FEAST OF OUR LADY OF THE HOLY ROSARY | MEMORIAL OF SAINT JUSTINA OF PADUA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR ~ FEAST DAY – OCTOBER 7TH: Today, we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary and the memorial of Saint Justina of Padua, Virgin and Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary on this feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, we humbly pray for God’s Divine Grace and Mercy upon us all. We pray for the poor, the needy and the most vulnerable. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally and physically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world…. Amen🙏

OUR LADY OF THE HOLY ROSARY: Our Lady of the Holy Rosary is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary was originally known as “Our Lady of Victory,” the feast was changed to Our Lady of the Rosary to honor the spiritual weapon through which the Blessed Virgin Mary saved Catholic Europe from the threat of Muslim invasion. This victory saved Europe from being overrun by the forces of Islam. The feast of Our Lady of the Rosary was instituted following the Christian victory over the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. Pope St. Pius V, the “Pope of the Rosary,” attributed the naval victory of the Catholic forces, who were greatly outnumbered, to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our Lady was invoked on the day of battle through a papal campaign asking the faithful across Europe to pray the rosary for the triumph of the Church. In thanksgiving for the miraculous victory, Pope St. Pius V instituted a feast to be celebrated throughout the world every year on October 7th. Pope St. Pius V and all Christians had prayed the Rosary for victory. The Rosary, or the Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is one of the best prayers to Our Mother Mary, the Mother of God.

This month of October is the Month of the Holy Rosary when the Church encouraged all the faithful to pray the rosary daily, as an offering of prayer to God made through His blessed Mother Mary, Our Lady of the Rosary. The rosary as we know is the long chain of beads used by Christians in prayers, most commonly for the rosary in offering of the set of fifty Hail Mary or Ave Maria interspersed with the Lord’s Prayer and Gloria Patri or ‘Glory Be’ prayer, as well as some other prayers and devotions such as the Devotion to the Divine Mercy which also uses the rosary. In modern times successive popes have urged the faithful to pray the Rosary. It is a form of contemplative prayer, mental and vocal prayer, which brings down God’s blessing on the Church. It is a biblically inspired prayer which is centered on meditation on the salvific mysteries of Christ in union with Mary, who was so closely associated with her Son in his redeeming activity.

On October 7, the first Sunday of October in the year 1571, Don Juan of Austria gained his famous naval victory over the Turks at Lepanto. In thanksgiving for this event, which he attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin through the recitation of the Holy Rosary, St. Pius V instituted an annual feast under the title of Our Lady of Victory. In 1585, his immediate successor, Gregory XIII, changed the title to that of the Rosary, and granted its Office to all churches in which there was an altar dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary. In 1716, the army of Emperor Charles VI, under Prince Eugene, gained a remarkable victory over the Turks near Belgrade, on the Feast of Our Lady of the Snows, at a time when the members of the Society of the Holy Rosary were offering solemn prayers in Rome. Soon after, the Turks were forced to raise the siege of Corcyra. Clement XI, in memory of this, extended the feast of the Most Holy Rosary to the Universal Church in 1721. Benedict XIV caused an account of all this to be inserted into the Roman Breviary, and Leo XIII raised the feast to the rank of a feast of the second class. He also added to the Litany of Loreto the invocation: “Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us.” In 1961, the title of this feast became: Our Lady of the Rosary.

According to tradition, the devotion to the Holy Rosary was revealed to St. Dominic by the Blessed Virgin. It is one of the most highly indulgenced of all devotions and both a vocal and a mental prayer. Vocally, we recite the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be. Mentally, we meditate on the great Mysteries of our Faith. Medieval nobleman used to wear wreaths of flowers, called “chaplets”, which were also offered as a symbol of homage to distinguished people. The Rosary was originally made up of 150 Hail Marys (in imitation of the 150 Psalms of the Divine Office) and divided into three “chaplets” of roses, called the Joyful, the Sorrowful, and the Glorious Mysteries. These “chaplets” were offered to our Lady, who is the Queen of heaven and earth and has a right to our homage. She is the Daughter of the Father, Mother Of the Son, and Spouse of the Holy Spirit. The Church urges all of us to offer her a crown of roses, i.e., the Rosary. In 2002, Pope John Paul II added another “chaplet”, or series of the Mysteries entitled the Luminous Mysteries contain events from the Hidden and Public Life of Jesus, i.e., the foundation of the work of our salvation. For four hundred years, the Popes have recommended the Rosary as the remedy for the evils afflicting society.

The Church wants us not so much to recall a distant victory but to discover Mary’s place in the Mystery of Salvation and to greet her by saying “Hail Mary” without ceasing. When Mary gave her consent to God at the Annunciation, “she committed herself wholeheartedly to God’s saving will and, impeded by no sin, she devoted herself totally, as the handmaid of the Lord, to the Person and work of her Son, under and with Him, serving the Mystery of the Redemption by the grace of Almighty God”. We are reminded to always be ever vigilant, resisting the temptations to disobey God and sin. We should make good use of whatever means that the Lord has given us to help us, with the Holy Rosary itself being one of these. We are encouraged to spend some time each day especially in this month of the Holy Rosary to pray the rosary. And when we pray the Holy Rosary, we should pray it with genuine understanding and intention, and not just uttering the words of prayer without meaning and understanding them. Let us pray the Holy Rosary in offering a most beautiful spiritual bouquet of prayer to our Blessed Mother, Our Lady of the Rosary, who will then offer them on our behalf before her Son.

PRAYER: God, pour Your grace into our hearts, and grant that, as we learned of the Incarnation of Christ Your Son by the message of an Angel, so by His Cross and Passion and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Amen 🙏

THE STEPS FOR PRAYING THE HOLY ROSARY ARE:

  • Make the Sign of the Cross and say the “Apostles’ Creed”
  • Say the “Our Father”
  • Say three “Hail Marys” for Faith, Hope, and Charity
  • Say the “Glory Be”
  • Announce the First Mystery and then say the “Our Father”
  • Say ten “Hail Marys” while meditating on the Mystery
  • Say the “Glory Be” (Optional: Say the “O My Jesus” prayer requested by Mary at Fatima)
  • Announce the Next Mystery; then say the “Our Father” and repeat these steps (6 through 8) as you continue through the remaining Mysteries.
  • Say the closing prayers: the “Hail Holy Queen” and “Final Prayer”
  • Make the “Sign of the Cross”

Pope Saint John Paul II suggested the recitation of the Rosary as follows: ▪︎The JOYFUL Mysteries Monday and Saturday,
▪︎The LUMINOUS Mysteries on Thursday,
▪︎The SORROWFUL Mysteries  on Tuesday and Friday,
▪︎ The GLORIOUS Mysteries Wednesday and Sunday (with this exception; Sundays of Advent and Christmas – the JOYFUL; Sundays of Lent – the SORROWFUL).

HAIL MARY: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.🙏

THE MEMORARE: Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen 🙏

PRAYER: God, whose Only-begotten Son, by His Life, Death and Resurrection obtained for us the rewards of eternal salvation, grant, we beg Thee that meditating upon these mysteries of the most holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain, and obtain what they promise; through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.🙏

On this special feast day, we also celebrate the Memorial of Saint Justina of Padua, Virgin and Martyr.

SAINT JUSTINA OF PADUA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR: St. Justina of Padua (d. 304 A.D.) was a young and pious Christian woman who dedicated her virginity to Christ. She received baptism at the hands of St. Prosdocimus, the first Bishop of Padua in Italy. At the age of sixteen she was arrested for being a Christian under the persecutions of Roman Emperor Maximinian, and was ordered to make sacrifice to the pagan gods. When she refused, she was stabbed with a sword and left to die. Overlooking the field where she was martyred is a basilica named in her honor which holds her relics, as well as those of St. Luke the Evangelist, St. Matthias the Apostle, St. Prosdocimus, and other patron saints of Padua. Her feast was the day the Catholic naval forces won victory over the Turks in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, which increased her popularity among the faithful. St. Justina of Padua’s feast day is October 7th.

Saint Justina of Padua, Virgin and Martyr ~ Pray for us🙏