Union with Mary

October 21
“Contemplating the scenes of the Rosary in union with Mary is a means of learning from her to ‘read’ Christ, to discover his secrets and to understand
his message.”
-St. John Paul II
For Reflection:
To what extent is Mary helping me to “read” Jesus better? What impact is this having on my life of prayer and my daily life?

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Contemplative gaze

October 20
“The contemplation of Christ has an incomparable model in Mary. In the recitation of the Rosary, the Christian community enters into contact with the memories and the contemplative gaze of Mary.”
-St. John Paul II
For Reflection:
As I pray the Rosary, do I make a mental effort to see Jesus through the eyes of Mary? When I next pick up my beads, I will ask Mary to help me see her Son through her so that I might know Him more perfectly.

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Desire of heaven

October 19
“If [the pray-er of the Rosary] should listen daily to this secret teaching in the depth of his heart, this prayer would kindle in him the desire of heaven, of the glory of God, and the salvation of souls; it would give him a love of the cross and strength to carry it, and from time to time a foretaste of heaven, a certain savor of eternal life.”
-Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange
For Reflection:
What do I think it means to “listen to this secret teaching in the depth” of my heart? To what extent have I experienced any of the spiritual realities of this quote while I have prayed the Rosary? How can I aid myself during my prayer time to listen more closely?

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March for Life 2020 Theme: “Life EMPOWERS: Pro-Life is Pro-Woman”

The year 2020 marks the 100th year since the passage of the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote and March for Life organizers announced the theme for next year’s march – Life EMPOWERS: Pro-Life is Pro-Woman – in honor of those brave and staunchly pro-life women who fought so hard for women’s rights.

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Communion of Saints

October 18

“The proficient who would thus live a little better each day by the spirit of the Rosary, would reach the contemplation of the mystery of Christ, a certain penetrating understand of the life of the mystical body, or of the Church militant, suffering, and triumphant. Under the continual direction of Jesus and of Mary Mediatrix, he would enter increasingly into the mystery of the communion of saints.”

-Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange

 

For Reflection:

According to this quote, what is contemplation of the mystery of Christ? How can the Rosary help us to do this? Here, Mary is called “Mediatrix.” (Refer to page 26 for the definition.) How have I experienced Mary as mediatrix?

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Heart of Jesus

October 17
“[The Rosary’s] form is that of a prayerful and contemplative presentation, capable of forming Christians according to the heart of Christ.”
-St. John Paul II
For Reflection:
Have I experienced my own heart being conformed to that of Christ as I have prayed the mysteries of the Rosary? Have I witnessed an increased desire for virtue in my life? How have my attitudes, habits, actions, and reactions come under the influence of Christ as a result of my prayer time? (Read the next three Grace Lines to see how this is accomplished through the Rosary).

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NY Gov Promises to Erect Mother Cabrini Statue

A disastrous decision by the wife of New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio not to erect a statue of Mother Cabrini in the city, in spite of the saint receiving the most votes in the city-wide “She Built NYC” contest, was overturned by Governor Andrew Cuomo this week who promised to fund the erection of a statue in her honor.

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Judge Hands BIG Win to Courageous Christian Students

MacBride Hall, University of Iowa, Iowa City (David Mark, Pixabay)

Officials at the University of Iowa, who used totalitarian tactics to shut down a Christian Fellowship group, got quite a smack-down from a federal judge who ruled that their behavior was “ludicrous” and “baffling” and is holding officials personally responsible for their actions.

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Union with Jesus

October 16

“Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the Rosary. This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him.”

-Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2708

 

For Reflection:

How can meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary help to move me toward “the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him?”

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