J.M.J.
It is well-known that the Church “dedicates” both May
and October to the remembrance of the Blessed Virgin Mary. May’s commemoration
is more general—the Mother of God in all her splendor, whereas October’s is
quite specific—Mary under her glorious title, “Our Lady of the Rosary.”
This makes eminent sense. Before we venerate the
Madonna, we must first know who she is. Before we lift our voices in the
prayerful recitation of the Holy Rosary, which is insightfully hailed as “the
Gospel in miniature,” we must know to whom we turn.
The focus on Mary during the second full month of
spring may be likened to a student’s first two years at the university where he
is enrolled in certain “core” classes: English, history, mathematics, etc.
October’s concentration on Our Lady and her Holy Rosary is similar to the
business, political science or teaching-inclined collegian who “specializes” in
his particular discipline during the last two years.
The Holy Rosary takes on deeper meaning when we come
to acknowledge Our Blessed Mother and how she is related to her Divine Son and
His Chosen Bride, the Church.
Father Luigi Gambero (1930-2013), an Italian Marianist
priest who had considerable expertise in the study of the Fathers of the
Church, identifies dozens of passages regarding Mary and her singular mission
that were written in the early centuries immediately after the Passion, Death,
Resurrection and Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In Mary and the Fathers of the Church: The Blessed Virgin Mary in
Patristic Thought (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1999), translated by
Father Thomas Buffer, Father Gambero demonstrates that our filial love for the
Ever-Virgin Mother of the Savior and our sincere devotion to her are deeply
rooted in the history, theology and practice of the Church.
For example, Saint Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and
Doctor, whose Feast is July 30th, was convinced of the sanctity of Mary.
He penned these words about 1,600 years ago: “The Virgin is truly blessed, for
she possessed the splendor of virginity and achieved the dignity of motherhood.
She is truly blessed, for she merited the grace of a heavenly conception and
wore the crown of integrity. She is truly blessed, for she received the glory
of the divine Son and is queen of all chastity.” (page 294)
We can only be amazed at what Our Lord did through His
Mother. “When someone conceives as a virgin, gives birth as a virgin, and
remains a virgin, this is not normal; it is a sign. It is not the work of logic
but of divine power. Nature’s Maker did it, not nature. It is not common but
unique. It is divine, not human. Therefore let hapless philosophy cease trying
to explain it.” (page 295)
One may argue: “I do not find anything in this
text—or, for that matter, in any works of the Church Fathers—that advocates the
praying of the Rosary, which is, after all, a much later development in Christian
piety.”
Yes, the Rosary is a “later development.”
Nevertheless, Saint Peter Chrysologus and the other Fathers of the Church laid
the essential foundation. It is right and just that we invoke the Mother of the
Master. She is close to Him in Paradise as she was here on earth. The Rosary is
the ideal prayer. Pope Saint John Paul II conceded that it was his “favorite”
prayer.
This excellent book, Mary and the Fathers of the Church: The Blessed Virgin Mary in Patristic
Thought provides salutary reflection especially for this month of Our Dear
Mother whom we venerate with our Rosaries in hand.
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