.- Archbishop Jose Luis Mollaghan of Rosario, Argentina wrote in a pastoral letter that the recitation of the Rosary helps Catholics face life's hardships and sufferings.
In his letter to priests, religious and the faithful, Archbishop Mollaghan said, “The Rosary is a prayer of contemplation on the life of Jesus, throughout the path of salvation, recalling and meditating upon the mysteries of joy, light, sorrow and glory.”
The archbishop noted Pope Benedict XVI’s exhortation to pray the Rosary during the month of October, the month of the Rosary. He said that in the Marian prayer, the laity can find a respite for their hurried lives and a source of true peace for every person and family.
Mary always intercedes for our needs, the archbishop said referring to Pope John Paul II’s encyclical, “Redemptoris Mater” (Mother of the Redeemer). “Mary places herself between her Son and mankind in the reality of our hardships and sufferings. She places herself in the middle - she becomes a mediator not as a stranger, but in her role as true mother, aware that as such she makes present to her Son the needs of mankind.”
The mysteries of the Holy Rosary, he continued, show that Jesus is the center of salvation. They invite us to meditate on the reality that man experiences today, and as John Paul II teaches, “mark the rhythm of human life,” in order to harmonize it with the rhythm of divine life.
“From the incarnation, to the cross, and in the glory of the Resurrection, we contemplate the intimate participation of Mary in the mysteries of Christ and thus in our own lives as well - in which the joys and sorrows, the shadows and the light, the hopes and setbacks are interwoven.
“For this reason grace fills our hearts, inspiring us as we pray to change our lives,” the archbishop said.
Archbishop Mollaghan also underscored that the Rosary inspires the faithful to discover their own missionary vocation because “if praying the Rosary helps us to live as Christians and disciples of Jesus, it also should lead us to discover the missionary vocation through Mary. Precisely by meditating on the life of Jesus, the call to live what we pray and thus proclaim the works of God arises over and over again.”
