"Holy Rosary": To help people say the RosaryTowards the end of 1931, St Josemaría “discovered” a special life of spiritual childhood in his prayer.On November 30, the first day of the novena for the feast of the Immaculate Conception, he noted: As I say the rosary or perform other devotions, such as those of Advent, I “contemplate” the mysteries of the life, passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, taking an active part in the actions and events, as witness and servant and companion of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. By that time he had already developed the habit, while saying the rosary, of contemplating the mysteries of our Lord’s life like a small child, transported to its various scenes and present in them as a witness. One morning, after saying Mass, at the end of his thanksgiving, he wrote the little book Holy Rosary. He wrote it all in one go, in the sacristy of St Elizabeth’s Church. It is not certain which day it was, but what is known is that on December 7, the day before the feast of the Immaculate Conception, he was reading to two young men in St Elizabeth’s about how to say the rosary, because that was his intention on writing it: to help other people to say it. Later, when he wrote the preface, he told the secret of this path of spiritual childhood: My friend, if you want to be great, become little. To be little it is necessary to believe as children believe, to love as children love, to abandon yourself as children abandon themselves... to pray as children pray. (…) Become little. Come with me and – this is the essence of what I have to confide – we will live the life of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. And the reader is gently introduced into the scene: Don’t forget, my friend, that we are children. The Lady of the sweet name, Mary, is withdrawn in prayer. You, in that house, are whatever you want to be: a friend, a servant, an onlooker, a neighbour... I, at this moment, don’t dare to be anything. I hide behind you; full of awe, I contemplate the scene: The Archangel delivers his message... The introduction to Holy Rosary also contains the statement: The beginning of the way, at the end of which you will find yourself completely carried away with love for Jesus, is a confident love for Mary. And the passage on the fourth glorious mystery, the Assumption, says: Assumpta est Maria in coelum: gaudent angeli! God has taken Mary – body and soul – to Heaven: and the Angels rejoice! So sings the Church. And so, with that same outburst of joy, do we begin our contemplation in this decade of the Holy Rosary. The Mother of God has fallen asleep. Around her bed are the twelve Apostles – Matthias in the place of Judas. And we, through a grace respected by all, are also at her side. But Jesus wants to have His Mother in Heaven, body and soul. And the heavenly Court, arrayed in all its splendour, hails Our Lady. You and I – children after all – take the train of Mary’s magnificent blue cloak, and so we can watch the marvelous scene. The most Blessed Trinity receives and showers honours on the Daughter, Mother, and Spouse of God... And so great is Our Lady’s majesty that the Angels exclaim: “Who is she?!” To know more about the book Holy Rosary click here http://www.josemariaescriva.info/article/quotholy-rosaryquot3a-to-help-people-say-the-rosary |