for ourselves, our families, the Noble Order, the Church and Country.
Fraternal Regards,
Sir Kt. Constantine K.M. Kudzedzi
Supreme Knight