OCTOBER DEVOTION: UNDERSTANDING THE MARIAN TITLES IN THE LITANY OF LORETO (PART 2) – DAY 18: “QUEEN OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY” (REGINA SACRATISSIMI ROSARII)

DAY 18 PRAYER INTENTION: Today, pray for all devotees of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. May they never be forsaken by Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in all their trials, afflictions, needs, challenges, etc., and may the Holy Rosary be their pathway to eternal life, to the greater glory of God. Amen (Also add your own intention…)

Now, say the 20 decades of the Rosary…

At the end of the 20 decades, say the following Prayers:

Hail Holy Queen

Hail, holy Queen, mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile show us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray

O God, whose only begotten Son, by His life, death, and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal salvation. Grant, we beseech Thee, that while meditating on these mysteries of the most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us! Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us! St. Joseph, pray for us!

Litany of Loreto

Lord have mercy.
Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy.
Christ hear us.
Christ graciously hear us.

God, the Father of heaven,
have mercy on us (Repeat after each invocation)

God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
God the Holy Spirit,
Holy Trinity, one God,

Holy Mary,
pray for us (Repeat after each invocation)
Holy Mother of God,
Holy Virgin of virgins,
Mother of Christ,
Mother of the Church,
Mother of Mercy,
Mother of divine grace,
Mother of Hope,
Mother most pure,
Mother most chaste,
Mother inviolate,
Mother undefiled,
Mother most amiable,
Mother most admirable,
Mother of good counsel,
Mother of our Creator,
Mother of our Saviour,
Virgin most prudent,
Virgin most venerable,
Virgin most renowned,
Virgin most powerful,
Virgin most merciful,
Virgin most faithful,
Mirror of justice,
Seat of wisdom,
Cause of our joy,
Spiritual vessel,
Vessel of honour,
Singular vessel of devotion,
Mystical rose,
Tower of David,
Tower of ivory,
House of gold,
Ark of the covenant,
Gate of heaven,
Morning star,
Health of the sick,
Refuge of sinners,
Solace of Migrants,
Comfort of the afflicted,
Help of Christians,
Queen of Angels,
Queen of Patriarchs,
Queen of Prophets,
Queen of Apostles,
Queen of Martyrs,
Queen of Confessors,
Queen of Virgins,
Queen of all Saints,
Queen conceived without original sin,
Queen assumed into heaven,
Queen of the most Holy Rosary,
Queen of families,
Queen of peace.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.

Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray
Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord God, that we, your servants, may enjoy perpetual health of mind and body;
and by the glorious intercession of the Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, may be delivered from present sorrow, and obtain eternal joy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me.

Prayer to Saint Joseph after the Rosary

To you, O Blessed Joseph, we come in our trials, and having asked the help of your most holy spouse, we confidently ask your patronage also. Through that sacred bond of charity which united you to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God and through the fatherly love with which you embraced the Child Jesus, we humbly beg you to look graciously upon the beloved inheritance which Jesus Christ purchased by his blood, and to aid us in our necessities with your power and strength.

O most provident guardian of the Holy Family, defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ. Most beloved father, dispel the evil of falsehood and sin. Our most mighty protector, graciously assist us from heaven in our struggle with the powers of darkness. And just as you once saved the Child Jesus from mortal danger, so now defend God’s Holy Church from the snares of her enemies and from all adversity. Shield each one of us by your constant protection, so that, supported by your example and your help, we may be able to live a virtuous life, die a holy death, and obtain eternal happiness in heaven. Amen.

Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

DAY 18 REFLECTION: “QUEEN OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY” (REGINA SACRATISSIMI ROSARII)

The eleventh of the twelve invocations of our Lady as “Queen” in her litany praises her as “Queen of the Holy Rosary” (Latin, Regina Sacratissimi Rosarii). It was officially inserted in the Lauretana Litany by Pope Leo XIII, on December 10, 1883, although it had been used by the people for over two hundred years. Under this title: “Queen of the Most Holy Rosary,” we are going to be contemplating our Lady in the relationship between the Rosary and Lauretana Litany on this eighteenth day of our October Devotion. But then, how is our Lady Queen of the Holy Rosary? What is the Holy Rosary?

As many of us know, the form of the Rosary as we have today came to us through the Holy founder of the Order of preachers (Dominicans). Put differently, St. Dominic received the Holy Rosary from the Blessed Virgin Mary in an apparition in 1214. Be that as it may, it is pertinent to make clear that the Holy Rosary has been in existence even before the time of St. Dominic but in its crude form. The word rosary comes from Latin, meaning “a garland of roses”, the rose being one of the flowers used to symbolize the Virgin Mary. Some Protestants now say the rosary, recognizing it as a truly biblical form of prayer—after all, the prayers that comprise it come mainly from the Bible. The origin of the Holy Rosary is actually complex, dating itself to the times of the early Christians. Also, the practice of counting prayers dates itself to the Old Testament times. Originally the rosary had 150 beads, the same number of psalms in the Bible. In those days, religious orders recited together the 150 Psalms as a way to mark the hours of the day and the days of the week. Those people who didn’t know how to read wanted to share in this practice, so praying on a string of 150 beads or knots began as a parallel to praying the psalms as a way that they could remember the Lord and his Mother throughout the day, by reciting the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary.

The “Divine Office”; the official prayer of the church; is the recitation of the psalms and canticles over a four week period and is still prayed today. The pertinent question that arises here is: why were the illiterates asked to pray the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary in substitute for the psalms, since they cannot read and write; why can’t other forms of prayers be used? It is apposite to note that there exists an intrinsic relationship between the Psalms and the New Testament (Gospels). Put differently, the Psalms gives an allusion to the life of Christ in the New Testament; in the same vein, the Holy Rosary is seen as the summary of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ in his Redemptive work, and the cooperation of his Blessed Mother in its realization. It was in this light that we come about the origin of praying and counting on beads (the rosary in its crude form) which came to serve as a substitute for the psalms especially for those who cannot recite the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office)

This first rosary was prayed in a way that a person would pass their fingers over each bead and say a prayer, usually the “Our Father.” The “Hail Mary” prayer came later. Then people said the “Hail Mary” in the twelfth century, that is, “Angel Gabriel’s Greeting.” Hence, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee” was often said along with the Our Father. Later, Elizabeth’s greeting: “Blessed are you among women” was added. It was not until the sixteenth century that the words “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death” were added. Various people have added other things to the rosary over the centuries. In the fifteenth century, a Carthusian monk divided the rosary into fifteen brackets (or decades) and a Dominican assigned a mystery to each of the decades. These mysteries were events in the life of Jesus as written in the gospels, and understood to the illiterates. The Marian apparition to the three children at Fatima in 1917 was to encourage devotion to Her Immaculate Heart, daily recitation of the Holy Rosary and to make reparation for sins.

On October 16, 2002, Pope St. John Paul II declared that the following year would be the “Year of the Rosary”. For the first time in centuries, a change was made in the rosary. The Pope added and defined 5 new mysteries that concerned events in the public life of Jesus. These new mysteries were called the “Luminous Mysteries” or “Mysteries of Light.” Today’s complete rosary is now made up of twenty decades of the Hail Mary, separated by the mysteries, Our Father and a “Glory Be,” and sometimes the Fatima prayer (Oh my Jesus forgive us our sins, save us from the fire of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are most in need of your mercy). Despite all the additions and changes, the important core of the rosary has always remained the same. It is a way for God’s people to make holy the day, and to remember the life of Jesus and his mother.

In its relationship with the litany, we can say that the Litany and Rosary are “sister devotions” that use the repetition of truths of faith as spiritual pedagogy. The essence is not exactly in repetition, but in meditation and contemplation of the mysteries of our salvation; that is, in the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. This is the real centre of Litany and Rosary. In fact, we do not pray “to” Mary but “with” Mary. She is not the final destination of our trip, but a roadside sign that points the correct entrance to heaven! Pope St. John Paul II placed Litany and Rosary side by side in his last Apostolic Letter: “Rosarium Virginis Mariae.” There, he says in a very beautiful way: “The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer. In the sobriety of its elements, it has all the depth of the Gospel message in its entirety, of which it can be said to be a compendium. It is an echo of the prayer of Mary, her perennial Magnificat for the work of the redemptive Incarnation which began in her virginal womb. With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love. Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer.” (RVM, #1). He also says that in the Rosary it is the whole Church that “remembers Christ with Mary”, “announces Christ with Mary” finds Christ through “the way of Mary”.

Some people often criticize Rosary and Litany. The most common is that it is a monotonous and repetitive prayer. Those who usually say this are oblivious of the correct “contemplation technique.” In the Litany, we use the same dynamics as in the Rosary, but with a variation. The Rosary leads us to contemplate the different mysteries of Christ’s life. The Litany leads us to a dynamic Marian catechesis, which ends up leading us to the same point: the mystery of Jesus Christ. Therefore, these meditations can be very useful so that the recitation of this prayer does not become monotonous and automatic.

That the Rosary ends with the “Hail Holy Queen” indicates that Mary is our queen, and through the Litany, we come to contemplate her as our catechist. Therefore, as we invoke the prayers of the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary through the daily recitation of the Holy Rosary, may we continually come to a realization of the divine will for us as contained in Scripture.

Let Us Pray:

“O God, whose only begotten Son, by His life, death, and resurrection has purchased for us the rewards of eternal salvation. Grant, we beseech Thee, that meditating upon these mysteries in the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain, and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Great job reflecting on Day 18! Click here for Day 19 – “Queen of Peace”