October 2025 (2-4 October)
October is one of those months that children of Mary look forward to with great anticipation. It is the month of the Holy Rosary! The Rosary should be dear to us for numerous reasons, and not just because it is the principal devotion of our monthly triduum.
The first is that it is a profound meditation on the life of our Blessed Saviour through the eyes of His Blessed Mother. There can be no better way of entering into the mysteries of our faith than to do so in company of Our Lady and fortified by her own insights, which she never fails to give to those who contemplate Her Son with the eyes of faith and with great love.
The second is that it is a practical way of praying always, according to Our Lord’s command in Luke 18:1. There are many ways to go about praying always, but the Rosary is one of them, as it is easy to sow, as it were, Hail Marys throughout our days by saying parts of the Rosary. It is said that Padre Pio recited dozens of Rosaries each day in spite of his always being so very busy with hearing confessions all day long.
A third reason is that the Rosary has worked many miracles throughout history, and in our particular circumstances it is our most powerful weapon.
At Fatima, Our Lady stressed the need to recite the Rosary if we want peace. In the light of her maternal love we can understand the whole message of Fatima, which is essentially: The greatest obstacle to man’s journey towards God is sin, perseverance in sin, and finally, denial of God, the deliberate blotting out of God from the world, the rejection of God by man, which leads logically to God’s rejection of man, to damnation. Mother Mary, seeing the decadence of the modern world, decided not to remain silent, because she desires our salvation. This is why the message of Our Lady of Fatima is a motherly one, but also a strong one. It sounds severe. It invites to repentance. It gives a warning. It calls to prayer. It recommends the Rosary. Pray the Rosary! The love of Mother Mary breaks down the barriers of sin, and there is no greater sign of her presence than when people pray the Rosary.
So let this be our marching orders, not just this month, but always: take up the Rosary. When we are happy, let us say the Rosary to give thanks to God. When we are tempted, let us pray the Rosary to have the strength to resist. When we are suffering, let us pray the Rosary to have the strength to bear the pain and offer it up with Jesus. Above all, when we do not feel like praying at all, then, more than ever, let us take up the Rosary. Mother Mary will teach us how to pray, and through prayer, we will save our souls.