Weekly Reflections for October 3, 2021

ANOTHER MARIAN MONTH?

Everyone knows that May is a month dedicated to the Blessed Mother.  During that month we celebrate her as: Our lady of Fatima and Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament on 5/13, Our Lady Queen of Apostles on 5/15, Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church and Our Lady, Help of Christians on 5/24, and the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 5/31. One reason to set aside the entire month to honor Mary was that May was the month of Artemis, the Greek goddess of fertility.  Rededicating the month to the Mother of God was a way the early Christians sought to convert pagan culture.

However, you may not be aware that October is another month dedicated to the veneration of Mary: Our Lady of the Rosary on 10/7, Our Lady of Good Remedy on 10/18, and Our Lady of the Pillar on 10/12. The first Sunday in October is the feast of the Holy Rosary.

This month has been dedicated to the rosary because Pope St. Pius V requested all Christians to pray the rosary in preparation for the battle at the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. The Pope credited the Holy League’s naval victory over the Ottoman Empire in the Gulf of Patras to praying of the rosary to Mary.  Pope Leo XIII in an Encyclical (Sept. 1, 1883) admonished the faithful to dedicate this month to the Queen of the Holy Rosary..

The word rosary comes from Latin and means a garland of roses; and the rose is one of the flowers used to symbolize the Virgin Mary. The rosary is a devotion in honor of the Virgin Mary. It is a biblical form of prayer since the words that comprise it come mainly from the bible. Also, the praying of the rosary causes to meditate on the biblical mysteries (Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, and Luminous) while saying Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Fatima, Hail Holy Queen, etc.  Catholic.com search provides a full discussion on what you need to know about the rosary.

A novena is nine days of private or public devotion to a holy person. It was established by Jesus at His Ascension when He told the disciples to wait to be clothed by the Holy Spirit. There are numerous novena feast days devoted to the Blessed Mother: her Immaculate Conception 12/8, Nativity of Mary 9/8, her Presentation at the temple 11/21, Annunciation 3/25, Visitation 5/21, Mary’s Maturity 12/25, Purification of Mary 2/2, the Immaculate Heart of Mary 6/12, her Assumption 8/15, Most Holy Name of Mary 9/12, Seven Sorrows of Mary 9/15, and Our Lady of the Rosary (first October Sunday). Go to PrayMoreNovenas.com

For Marian prayers, Novenas to Mary and the Rosary download the free Laudate phone app. Under the index of prayers on the app, scroll under groups heading for the Marian group and hit the word prayers for numerous Marian prayers. My favorite Marian prayers are Memorare, Hail Holy Queen, Mary, Undoer of Knots and Mary, Mother of Grace. For Novenas, select the novena group and view those for Mary. My favorites are Lady, Undoer of Knots 8/21, and Lady of Guadalupe 12/12. You can pray the Novena for the Lady of Good Remedy 10/8.  For the month of October, let us pray the rosary and our own personal prayer to our Blessed Mother. And let us pray: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us your children.

Thanks to Catholic.com search, Catholic Encyclopedia and Laudate app.

Mac & Marcia Hickey