Solemnity of the Holy Rosary
Saints and popes, especially in recent centuries, have repeatedly exhorted us to pray the Rosary
Why? The Rosary is quite simply the contemplation of the saving Life of Christ through the eye of the One who knows Him best and was closest to Him in His saving mission: Our Blessed Lady.
It is also because just as the first fall came through a woman, the first Eve, so the final victory must come through a woman the New Eve, Our Blessed Mother.
We are surrounded by hostile forces on every side. The world seeks to subjugate the Church just as Holofernes sought to subjugate Bethulia. It is through the hand of a woman, Judith, that Bethulia was saved, not through dialogue with the enemy.
In the time of the Maccabees, the Greeks sought to subjugate the faith of Israel. They had no problems with the Jews retaining their customs. What they could not stand was the exlusiveness of the Jewish worship. All it took was a bit of incense to the pagan gods, and all would be well. But the Maccabees stood up and said no, we will serve the Lord alone. Christianity, like Judaism in the Old Covenant, is indeed a religion of exclusion – it excludes all who will not acknowledge the one true God and live according to His commandments.
It is no secret that hostile forces seek to subjugate the Church to the world today. World leaders are happy for the Catholic Church to function, but only if she accepts the agenda of a brave new world. This is what is really at stake in our day and in particular with the upcoming synod. The Church must be seen to not oppose the new agenda, and far too many in the Church have been infected with the virus.
This is why we must pray the Rosary. We must stand with Mary, with Judith, with the Maccabees, and resist every effort that would silence the voice of truth. As the book of Proverbs says, a verse that St Thomas inscribed at the beginning of the Summa contra Gentiles: My mouth shall meditate the truth, and my lips shall detest the wicked (Pr 8:7). In other words, the true Catholic must not only speak the truth, he must also condemn wickedness in its every form. Today, the vice of cowardice seems to have shut almost all the mouths that formerly spoke out against evil, and that is why we must storm Heaven through the Holy Rosary, that valiant shepherds may rise to the task, to shut the mouths of the wicked and proclaim the kingship of Christ alone.
In this battle, we are also strongly assisted by the Holy Angels. The month of the October in addition to being the month of the Holy Rosary is also that of the Holy Angels, and just a couple days ago we honoured St Michael and the other archangels, asking them to protect the Church of God. The good angels won the first victory over Satan at the dawn of history, and they will assist us to win the final battle against him now.
Let us stay close to Our Blessed Lady and the Holy Angels, and if we feel weak, as we are indeed, ,let us be reminded that we are not alone. The victory is ours, we are only living out the struggle.
