"...start afresh from Christ" - Pope St. JPII

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MariaChristi

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

On this vigil of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, how fitting to continue pondering Pope St. John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter, “On the Most Holy Rosary”:
October 2002 – October 2003: The Year of the Rosary
  1. Therefore, in continuity with my reflection in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, in which, after the experience of the Jubilee, I invited the people of God to “start afresh from Christ”, I have felt drawn to offer a reflection on the Rosary, as a kind of Marian complement to that Letter and an exhortation to **contemplate the face of Christ in union with, and at the school of, his Most Holy Mother.**To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ. As a way of highlighting this invitation, prompted by the forthcoming 120th anniversary of the aforementioned Encyclical of Leo XIII, I desire that during the course of this year the Rosary should be especially emphasized and promoted in the various Christian communities. I therefore proclaim the year from October 2002 to October 2003 the Year of the Rosary.
I leave this pastoral proposal to the initiative of each ecclesial community. It is not my intention to encumber but rather to complete and consolidate pastoral programmes of the Particular Churches. I am confident that the proposal will find a ready and generous reception. The Rosary, reclaimed in its full meaning, goes to the very heart of Christian life; it offers a familiar yet fruitful spiritual and educational opportunity for personal contemplation, the formation of the People of God, and the new evangelization. I am pleased to reaffirm this also in the joyful remembrance of another anniversary: the fortieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council on October 11, 1962, the “great grace” disposed by the Spirit of God for the Church in our time.
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The request of Our Lady at Fatima, 100 years ago comes to mind. Mary asked the three shepherd children to pray the Rosary and World War I soon ended but she also told them if people did not stop sinning another more terrible war would occur. Today is the Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor which brought the USA into war with Japan. Many Rosaries have been prayed in the past but there has been a decline in devotion to Mary and a decline in the number of people who pray the Rosary. May God in His Mercy renew us to “start afresh”.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your Faithful; kindle in us the Fire of Your Love.
Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.
Jesus we trust in You!
 
Thank you for the wisdom of St.John Paul II, Some days I find that I do not have time to say the rosary, yet in actuality .I do…So starting today I will 'start afresh ‘’ God Bless you for taking the time to remind us how much Mary means in our lives::🦋🦋.
 
Thank you for the wisdom of St.John Paul II, Some days I find that I do not have time to say the rosary, yet in actuality .I do…So starting today I will 'start afresh ‘’ God Bless you for taking the time to remind us how much Mary means in our lives::🦋🦋.
 
Thank you for remembering Pearl Harbor Day. Here in the USA, most of the people who’d remember it are passed away. My parents both remembered it very well. Dad and his brother went and enlisted after that because they thought it was better to enlist and get some choice than wait to be drafted and get less choice.

I am on day 8 of my 9 day Marian Consecration to the Militia Immaculata which ends tomorrow. I will officially register as a member of the MI tomorrow. I hope I’m up to the task. I have told the Blessed Virgin that I need to take baby steps. It’s a big step for me to give up control over my life, even if it is to Mary who I love and trust.

I am behind on Rosaries, I have to do about six of them today to catch up. I pray every day the St. Brigid’s Prayers and a couple other Novenas and did a lot of Divine Mercies the other night but got behind on Rosaries so sometimes I just have to sit down and do six or eight Rosaries at once and catch up.

Pax Christi
 
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Dear Anna,

Thanks for your reply and for your willingness to “start afresh”. Advent is such a perfect time as we begin a new Church Year and begin to “re-live, liturgically” the life of Christ from birth at Christmas through the hidden years, and into His Public Life, Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension.

Mary our Mother was given to us on Calvary and Pope St. John Paul II (like the Apostle John) took Mary into his life on hearing deeply within his heart the words of Jesus: “Behold you Mother”. Mary is Mother and Model for the Church. She asks us to pray the Rosary in order that we may draw closer to her Son.

It is beautiful to remember how the Wise men found the Christ Child “with His Mother” (cf Mt 2:11). May we too find Him ever more as we seek Him, praying with our Lady, pondering in our hearts as she did all that Jesus said and did. As we pray our Rosaries, let us gaze upon the Face of Christ with Mary as Pope St. John Paul encourages us.
 
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Dear Tis_Bearself,

Many of my relatives were in the Marines, Army and Navy during WWII and they have all passed away now. It was so hard on my Mother and my cousins who had husbands, and fathers, and sons in the South Pacific. I remember one of my cousins who was married and living with us, and I who had just made my first Holy Communion made the nine First Fridays praying for her husband especially to come home safe.

Jesus and Mary were important to us and so I am grateful for my family. Especially my Mother who prayed the Rosary faithfully. All the young men in our family came home safely from the horrors of that war. Today we need to remember all those who have gone before us and to pray for the world as it is today still in danger from exterior and interior enemies. The evil one prowls around seeking whom he may devour and Our Lady is given to us to be Mother and Model for the Church.

I hope all of us in praying our Rosaries will truly contemplate the Face of Christ with Mary. As St. Teresa of Avila told her sisters, if we do not pray with attention and devotion we may be merely moving our lips – but not really praying. Thanks for your reply. Let us please continue to pray for one another, for the Church and for all those in most need of God’s Mercy, through Mary.
 
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