The Rosary

Sister Lucy of Fatima and the Rosary

       In 1970, some progressive theologians having led a campaign in Portugal against the Rosary, Sister Lucy wrote to a friend, Mother Maria José Martins, the following lines:

       «As for what you are telling me concerning the recitation of the Rosary, it is a great pity! Because the prayers of the Rosary (15 decades) and "The Beads" (5 decades) are, after the Sacred Liturgy of the Eucharist, what unites us the most to God through the richness of the prayers which compose it, all coming from Heaven, dictated by the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. The Gloria which we recite with all the mysteries, was dictated by the Father to the Angels when He sent them to sing near His Word Who had just been born, and it is a hymn to the Most Holy Trinity. The "Our Father" was dictated to us by the Son, and it is a prayer directed towards the Father. The "Hail Mary" in its entirety is impregnated with a Trinitarian and Eucharistic meaning: the first words were dictated by the Father to the Angel when He sent him to announce the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word: "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee." Thou art full of grace because in Thee resides the Fountain of that same grace. It is through Thy union with the Most Holy Trinity that Thou art full of grace.»

       «Moved by the Holy Ghost, St. Elizabeth said: "Blessed art Thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of Thy Womb." If Thou art blessed, it is because Jesus, the Fruit of Thy Womb, is blessed. Moved by the Holy Ghost, the Church also has added: "Hail Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death."»

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