PRAYER FOR PEACE – FEAST OF OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY
MEDITATION ON FEAST OF OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY
(Luke 1, 26-38)

God, in His goodness and wisdom, when He wanted to carry out the work of redemption of the world in the last times, He sent His Son by making Jesus incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Lk 1:26-38). When She said “yes”, She received Jesus into Her womb. She is the Mother of Jesus, the Queen of Peace, who gave birth to Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Therefore, the Church prays to the Virgin Mary to intercede with God the Father for peace for the world.

“ Hail Mary, full of grace”

These were the words of the angel Gabriel greeting Mary at the Annunciation (Luke 1:28). Mary is full of grace because God is with her. Her blessing is incomparably high, as Elizabeth confirmed: “Most blessed are you among women, for blessed is the fruit of your womb.”

The words of the angel Gabriel and of Elizabeth above have been used by the Church to praise and bless Mary, Mother of God and our Mother. At the same time, the Church added to them the prayer for her support and protection: “ Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death .”

The Church never ceases to repeat this prayer to honor Mary, the Happy Woman. She is full of grace, and she also wants her children to be happy, because what mother doesn’t love her children? So when her children go astray and fall into sin, she opens her arms, guiding them to happiness with the message: “Repent and atone for your sins, pray the Rosary often.” Following her advice, the Church has escaped many dangerous storms of body and soul, broken many tangles, and brought peace to the soul.

Grace by reciting the Hail Mary

It was Our Lady who taught Blessed Alan: “Whoever faithfully recites the Rosary and meditates on the Mysteries will be rewarded. I will obtain for them the remission of all punishments and all sins at the hour of their death.”

Saint Bernard said: “The Hail Mary makes the devil flee and hell tremble.”

And Saint Bonaventure said: “Mother Mary blesses those who recite the Hail Mary.”

According to Saint Montfort, “Heretics, unbelievers, and proud people who hate or despise the Hail Mary are marked for damnation. Nothing is more effective in reaching the Kingdom of God than the recitation of the Rosary.”

Saint Alphonsus affirmed: “Thanks to the Rosary, countless sinners have abandoned the path of sin, countless souls have advanced on the path of perfection. Countless people have received the grace of a holy death and enjoy the bliss of Heaven.”

Our Lady herself, when she appeared to Saint Bernardette in Lourdes (1858) as well as to Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta in Fatima in 1917, urged: “Continue to pray the Rosary every day”. And especially: “Pray the Rosary for peace”.

Prayer for Peace

We are living in an international situation of increasing tension. On September 7, 2013, Pope Francis had to invite the whole Church to fast and pray for peace in Syria and other areas where violence is raging. In 2014, the Holy Father repeatedly called on the world to pray for Iraq.

In particular, on March 25, 2022, Pope Francis sent a letter inviting bishops to participate in the consecration of Ukraine and Russia to Our Lady of Fatima. Right in Palestine, the birthplace of the Prince of Peace, peace is still absent, bombs are falling non-stop.

In today’s world, people are becoming increasingly indifferent, unengaged and closed. Peace is threatened by indifference in all aspects of life. People are poisoned by consumerism and hedonism, by wealth and luxury, by egotism, people are often too cruel to each other, excluding each other in many ways.

In the present situation, we can only turn to God to pray for peace for the world. This month, let us pray the Rosary, as the Church has always done in times of need. Because only prayer can overcome national borders and the barriers of hatred and misunderstanding, and bring peace to humanity. We turn to Mary, Queen of Peace, and affirm that where peace is lacking, where people show themselves powerless or unwilling to eradicate the seeds of hatred and death, help must come from Heaven. It is Mary, Queen of Peace, who brings us back to the Father.

In the face of greater forces, we often feel powerless. When we think of the power of the forces on this earth that determine the fate of humanity, we feel limited and powerless, we can only trust in prayer, we trust in a greater power, God. So the Rosary has even more reason to promote peace, a peace that has not yet returned. With the teachings of Mother Mary and the experience of the saints about the grace of reciting the Hail Mary, let us recite the Rosary fervently, to pray for ourselves, for our families, for the Church, for our country and for peace in the world.

Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us.

Queen of peace, pray for us. Amen.

Father Anton Nguyen Van Do