AVE MARIA GRATIA PLENA…

The 150 Psalms have always been prayed by Old Testament Israel and by Christians for personal prayer. They came to form a large part of the Divine Office sung at the liturgy of the hours by religious. Lay people who didn’t have copies of Scripture or the Breviary and lay people who were illiterate would substitute 150 Hail Marys in place of the 150 Psalms, thus it came to be known as the “Marian Psalter” or “Psalter of the Laity.”

St. Dominic de Guzman popularized the Marian Psalter in the form we have it today (150 Hail Marys with an Our Father after each 10) when Our Lady encouraged him to pray it that way in response to the Albigensian heresy. Our Lady also appeared to the children at Fatima and asked that the Rosary be prayed daily. The Rosary, thus, has always been a weapon against heresy and trouble.

While non-Catholics see the Rosary as a mindless chant, what they don’t understand is that the Rosary is a meditation on the lives of Mary and Jesus. Each decade represents a single event/mystery in their lives, and as the prayers are prayed, we contemplate that particular Mystery.

As a personal initiative on our part, we could identify a particular need; it could be individual, family, social need. Keep that intention in mind and make an effort to pray this powerful prayer in our homes together as one family or at least individually, especially in this month – dedicated to the Holy Rosary. Our Heavenly Mother always accompanied her son Jesus and cared for him. She will join us too and look after our needs while we faithfully pray the Marian prayer which will lead us closer to her son our Lord Jesus Christ.