Why Pray the Most Holy Rosary? Part 1

Continue always to pray the rosary every day.

~Our Lady of the Rosary to Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta on October 12, 1917

If you pray the Most Holy Rosary daily, then please continue. If, however, you do not, then please consider starting. That decision will rank as one of the best that you will ever make. You will never regret it.

 

What We Believe about Our Blessed Lady

Before we venerate Our Blessed Lady, we must first know her. Who is Mary?

Mary Our Mother

Foretold in the Old Testament - Genesis 3:15, sometimes called the “First Gospel,” acknowledges the sin of Adam and Eve and declares the future coming of the Redeemer Who will be born of Mary. Isaiah 7:14 predicts that a virgin will conceive and, while remaining a virgin, bring forth Emmanuel—“God-with-us.” Several women mentioned in the Old Testament—Eve, Hannah, Deborah, Ruth, Judith and Esther—especially prepared the way for Our Lady and her mission.

Chosen by God - The Lord Himself selected Mary of Nazareth to become His Mother. Both Blessed Pius IX (1846-1878) and Venerable Pius XII (1939-1958) wrote that the Almighty, in one and the same act from all eternity, “predestined” the Son of God to become man, and Our Lady to be His Mother.

Mother of God - During the Church’s Third General Council held in 431 at Ephesus with the help of Saint Cyril of Alexandria (370-444), the Church solemnly declared Mary to be the Theotokos (“Mother of God”). The Second Person (Jesus Christ) of the Most Blessed Trinity became man when He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Handmaiden’s virginal womb. Jesus Christ is one Divine Person Who possesses two natures—one divine and one human. In His Divine Person and nature, He already existed before His conception in Our Lady’s womb. What Mary did at the moment of the Incarnation was to supply Him with human flesh. This dogma is the Divine Maternity (Divine Motherhood).

New Eve - Adam and Eve lost the divine inheritance of sanctifying grace by their sin. Mary received the long-expected inheritance—Jesus Christ, the New Adam—by her acceptance of God’s wise plan for her life. Saint Irenaeus (c. 130-c. 200), affirmed: “The knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied by Mary’s obedience. What the virgin Eve bound through her unbelief, Our Lady loosed by her faith.” Saint Jerome (c. 342-420) exclaimed: “Death through Eve. Life through Mary.” Our Blessed Mother is the “New Eve.”

Mother of Men - When we received the Sacrament of Baptism, we became unique children of God and members of His Church. Our mother in the “order of nature” is the woman who conceived us with the assistance of our father and bore us. Our mother in the “order of grace” is Our Lady because she has communicated to us the grace which makes us holy sons and daughters of God the Father, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, temples of the Holy Spirit, and sons and daughters of Mary. Our Lady’s Spiritual Maternity means that she is our Spiritual Mother.

Mother of the Church - The Servant of God, Paul VI (1963-1978), on November 21, 1964, proclaimed Our Lady to be the Mother of the Church. Jesus is the Head of His Mystical Body, of which we are the members united to Mary, His Mother and ours. She is the Mother of the Church and a member of the Church. The Ever-Virgin assists the Faithful with her fervent prayers.

Mary Our Queen

Queen of the Angels - How can Our Lady be honored as the Queen of the Angels—those spirits without bodies which were created by God? She did not bring forth the angels from her womb as she did Jesus Christ; however, Mary’s connection to Christ means that the Angels are obedient and loyal to her.

Intimate Participant on Calvary with Christ in His Sacrifice, and the Mediatrix of All Graces - As the Mother of the Redeemer, Mary cooperated with Jesus as He sacrificed Himself to His Beloved Father for us! Our Lady lovingly consented to her Son’s Death. The Church honors Mary as the Co-Redemptrix because she took part with Jesus in our Redemption, and the Mediatrix of All Graces because it is through her, now in Heaven, that grace comes to us.

Why Pray the Rosary3Woman Clothed with the Sun - Mary is often viewed as the woman mentioned in Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse). She is the model of the Church: virginity (keeping the Faith intact from error), and maternity (while simultaneously bringing forth new members through the preaching of God’s Holy Word and the administration of the Seven Sacraments). Our Lady is the icon—“the sacred image”—of what the Church will be in Heaven.


Assumed into Heaven and Crowned - On November 1, 1950, Venerable Pius XII defined that the Blessed Virgin Mary, upon the completion of her earthly existence, was assumed body and soul by the Almighty into Paradise. Now, she already shares—soul and body—in the glory of her Son’s Resurrection. Crowned as Queen of Heaven and earth, Our Lady prays for us near her Divine Son. Both Jesus Christ and His Mother await our entrance into celestial glory.

Mary Our Example

Sinless Disciple of the Lord - The dogma of the Immaculate Conception maintains that Mary never contracted Original Sin. Furthermore, she never committed any “actual” sins, whether mortal or venial. Yet, she remained free to choose between good and evil. That Our Lady was full of grace means that she obediently heeded and pursued His every command.

Perpetual Virgin - The Church has taught for centuries that Mary was a virgin before, during and after the Birth of the Savior. Both Sacred Scripture (Isaiah 7:14) and the Apostolic Tradition express this unchangeable truth. The title “Ever-Virgin” is used in The Roman Canon of the Holy Mass. Our Lady is the only woman venerated as both “Virgin” and “Mother.”

Wife of Saint Joseph - Mary and Joseph were really married in the sight of God. They freely renounced the exercise of this right to the marital embrace. Jesus Christ was miraculously conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and miraculously born of Our Lady, who retained her Virginity in the process of giving birth to her Son.

Daughter of the Father and Temple of the Holy Spirit - As the Mother of the Redeemer, Mary is the Mother of Jesus Christ, the Second Person ofthe Most Blessed Trinity. She is the Favorite Daughter of the Father Who created her from nothing and the Temple of the Holy Spirit Who sanctified her by filling her with His life.

Heart Pure and Immaculate - In her Heart, Our Lady sought after and served God. She has a pure and sinless Heart because she was preserved from Original Sin and avoided actual sin in all its forms. The Immaculate Heart of Mary is explicitly referred to twice in the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke (2:19; 2:51).

Pattern and Exemplar - Mary, the Daughter of Sion who waited with all the poor and lowly children of the Lord in anticipation of the Messiah, was full of faith, hope, obedience and charity. She is our fellow companion on the pilgrimage to the Father’s House in Heaven. Our Lady is the Morning Star who unfailingly points to the Son of Justice, Christ her Son.

Unifier Among Christians - Jesus Christ prayed during the Last Supper on the first Holy Thursday evening “that all may be one” (Saint John 17:21). Mary’s proximity to Our Lord is unparalleled. It is impossible to understand the Sacred Humanity of Jesus without appreciating His Mother. Authentic comprehension of Our Lady will eventually result in Christian unity.