Friday 25 October 2013


"Almighty God and his holy Mother are to raise up great saints who will surpass in holiness most other saints as much as the cedars of Lebanon tower above little shrubs…These great souls filled with grace and zeal will be chosen to oppose the enemies of God who are raging on all sides. They will be exceptionally devoted to the Blessed Virgin. Illumined by her light, strengthened by her food, guided by her spirit, supported by her arm, sheltered under her protection, they will fight with one hand and build with the other… By word and example they will draw all men to a true devotion to her and though this will make many enemies, it will also bring about many victories and much glory to God alone."
St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin

Thursday 24 October 2013


Hail Mary.
Who, Mother, pays you this respectful homage?
It is Heaven itself, an angel, one of the greatest in the court of Heaven, who comes down and Humbles himself before you, an humble young girl, a little flower of Judea.
Oh! what joy I experienced in saying over and over again, with the Archangel Gabriel, "Hail Mary"!
So you are so great that Heaven bends down to you! Yes you are great—for you are
Full of Grace.

Of grace, of Divine life, of that life, which the first Eve lost for herself and for us all, alas! You alone escaped the universal stain; the tide of evil stood before your heart driven back by the very Hand of God.
And you are a solitary whiteness in the midst of guilty humanity! You are Immaculate, fair Lily of Juda. How beautiful you are, oh, Mother Mary. Beautiful as the star of night that reflects the light the sun.
Mirror of Justice, in which is reflected the holiness of the Father, the purity of the Word and the infinite love of the Holy Spirit.
Oh, yes, you are "full of grace." That is why
The Lord is with Thee.

Yes, to be sure . . . you are the tabernacle of the Lord, and you Can say " May Christ live in me." But did you not say when you pronounced your fiat on the day of the Annunciation, "May Jesus live in me that I may give Him to the world"?
Mother, will you help me to keep Christ within me? May He live, may He grow in my young soul that I may give, Him to others, like you, to many others who do not know Him, or do not love Him enough.

Blessed Art Thou Amongst Women.
And all generations to the end of time will call you " blessed," will praise you as the glory of humanity; the woman most pure, most splendid, most simple; the most illustrious and the most humble, the masterpiece and the pride of the Creator.
How I wish to unite my voice to the concert of praise; my feeble voice in the eternal canticle which ascends to you. Yes; you are blessed, O Mary, beyond all women.
And Blessed is the Fruit of Thy Womb.

Behold the explanation of all your greatness. You are Mother, the Mother par excellence, the Mother of God.
How can I explain your dignity, your sanctity? Must not all that approaches the Divinity be pure? Oh, you are nearer God than any one else.
How can I explain the universal devotion that is offered to you? Must not the ciborium which contains the Sacred Host be treated with special reverence? But what is a. ciborium of gold compared with the living ciborium which you are, 0 Mary, Mother of God?
Jesus Himself has honoured you, and with what filial love!
How I wish to honour you, to bless you, to be a little flower on thy altar.
But I make bold. Since you are the Mother of God, you are not only great and holy, but you are kind and loving—and I say to you:—
Holy Mary Mother of God, Pray for Us Sinners.

How the tone of my prayer changes now that I speak to you of myself and of my brethren.
I bow down my forehead, covered with the sign and the shame of sin. Poor sinners!
But you will not refuse to listen to the prayer of the poor, of the poorest of all men, of the sinner.
"Never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection was left unaided." But why should I fear? You have said " yes " to all the petitions, to all the appeals of souls in the course of all the ages.
Say " yes " to me
Now
Mother! At every moment I must support my feebleness through your power. Now, in the time of dangerous youth, of follies which I would commit every day if I listened to the world and to the "evil one" who whispers to me counsels of cowardice. Now . . .
And at the Hour of Our Death.

My death, quite near, perhaps. Can it be that you will not be there in the supreme anguish to sustain me, to console me, to receive my soul, to bring it to the judgment seat of Jesus, to plead my cause? oh, my advocate!
But you will be there, and you will pray for me (and I will be saved.
Yes, saved! With you, with Jesus /or all eternity.
Because every day of my life I will say over and over again in the fervour of my filial confidence:
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Wednesday 23 October 2013


"Brothers and sisters, in this place it is amazing to think how three children entrusted themselves to the interior force which had inflamed them in the apparitions of the Angel and of our heavenly Mother. In this place where we were repeatedly requested to recite the rosary, let us allow ourselves to be attracted by the mysteries of Christ, the mysteries of Mary’s rosary. The recitation of the rosary allows us to fix our gaze and our hearts upon Jesus, just like his Mother, the supreme model of contemplation of the Son. Meditating upon the joyful, luminous, sorrowful and glorious mysteries as we pray our Hail Marys, let us reflect upon the interior mystery of Jesus, from the Incarnation, through the Cross, to the glory of the Resurrection; let us contemplate the intimate participation of Mary in the mystery of our life in Christ today, a life which is also made up of joy and sorrow, of darkness and light, of fear and hope. Grace invades our hearts, provoking a wish for an incisive and evangelical change of life so that we can say with Saint Paul: “For me to live is Christ” (Phil 1:21) in a communion of life and destiny with Christ."

Pope Benedict XVI. Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima

Tuesday 22 October 2013


Happy Feast of Bl. John Paul II
Proclaiming Christ with Mary
 
"The Rosary is also a path of proclamation and increasing knowledge, in which the mystery of Christ is presented again and again at different levels of the Christian experience. Its form is that of a prayerful and contemplative presentation, capable of forming Christians according to the heart of Christ. When the recitation of the Rosary combines all the elements needed for an effective meditation, especially in its communal celebration in parishes and shrines, it can present a significant catechetical opportunity which pastors should use to advantage. In this way too Our Lady of the Rosary continues her work of proclaiming Christ. The history of the Rosary shows how this prayer was used in particular by the Dominicans at a difficult time for the Church due to the spread of heresy. Today we are facing new challenges. Why should we not once more have recourse to the Rosary, with the same faith as those who have gone before us? The Rosary retains all its power and continues to be a valuable pastoral resource for every good evangelizer."
Rosarium Virginis Mariae by Bl. John Paul II

O God, who are rich in mercy and who willed that the blessed John Paul the Second should preside as Pope over your universal Church, grant, we pray, that instructed by his teaching, we may open our hearts to the saving grace of Christ, the sole Redeemer of mankind. Who lives and reigns.

Monday 21 October 2013

 
"For Christians, the first of books is the Gospel
and the Rosary is actually the abridgement of the Gospel."
 
Henri-Dominique Lacordaire, OP

Saturday 19 October 2013

 
"The Rosary is a way of contemplating the face of Christ seeing Him we may say with the eyes of Mary. For this reason, it is a prayer that drawing upon the core of the Gospel is in full accord with the inspiration of the Second Vatican Council. The Church has to launch out “into the deep” in the new millennium beginning with the contemplation of the face of Christ.”
Blessed Pope John Paul II
 
 
"It is patience that reveals every grace to you,
and it is through patience that the saints received all that was promised to them."
 St. Pachomius

Friday 18 October 2013

 
Prayer of Pope Francis to Our Lady
(From the encyclical “Lumen Fidei”)

Open our ears to hear God’s word
And to recognise his voice and call.
Awaken in us a desire to follow in his footsteps,
To go forth from our own land
And to receive his promise.
Help us to be touched by his love,
That we may touch him in faith.
Help us to entrust ourselves fully to him
And to believe in his love,
Especially in times of trial,
Beneath the shadow of the cross,
When our faith is called to mature.
Sow in our faith the joy of the Risen One.
Remind us that those who believe
Are never alone.
Teach us to see all things with the eyes of Jesus,
That he may be light for our path.
And may this light of faith always increase in us,
Until the dawn of that undying day
Which is Christ himself, your Son, our Lord!
 
"The history of the Rosary shows how this prayer was used in particular by the Dominicans at a difficult time for the Church due to the spread of heresy. Today we are facing new challenges. Why should we not once more have recourse to the Rosary, with the same faith as those who have gone before us?"
Bl. John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 17.

Thursday 17 October 2013


 
"If it is made possible, I intend to come to you in order to see the faithful gathered in Jerusalem, and especially the Mother of Jesus: they say of her that she is honorable, affable, and arouses wonder in all, and all wish to see her. But who would not wish to see the Virgin and to converse with her who bore the true God? ...With us she is glorified as the Mother of God and the Virgin full of grace and virtue. They say of her that she is joyful in troubles and persecutions, does not grieve in poverty and want, and not only does not get angry with those who offend her but does good to them still more... All who see her are delighted."
 
Epistle of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. John.

Pic: Reliquary of Sts. Clement and Ignatius, San Clemente Rome

Wednesday 16 October 2013

 
 
"The heart of a mother is a marvel of mercy. When we fear to go to God, when we are overwhelmed by our unworthiness,  we can go to Mary, because God has entrusted to her the realm of mercy."

Bl. Dom Columba Marmion, OSB
 
To Mary, the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary
 
O Virgin Mary, grant that the recitation of thy Rosary for me each day, in the midst of my manifold duties, a link of unity in all my actions, a tribute of filial piety, a sweet recreation, a help to walk joyously in the path of duty. Grant, especially, O Virgin Mary, that the study of thy fifteen mysteries may gradually form in my soul a pure, bright, fortifying, sweet-scented atmosphere which will penetrate my will, my memory, my understanding, my imagination, my entire being. Thus will I acquire the habit of prayer while working, without the help of formulas, by interior movements of admiration and supplication, or by aspirations of love. I ask this, O Queen of the Holy Rosary, through Dominic, Thy son of predilection, the illustrious preacher of thy mysteries, and faithful imitator of thy virtues. Amen.
 
Bl. Hyacinth Marie Cormier, O.P. (1832-1916).

Monday 14 October 2013

 
"The world being unworthy to receive the Son of God directly from the hands of the Father,
 he gave his Son to Mary for the world to receive him from her."
Saint Augustine

Blessed Mary, Our Lady of Fatima, with renewed gratitude by your motherly presence we unite our voice to that of all generations that call you blessed.
We celebrate with you the mighty works of God, who never gets tired of bending over mankind, beset by evil and wounded by sin, with mercy to heal and to save it.
Mother embrace with benevolence this act of entrustment that we make today with confidence, before this your image which is so dear to us.
We are confident that each of us is precious in your sight and that nothing is alien to you of all that dwells in our hearts. We are touched by the gaze of your sweet eyes and welcome the comforting caress of your smile.
Safeguard our lives in your arms: bless and strengthen every desire for goodness, revitalize and nourish our faith, sustain and brighten the hope that stirs the soul and charity;guide all of us on the path of holiness.
Teach us your same love and preference for the young and the poor, the marginalized and the suffering, for sinners and those whose hearts are lost: gather all under your protection and deliver us all to your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus. Amen.

Pope Francis. 13th October 2013


Mary: Early Dominicans and their love for her. 
The Marian Dimension of the Order of Preachers.


 “The brothers ought to cherish the Orders traditional devotion to the Virgin Mother of God, Queen of Apostles. She is the example of meditation on the words of Christ and of acceptance of one’s mission.”
In our formulae of profession, Dominicans unlike other religious promise obedience to Mary, we promise in filial devotion to obey Mary, Mother of God, the immensely caring Mother of our Order
Blessed Humbert of the Romans,  tells us of a vision received by a French Cistercian Monk, who stated he saw the most august Queen of heaven upon her knees with her hands clasped tearfully begging her son to have pity on his mother’s request. In words she thanked her Son for choosing her as his mother and queen of heaven, yet her heart was full of pain because countless souls were lost, after you all yours sufferings for them my son, they don’t know you and what was offered for their salvation, namely your precious blood. She begged her son, asking that the gift of redemption should not be lost to them.
Our Lord pleaded with his Mother as what more could he do, he has sent prophets and saints, martyrs, doctors and confessors. What more mother am I to do for them? She wept more and in tears replied, my son is not for me to teach you who know all things, but I know that you can find some remedy for this terrible tragedy of ignorance. For three days the mother pleaded on her bended knees before her Son, and finally we are told he rose to his feet (like a good Dominican, took three days to answer) and said, I know sweetest Mother, that sinners are being lost for want of preachers, having none to break for them the bread of the holy scriptures or teach the truth, or open the books now sealed to them, I will send new messengers, a new order of preachers to call and lead the people to everlasting joy. The monk saw the image of Dominic and his friars being sent into the world clothed in the habit white for purity and the black of humility, each blessed by the Christ and his mother.
The order thus comes from the heart and tears the virgin mother, who kneels before her son pleading for mercy, the original title given to our Lady by the first friars was Our Lady of Mercy. The Dominican Vocation comes from the heart of Mary, the call we have received to follow Christ Jesus comes from the heart of Mary, the unique call we have originates in the heart of the Mother of Mercy.
 In 1217 at the first stages of the orders beginning we see the Order at the service of the Bishop of Toulouse, Dominicans were originally therefore of diocesan right.  Our Father Dominic chose the feast of the Assumption, the 15th of August as the day to divide his community; commentators have said that this was chosen by Dominic as the real Pentecost day for the Order.  At Pentecost Mary was gathered with the apostles in the upper room, consoling and strengthening them in their fear. Mary was present when the apostles were sent forth to the four corners of the world. So too with Dominic and his friars, they couldn’t all stay together, they must go and so gathering his brothers together in the safe company of Mary, he sent them forth under the mantle and protection of the queen of apostles, she who supported the apostles would support and protect his sons. We are told he gathered the brethren and announced to them, “hoarded grain goes bad” sending them to Spain, Italy and to the Capital Paris to the university. The apostolic fire that came from the mother’s heart now sends them out again in love for mankind. It has been the prayer of the virgin which upholds the ministry of the word, she who conceived in her womb the word made flesh, prepares the way in each one of us for the word. The Dominican must continually turn to Mary when fear of the apostolate frightens us……it is her intercession which matures the fruit of our labour in the hearts of men and women. If the word is to be born in the hearts of men and women today, the way is prepared by she who first welcomed the word with her yes. Think too of the prophesy of Simon, a sword will pierce your own soul too, after gathering around her the  sons of her son, Mary too must let them go, the heart if it to be shared must be broken.
After the great sending out of the brethren, the frailty of the first friars emerged. Of the four friars sent to Spain, two returned discouraged by their lack of success, the brethren sent to bologna, were half starved because the local people did not support these strange new friars and the friars considered leaving the order completely, but the mother was watching over.
In 1218 Blessed Jordan tells us,  blessed Reginald of Orleans who was a great priest, scholar and lecture in canon law at Paris, fell ill and was dying, this one of St. Dominic’s favourite sons and our father Dominic gave himself over to prolonged prayer, but it seemed useless, Reginald was near death. One night as he lay on his deathbed the Virgin Mother of Mercy appeared to him, she anointed him with healing oil and revealed to him the habit of the Order, asking that the surplice of the canons be replaced by a scapular of the Blessed Mary and a symbol of the yoke of Christ. Reginald was healed immediately and with haste informed father Dominic of the Virgins wishes to have the habit changed. The story reminds us of how the friars always turn to their mother in time of need and how the habit of the order is hers and a reminder down through nearly 800 years of her protection and love.
Another vision  father Dominic received was one night after he returned from his vigil in the church, he walked into the dormitory and saw this beautiful woman passing through the centre of the dorm sprinkling the beds and sleeping friars with holy water, Dominic fell to his knees and asked who she was… she replied, I am she whom you invoke each night at the Salve Regina, when you sing, turn then most gracious advocate, I prostrate myself before my son for the preservation of the order, he then turned and saw our Lord seated in majesty with all the orders around him, but not one of his friars,  The Lord smiled and said, I have given your Order to my Mother and Mary opened her mantle to reveal  to Dominic his sons and daughters hidden beneath the folds.
Dominicans are Marian, we breathe with a love for Mary, the Mother of Apostles and the Mother of Mercy, we promised obedience to Mary in our vows, for as Blessed Humbert says’ it is by the hands of Mary the we hand over to God the radical ownership of our being and of our possessions. It is by her heart that we consecrate ourselves to divine worship and to the salvation of souls.

Virgin Mother Mary,
Protectress of our Order, with trust we approach you.

We, your preachers, fly to you who believed in the words sent from heaven and pondered them in your heart. We stand close around you, who are always present to the gathering of apostles.
In you the Word was made flesh, that same Word which we receive, contemplate, praise together and preach.  Therefore, under your guidance we today devote ourselves anew to the ministry of the Word.  Furthermore, we declare to you that, hearing with you the Word within ourselves and anointed by the Spirit, whose sacred vessel you pre-eminently are, we are consecrated in the name of Jesus Christ to the evangelisation of the world.
With the eyes of your heart enlightened, you understood the mystery of the Word. Through you we, too, are able to perceive the presence of that same Word in the history of our time, so that we may finally contemplate him face to face.
Through you the Father sent his Son into the world that he might save it.  Through you we will be powerful in the sight of your people, becoming witnesses of that truth which frees and of that love which unites.
To this Sanctuary where you are revered as Queen of Ireland we bring the needs of the Dominican Family, and here we ponder them and thus in the presence of God’s people, I consecrate the Dominican Province of Ireland and all our family to your Immaculate Heart.
Do you, Mother, give us strength and preserve the harmony of our family, so that what was begun by our profession may be brought to completion by our love for one another, for the salvation of the world and to the praise and glory of God.

Our Lady, Queen of Preachers and Mother of Mercy, pray for us.
Our Holy Father St. Dominic and all our Dominican Saints and Blessed’s, pray for us.

Very Rev. Gregory Patrick Carroll, O.P.
Prior Provincial of the Province of Ireland.

13th October 2013. National Basilica of Our Lady Queen of Ireland. Knock.

Saturday 12 October 2013


 
“Think of how the world would change if one million of children prayed the Holy Rosary.”
Saint Pio de Pietrelcina
 


 
Annual Dominican Pilgrimage to Knock.
Sunday October 13th. 2013.
Anointing of the Sick. 2:30pm
Holy Mass: 3:00pm. (Followed by Rosary Procession.)
The Dominican Province of Ireland will be consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by the Prior. Provincial Fr. Gregory Carroll, O.P during the Holy Mass in the Basilica of Our Lady, Queen of Ireland in the presence of the Dominican Friars and the branches of the Dominican Family in Ireland.
 The Consecration coincides with the Consecration of the World by Pope Francis in Rome on Sunday.
 Why not join us on this wonderful day, the Official Marian Day of the Year of Faith.
 Praise be Mary Immaculate, Queen of the Holy Rosary and Protectress of the Friars Preachers.

“The rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known; it is the book of the simple, which initiates them into mysteries and knowledge more satisfying than the education of other men; it is the book of the aged, whose eyes close upon the shadow of this world, and open on the substance of the next. The power of the rosary is beyond description.”
Archbishop Fulton Sheen

Friday 11 October 2013


“The Rosary is a form of prayer very well adapted to the feelings of God’s people, very pleasing to the Mother of God and efficacious in obtaining graces from Heaven. The Second Vatican Council recommended this prayer to all the children of the Church, in a very definite manner, although without being explicit, merely stating that great importance should be attached to those practices and exercises of devotion to Mary which the Magisterium of the Church has always recommended down through the centuries.”
Pope Paul VI

”Let those who think that the Church pays too much attention to Mary give heed to the fact that Our Blessed Lord Himself gave ten times as much of His life to her as He gave to His Apostles.”
 -Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.

Tuesday 8 October 2013


Prayer to Our Lady of Evangelization
O Mary, Mother of Jesus and Mother of his Church, we
are mindful of the role you play in the evangelization
of souls who do not yet know Him. We are mindful of
how missionaries came with the power of Christ’s
Gospel and committed the success of their work to you.
As the Mother of Divine Grace you were with the
missionaries in all their efforts.

And as Mother of the Church you presided over all the
activities of evangelization and over the implantation of
the Gospel in the hearts of the faithful. You sustained
the missionaries in hope and you gave joy to every new
community that was born of the Church’s evangelizing activity.
You were there with your intercession and your prayers,
as the first grace of baptism developed, and as those
who had new life in Christ your Son came to a full
appreciation of their Christian calling.

We ask you, Mary, to help us to fulfill this mission of
evangelization which your Son has given to his Church
and which falls to us. Mindful of your role as Help of
Christians, we entrust ourselves to you in the work of
carrying the Gospel ever deeper into the hearts and
lives of all the people.

We entrust to you our missionary mandate
and commit our cause totally to your prayers.
To Jesus Christ your Son, with the Father, in the unity
of the Holy Spirit be praise and thanksgiving forever and ever.
Amen.
Bl. Pope John Paul II.

Monday 7 October 2013

 
If I remember well it was 1985. One evening I went to recite the Holy Rosary that was being led by the Holy Father. He was in front of everybody, on his knees. The group was numerous; I saw the Holy Father from the back and, little by little, I got lost in prayer. I was not alone: I was praying in the middle of the people of God to which I and all those there belonged, led by our Pastor.
In the middle of the prayer I became distracted, looking at the figure of the Pope: his pity, his devotion was a witness. And the time drifted away, and I began to imagine the young priest, the seminarian, the poet, the worker, the child from Wadowice… in the same position in which knelt at that moment, reciting Ave Maria after Ave Maria. His witness struck me. I felt that this man, chosen to lead the Church, was following a path up to his Mother in the sky, a path set out on from his childhood. And I became aware of the density of the words of the Mother of Guadalupe to Saint Juan Diego: “Don’t be afraid, am I not perhaps your mother?”.
I understood the presence of Mary in the life of the Pope.
That testimony did not get forgotten in an instant. From that time on I recite the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary every day.
 
Cardinal Bergoglio, now Pope Francis.

Dominicans today throughout the world and the Church Universal celebrate a Patronal Feast, Our Lady Immaculate, Queen of the Rosary.

Dominicans breathe with a love for the Virgin and treasure the gift we have received to spread devotion to the Rosary. The Rosary is simply for us the Gospel on the string that hangs from the left hand side of our religious habits. When the friar preacher rises from his study desk he is constantly reminded that his contemplation of mystery of Jesus Christ continues with him, for the gentle jingle of the beads that hang from the habit calls us to continual meditation and prayer in the presence of Lord’s mother. To sit or kneel with her, and look through her eyes, to ponder in our hearts what she pondered in her Immaculate heart. The life of the Virgin is completely absorbed and transfixed with Jesus her beloved Son,  and it is to him alone that she draws those she received at the foot of the cross, when Our Lord said to her, Woman behold your son. Mary wishes to see her Son in us through a life of virtue and so she intercedes continually to bring us closer to him. We too are asked like St. John,  “Behold your Mother,” to bring her to our homes, our hearts and our prayers and to our study for she is the most eminent of teachers. The Dominican life is an absorption in the contemplation of the Word made flesh, and that contemplation begins with Mary, who brought forth the word. The Rosary is an immersion in Jesus, making present in our minds and hearts the life of the Lord in any given moment of the day.

To pray the rosary is to be immersed into the mystery of Jesus Christ. These mysteries are of his life, the mysteries of his grace and the mysteries of his love for each one us. When the bead pass through our fingers the mind united with the soul is truly plunged into Jesus Himself. The Rosary therefore is Jesus filling our souls, our intelligence, our memory, our imagination, our vision. At each instant and in all the mysteries it is always His Person that comes to the fore, but the reality is always unique, always the same: it is Jesus.

The Rosary is not only Jesus filling the spirit; it is also Jesus penetrating and taking over the heart to warm it and set it afire. How can anyone one remain in front of a blazing fire, without being penetrated, in turn, by its warmth? And what comes forth from all the mysteries of the Rosary if not warmth, and the flame of love? How can we not love the One who lavishes such love on us? The One who gives Himself without reserve?

The Rosary therefore is  time of intimacy with Jesus and Mary, during which all the rest is forgotten. It transports us into what is most intimate to the Christian life to penetrate us with its grace and to rekindle it ceaselessly within us. One who practices the Rosary in this way is at the wellspring of a true holiness, peace and joy.

Happy Feast Day.

Sunday 6 October 2013

 
Today, together we confirm that the Holy Rosary is not a pious practice banished to the past, like prayers of other times thought of with nostalgia. Instead, the Rosary is experiencing a new Springtime. Without a doubt, this is one of the most eloquent signs of love that the young generation nourish for Jesus and his Mother, Mary. In the current world, so dispersive, this prayer helps to put Christ at the center, as the Virgin did, who meditated within all that was said about her Son, and also what he did and said. When reciting the Rosary, the important and meaningful moments of salvation history are relived. The various steps of Christ’s mission are traced. With Mary the heart is oriented toward the mystery of Jesus. Christ is put at the center of our life, of our time, of our city, through the contemplation and meditation of his holy mysteries of joy, light, sorrow and glory. May Mary help us to welcome within ourselves the grace emanating from these mysteries, so that through us we can “water” society, beginning with our daily relationships, and purifying them from so many negative forces, thus opening them to the newness of God. The Rosary, when it is prayed in an authentic way, not mechanical and superficial but profoundly, it brings, in fact, peace and reconciliation. It contains within itself the healing power of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, invoked with faith and love at the center of each “Hail Mary.”
                                                                                                          Benedict XVI. May 3, 2008
 
 
"The most holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or, above all, spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world, or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations, that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the holy Rosary. With the holy Rosary, we will save ourselves; we will sanctify ourselves; we will console our Lord, and obtain the salvation of many souls."
 Sr. Lucia, Seer of Fatima. Dec 1957
 
What is the Role of the Dominican Rosary Apostolate in our modern times?
 
  1. To write truthfully about Mary.
  2.  To have Mary truly praised among the children of God
  3.   To have Mary truly loved by all. 
  4. All to Jesus through Mary.

Friday 4 October 2013


Happy Feast of St. Francis,

St. Francis' Salutations to the Virgin

Hail, O Lady, 
Mary, holy Mother of God: 
you are the Virgin made Church 
and the one chosen by the
most holy Father in heaven 
whom He consecrated 
with His most holy beloved Son 
and with the Holy Spirit the Paraclete,
in whom there was and is
the fullness of grace and every good

Hail His Palace! 
Hail His Tabernacle! 
Hail His Home! 
Hail His Robe!
Hail His Servant! 
Hail His Mother!

And hail all you holy virtues which through the grace and light of the Holy Spirit are poured into the hearts of the faithful so that from their faithless state you may make them faithful to God.

AMEN

Wednesday 2 October 2013


 
The soul that lives by the Rosary makes her way quickly towards a life of union with Christ. And what are, in fact, the mysteries of the Rosary? They are the very mysteries of Jesus, the mysteries of His life, the mysteries of His grace, the mysteries of His love. The Rosary is the soul truly plunged into Jesus Himself. The Rosary is Jesus filling our spirit, our intelligence, our memory, our imagination, our vision. At each instant and in all the mysteries it is always His Person that comes to the fore, but the reality is always unique, always the same: it is Jesus.
Father Marie-Etienne Vayssière, O.P. (1864-1940)

I would like to suggest to everyone to renew the prayer of the Rosary in the upcoming Year of Faith. With the Rosary, we allow ourselves to be guided by Mary, model of faith, in meditating on the mysteries of Christ, and day after day we are helped to assimilate the Gospel, so that it shapes all our lives. I invite you to pray the Rosary personally, in the family and in the community, learning at the school of Mary, which leads us to Christ, the living centre of our faith.
Benedict XVI.

Tuesday 1 October 2013


 
October is the traditional month of the Holy Rosary for in this month we celebrate the Feast Day of Our Lady Queen of the Rosary on October 10th.
The Church calls us ever afresh to renew our devotion of this wonderful prayer, for in it we see before the life and mystery of Jesus through the eyes of his Mother. Every mystery in which we contemplate and pray is made present in that quiet moment as we slip the beads through our fingers and offer up that great gospel prayer, the words of the Angel Gabriel, “ Hail Full of Grace, the Lord is with you.”
 
Like the Holy Mass which makes present in our time and place, the Sacrifice of Calvary and allows us to share and benefit in its saving mysteries. So too in a differing way, we are allowed to share in every mystery of our Lords life when we recall that saving life upon the Rosary beads. We make present that mystery in our hearts, our minds, our homes and families and by doing so we are allowed to participate and receive the graces and mercy that flow from Jesus. We not only grow in grace, we also grow in knowledge of Christ and his life. This knowledge of Jesus, as Aquinas teaches us, makes us grow in love of him and his mysteries.
 
The Rosary therefore is the gospel on the beads, it is chain of love which unites heaven and earth wherever it is prayed, making present in that place the mystery of Love Incarnate in the presence of Christ's Mother.
Wherever Mary is, there is to be found Christ, wherever Christ is, there his Mother stands interceding.
 
This month of October is a holy month, a month to grow in grace and knowledge of Christ and so it is a time to increase our love for him and experience his love for us.
Throughout Europe Dominicans encourage the faithful to pray the Rosary in groups, for where two are three are gathered the Lord promises to come among us.
Ireland has a long tradition in rural places of local communities coming together during the summer months and celebrating the “Station Mass” in family homes, this traditions stretches back centuries when practicing the faith in public was forbidden.
 
As promoter of the Rosary, I would encourage the faithful in rural areas, towns and cities to set apart one evening a week during this month. Invite your neighbours and friends to come together and say the Rosary in a family home. To pray together for the intentions of the families gathered, for their children, for their sufferings, their sicknesses, for employment and for an increase in faith. All it takes is twenty five minutes, to spent the time as a family, a local community or a gathering of friends and pray together in the presence of the Lord in the company of Mary. No priest or minister is needed, just an open heart and open home to welcome.
 
We are celebrating this year in Ireland what we are calling “The Gathering.” Ireland learned its hospitality from its ancient faith, perhaps we could have a gathering among those closest to us, and invite those whom we know are in any need to come together in a family home, and make present the mysteries of our Salvation there in that very place.
 
Christ longs and thirsts for us to know him and experience his love and mercy. In this holy month of October, may we find him like the Magi in the presence of his Mother in places the world or even ourselves would have ever expected, those places are firstly our homes and hearts, open wide to welcome the Lamb, the true guest of our souls.


 
I had never seen anything so beautiful. Her face exuded an inexpressible kindness and tenderness, but what pierced me to the depths of my soul was the Virgin’s ravishing smile. Then, all my pain vanished, and two great tears fell from my eyes, and flowed silently over my cheeks, but they were tears of unalloyed joy … Ah, I said to myself, the Blessed Virgin has smiled at me. How happy I am! … But I won’t tell anyone, because then my happiness would disappear.
 
 St. Thérèse.