“NAS MÃOS TRAZIAS O TERÇO” | Aliança de Santa Maria

“IN THE HANDS
YOU WERE WEARING A ROSARY”

Ana Luísa Castro, asm
Article originally published in the newspaper “The Messenger of the Infant Jesus of Prague”

«When he has found a pearl of great price, he sells all that he has and buys the pearl.» (Mt 13:46)

«In your hands you carried the rosary...» goes one of the best-known Fatima songs. Since that first apparition in May, the Lady of Fatima's hallmark has been her rosary. And in the October apparition, she would say her name:

«I am the Lady of the Rosary». This ancient prayer appears on the lips of the Lady of Heaven as her most insistent request and as defining her own identity. It is a real treasure that the Lady holds in her hands to give to us, as if she were saying in the Gospel parable: «Go, sell all that you have and buy the pearl.» (Mt 13:46). It seems surprising that the proposal is so simple! But we have to bet everything on this life of prayer, of which the Rosary is an excellent instrument.

Cardinal Ratzinger (later Benedict XVI) drew attention to the value of prayer:

«It seems to me that our greatest mistake is to think that only great economic and political actions can transform the world (...) Now, here at Fatima we hear about hidden things - conversion, prayer, penance - which seem to have no political importance, but are the decisive things, they are the renewing force of the world.» (C. Ratzinger, RR, Letters to the Table, October 1996) (C. Ratzinger, RR, Letters on the Table, October 12, 1996)

The Rosary belongs to those hidden means that are the «renewing force of the world». By praying the Rosary every day, we have a unique encounter with the one who was given to us as our Mother on the cross. This daily encounter, as requested, opens the way for the Virgin Mother's promise, made in the June apparition, to come true. In June 1917, the young Lucia was living in an atmosphere of «disdain and contempt» in her family since, after May, they had accused her of «deceiving so many people», as her mother put it. Amid many tears and «as if guessing what was going on», Our Lady said to her: «And you? Are you suffering a lot? Don't lose heart. I will never leave you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the path that will lead you to God.» (MIL I [1], p. 83)

The Blessed Mother, whom we meet in the daily rosary, is a «refuge» for each of us and a «way» to God.

The rhythm of the Our Fathers and Hail Marys becomes the background music that creates this serene atmosphere where the words of the Gospel, of the prayer that Jesus taught, of the annunciation, of the encounter with Elizabeth, pass from our minds to our hearts and make room for the Blessed Mother to transform our lives. With her, we go through the whole of Jesus« life. The Joyful Mysteries take us back to his childhood; the Luminous Mysteries show us his public life, which culminates in the Institution of the Eucharist; in the Sorrowful Mysteries we follow in the footsteps of the One who accepted to be handed over and crucified for love of us; the Glorious Mysteries make us taste Heaven with its admirable Light. From mystery to mystery, Our Lady of the Rosary gives us the comfort of this certainty that the Lord loves us, accompanies us and saves us, while forming our hearts. St. John Paul II, in his letter »The Rosary of the Virgin Mary«, told us that: »The Rosary mystically transports us close to Mary (...) This allows her to educate and mold us, with the same solicitude, until Christ is fully formed in us." (John Paul II; Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae; n. 15)

A contemplative and Christ-centered prayer, the Rosary leads us to an attitude of life based on contemplating the Lord, with Mary and like Mary, in order to become more and more like him. This is why the Immaculate Heart of Mary is also a path to holiness.

The beads that we slip between our fingers, like precious pearls, hold the secret of this Mother who wants to give us Jesus himself, while on our part, they are an expression of the surrender and trust that we dedicate to her. In this heart-to-heart prayer, anguish and suffering can be lived with her and offered in reparation. Our whole lives can become a pleasing offering to the Lord. That's why, in Fatima, the Rosary also appears as a prayer of intercession, the main intention being Peace. The apparition of May ends with the request: “Pray the Rosary every day, to achieve peace for the world and an end to war.” Peace for the world, for families, for people, in short, peace, is the gift we need to ask for. By asking, we recognize its value and open ourselves to it.

In this centenary year, in which we feel especially visited by the Grace of God that manifested itself at Fatima, may each of us feel challenged to also carry the rosary in our hands as the mark of a heart united to those of Jesus and Mary and willing to live in surrender for Peace.

[1] By MIL I we mean: Lucia de Jesus, Memories of Sister Lucia I, Fátima: Secretariat of the Little Shepherds 2007.

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