Archbishop Burke: The Month of the Holy Rosary

The month of October has traditionally been dedicated to renewing our Rosary devotion. On Oct. 7, we observe the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, recalling the many times in history and in our own lives when we have prayed through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary using the Rosary and have witnessed God’s grace coming to our rescue.

In a special way, we recall the victory of the Christian world at the Battle of Lepanto. Faced with the threat of the destruction of Christian Europe by the Turks, Pope St. Pius V called upon the Confraternities of the Holy Rosary in Rome to pray the Rosary and have Rosary processions, asking God to give His strength to the Christian fleet. Our Lord worked a miraculous victory, on Oct. 7, 1571, to save His Church. In gratitude for our Blessed Mother’s intercession, the Holy Father, during the following year, instituted the Feast of Our Lady of Victory to be celebrated on Oct. 7. In 1573, Pope Gregory XIII, the successor of Pope St. Pius V, changed the title of the feast to Our Lady of the Rosary.

In our own time and place, we have been praying the Rosary for more than a year now, asking God to restore the respect for innocent and defenseless human life in the State of Missouri. We are praying especially for the protection and fostering of embryonic human life. Since the passage of Amendment 2 on Nov. 7, 2006, we must pray the Rosary, with even greater fervor, that our laws may once again protect the good of all by prohibiting the grave evils of human cloning and embryonic stem-cell research. (my emphasis)

To encourage the Rosary devotion, I reflect upon the Rosary itself and the method of praying the Rosary. My reflection is based upon Chapter III of the Servant of God Pope John Paul II’s apostolic letter on the Holy Rosary, which he published on the day marking the beginning of the 25th year of his service as Successor of St. Peter. . .

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