great ordinary happenings

This is not a coincidence that it’s today I could continue my last post.  It’s October 13, and I dedicate this entry to our dearest Mama Mary, Our Lady of Fatima.

I’d like to share here that praying the rosary is Mama Mary’s wish as she had repeated it everyday in her apparitions in Fatima (this is true, and NOT a legend!) in the year 1917, when she came down from heaven to three young shepherds, out of love for her children here on earth – we are those children!

This is a quote from The Fatima Apparitions and Messages:  “On October 13, 1917, the crowds had increased to 70,000. Many newspaper reporters and photographers were there to record the miracle or prove the children were lying. The crowd was standing in the relentless, pouring rain with mud up to their ankles. Many were praying the Rosary as the Blessed Mother made her final appearance to the children and told them: ‘I am the Lady of the Rosary; I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and ask for pardon for their sins. They must not offend Our Lord any more, for He is already too grievously offended by the sins of men. People must say the Rosary. Let them continue saying it everyday.’” And if you read through her messages every time during her monthly appearances, she repeatedly asked for the praying of the rosary, as reparation for sins.

And as a fitting reminder, on the feast day October 7, I got this email, which I’d like to share with you: PRAY THE ROSARY

Today is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. If we reflect upon the words of the “Hail Mary,” we will discover that the first half of it is purely scriptural and the second half is merely the request for Mary to pray for us in all of our neediness. I do not know how any Bible-believing Christian to the most left-wing or right-wing Catholic could have any problems with such a prayer.

Catholics are not obliged to pray the Rosary, but again, if we have such a great and powerful intercessor waiting to place our prayers before Jesus, her son, why wouldn’t we avail of such an offer? It seems to me that all the logic in the world points to praying the Rosary as well as to using Mary as an intercessor as a good idea. There are many other arguments I could make in favor of this thesis, including an analysis of the text in John’s Gospel where Jesus commends Mary to the care of the apostle John and him to her.

There are many examples in history where victory over disease and invading armies were attributed to the intercession of Our Lady. As we reflect today on the role of the Rosary in our lives and families, let us try to remember these things and so be encouraged to seek the intercession of Mary in our lives. We often ask others to pray for us as they ask us to pray for them. If we want something, often the first place we turn is to our mothers, especially if it means getting our father’s permission. Maybe we can put in place a similar strategy when we are seeking spiritual graces from our Father in Heaven. Of course, there is nothing to stop us from going straight to the Father, Jesus or the Holy Spirit, but sometimes we might feel more comfortable knowing we have Mary as an intercessor at our side.

Mary interceded to Jesus for the couple who ran out of wine at their wedding. I am sure she will look as kindly upon our requests, provided of course they truly reflect Gospel principles and the will of God for our lives. Fr. Steve Tynan
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In the Diocese of Bacolod, yesterday the second Sunday of October, we celebrated the Feast of our Lady of the Holy Rosary, the second patron of the diocese.

Filed under: dedication, devotions, greetings, reflections