Manila: A priest on Monday called on the faithful worldwide to pray the Rosary daily as the best weapon to stop the conflicts in Ukraine and Lebanon, as well as natural disasters occurring in many parts of the globe.
Rev. Fr. Carlos Reyes, parish priest of the Guadalupe Catholic Church in Makati City, made the remarks on the eve of the annual observance by the Catholic Church of the Holy Rosary Month every October.
‘Pray the Rosary, erase that fear,’ he said in an interview with the Philippine News Agency.
Reyes added that ‘during these troubled times, we must always be prepared to Jesus Christ’s second coming, the exact date we do not know, but do not be afraid. Have faith in God.’
October is the month devoted to the Holy Rosary.
This is the perfect time for faithful to reflect upon the meaning of the Rosary and its significance in our walk of faith, Reyes said.
During the famous Fatima Apparition in 1917, the Blessed Virgin told the three young shepherds — Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco — to pray the
Rosary and spread it to the whole world which they did.
The origin of the Holy Rosary can be traced back in 1206.
‘To an account by fifteenth-century Dominican, Alan de la Roch, Mary appeared to St. Dominic in 1206 after he had been praying and doing severe penances because of his lack of success in combating the Albigensian heresy. Mary praised him for his valiant fight against the heretics and then gave him the Rosary as a mighty weapon, explained its uses and efficacy, and told him to preach it to others,’ according to the Church record.
“If we consider the power of the Rosary as seen in its effects, we find a great abundance of proofs of its wonderful value. Many are the favors granted to private individuals through its devout recitation: there are few devoted users of the Rosary who cannot testify to experiencing its power in their own lives.
‘If we turn to history, we see many great triumphs of the Rosary. Early tradition attributes the defeat of the Albigensians at the Battle of Muret in 1213 to th
e Rosary. But even those who do not accept this tradition will admit that St. Pius V attributed the great defeat of the Turkish fleet on the first Sunday of October 1571, to the fact that at the same time the Rosary confraternities at Rome and elsewhere were holding their processions. There is a need to pray the Rosary and repent,’ it added.
The Holy Rosary is composed of four cycles: Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, and Luminous Mysteries.
‘The Rosary is a powerful prayer, let’s pray it daily,’ Reyes said.
Source: Philippines News Agency
