Our Lady of the Rosary

When the Turks and Christians were engaged at Lepanto in 1571 St. Peter's Square in Rome was filled with pilgrims praying for a victory.  Their prayers were answered and the Pope instituted the Feast of Our Lady of Victory.  Three years later, he extended the Feast to the universal Church under the title of Our Lady of the Rosary.  In 1917, Mary told the children she was the Lady of the Rosary and repeated over and over again her desire that the Rosary be the prayer to combat the forces of Communism and to bring sinners to repentance.  Devotion to the Rosary has continued to be strong, especially this year, the 100th anniversary of the Fatima Apparitions.
We might make it a point to include the Rosary in our prayers today and in the week ahead, to take part in vigils and community Rosary gatherings commemorating the "Miracle of the Sun" on October 13th..  The simple but powerful repetition of the Hail Mary frees the mind to concentrate on the events in the life of Jesus and thus bring us closer to him as does meditating on passages from the New Testament.  That is Mary's focus, and ours as Marists:  to draw ever closer to him, and become more and more like him.  Our Lady of the Rosary,  pray  for us and obtain this Victory for us!
Bro. Rene