 Our Lady of the Rosary |
| March 14, 2012
Dear Family of Mary!
"With a rosary in hand and love in the heart set out with me. I am leading you towards Easter in my Son." (March 2, 2012)
Our Lady has not mentioned the Rosary very often in her messages, but when she has, it has been in the context of victory over evil, of protection from the enemy, the stopping of war, and the power to work miracles. (See June 25, 1985, August 8, 1985, June 12, 1986, February 25, 1988, January 25, 1991, August 25, 1997, or April 25, 2001) Clearly there is great strength and power in the Rosary.
I discovered a reflection written by Fr. Slavko Barbaric, O.F.M. on the January 25, 1991 message. He writes on the famous line in that message, "Even the Rosary alone can cause miracles in the world and in your lives."
Fr. Slavko writes:
"Even the Rosary alone can cause miracles in the world and in your lives." It is not the first time that we have heard that prayers can cause miracles to happen. How are we meant to understand Mary here? To pray means to be with God. To pray the Rosary really means to be with Mary and Jesus in many different situations in their lives.
Specifically this means that when we pray the Joyful Mysteries we remain with Mary and Jesus when they experienced joyful situations. We see Mary when she decides for God and says: "Your will be done." We see her when she visits and brings peace and joy to Elizabeth in praying with her, thanking and praising God. She stays with Elizabeth and helps her for several months. Then we see Mary as she accepts Baby Jesus as mother in Bethlehem and in this moment the angels sing: "Peace on earth to all men of good will. Praise God in the Highest!"She brings her Son to the Temple, thanks God that He gave the Child Jesus to the world through her, and the old Simon who was praying recognizes the Savior in Jesus. He recognizes in Him the Light for the world and salvation for his nation. Then Mary looks for Jesus, finds Him in the Temple and her sorrows are transformed into joy.
In the Sorrowful Mysteries we again see Jesus Who in His sufferings says: "Your will be done, Oh Father." Jesus, who forgives the enemy in calling His Apostle, Judas, His friend. He forgives his apostles who had abandoned Him by falling asleep. He tolerates the Scourging, carries the Crown of Thorns with love and forgives again. Then He carries His cross, falls and gets up again to carry though the will of the Father. On the Cross He dies and His last words are: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."
After this the Glorious situations of their lives continue. Jesus conquers death and thereby brings us peace. He conquers fear and blesses His Apostles before His ascension and sends them out into the world to spread the Good News. They should heal the sick, they should chase out demons and they should announce the Good News. Then the Apostles pray with Mary and the Holy Spirit comes and transforms their hearts. Then at the end, after her life here on earth, Mary is carried into Heaven in soul and in body and is crowned as Queen of Heaven and Earth.
So if we stay with Mary and Jesus this way each day and really live with them through our joyful, sorrowful as well as glorious moments, then our lives will truly be changed. When Mary says: "Also in your lives miracles will happen." It is really already a miracle for the human heart and the human life when a person opens himself to the Father and says: "Thy will be done." With this all fears go away and also then the heart opens itself to the others as Mary's did during her visit to Elizabeth. When we visit and love the next person in this way then it is also for and with God. Then all wounds and all destruction will be removed from our lives and the others' lives, from all families and from the entire world. Is it not a miracle when a person stretches his hand toward another with love? But this is possible when God reaches into the heart of a person. It is a miracle in every human life when a person says with love: "Lord I am here. In gratitude I bring my life to You." Were more people to behave in this manner, then everybody would come to see the light, the transforming Divine Light and in this way one also becomes salvation to others. When we have lost God through anything we accumulate very specific symptoms in our lives such as fear, aggression, sadness and aimlessness. Yet when we again start with Mary to look for and to find Jesus, then the miracles begin again and the human heart fills up again with joy, peace and purpose. Only then can we again live fulfilled lives.
The sufferings in your lives are always difficult and remain a mystery, but when we look at Jesus and even in our sufferings say 'yes' to the Father our wounds get healed, the crowns of thorns of evil on us are broken and it becomes possible to carry the cross of those others who suffer. Then we can help them as well as permitting oneself to be helped. Then even in the most difficult situations we will be able to forgive, and in this way one enters into the life, into the life that cannot be conquered.
It is here that the miracles happen in our lives. Mary is certainly right when she tells us that with the Rosary alone miracles can happen. When the miracles happen within our own lives then they are already happening in the world. When many, many people permit themselves to be transformed through prayer and truly carry all their situations in God, then peace will become possible. Of course when it comes to the war or to illnesses, it cannot be expected that some magical power will paralyze the weapons; but there is a grace that touches and transforms the human heart. It is in this that we were entrusted with an enormous power.
Perhaps now some will ask why the war in Croatia and Bosnia/ Herzegovina was not blocked with the Rosary. Before we ask why I think we should first honestly ask ourselves some questions. Did we really pray the Rosary? Did we really take the Rosary upon ourselves? Did we really do as Mary asked of us? Had we, then we could ask ourselves more questions. It is not only this war but all wars, the wars in the families, the wars in the communities and the wars in the Church that can ALL be stopped with prayer and with the Rosary. Then peace can really come.
It is certainly interesting that Croatian soldiers from the very beginning carried Rosaries around the necks and on the epaulets. I personally heard so many stories of miracles from those who know that they were saved because they were praying and carrying the Rosary around the neck. One said to me: "Now it is very clear who is fighting against whom. We need to fight to defend ourselves and we know that our human strengths alone do not suffice, but with prayer and the Rosary we are certain that even through this war we with Mary will become victorious."
So I suggest that before we ask ourselves - Why did my prayer not cause miracles in my family, my community or in the world? - we first must with some friends truly decide for prayer, but not only the standard prayers that we pray when we have difficulties or problems, but also in seeking God through love. It is this that Mary also taught us in a message when she said: "Do not seek God through your needs or desires, but through His love." The miracles will happen and the victory will with all certainty belong to Mary and those who love her and her Son. She is the mother who has conquered the devil, the prince of this world. May it become this way in our personal lives and through us in the whole world. (Fr. Slavko Barbaric O.F.M. Mother! Lead Us To Peace!! Published by Nicholas Maria Eltz, Bosnia/Herzegovina. 1995. p. 45-47)
"Even the Rosary alone can cause miracles in the world and in your lives."May we live the Rosary as Father Slavko suggests, and bring down the miracles of peace that God so longs to do in us the through us!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan Mary TV 2012 |
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