•   Last summer about 200 of us from this parish consecrated ourselves to the Blessed Virgin Mary after 33 days of preparation. I have to admit that seeing the large number of you who consecrated yourselves to Mary was very edifying to me – so thank you!
•   I also know from speaking to many of you since then that this consecration to our Lady continues to be a powerful source of grace and blessings for you, and this makes me very happy as well.
•   Of course we will do this same consecration once again this summer, beginning in mid‐ July and ending on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
•   Those of you who have already done the consecration should consider renewing it, while those of you who didn’t do it last year are certainly invited to join this year.
•   From the earliest days of the Church, Catholics have always had a deep love and devotion for the Mother of God. Tradition tells us that this was true especially amongst the apostles, who would have known her quite well.
•   We can only imagine, for example, the tremendous filial love that St. John the Evangelist had for Mary, caring for her as he did after our Lord’s death on the cross.
•   While Holy Mother Church doesn’t force Marian devotion upon any of her children, she certainly encourages devotion to our Lady. Thus there are many, many devotions centered upon Mary and the numerous titles by which she is known and venerated.
•   Of course the most important Marian devotion is the Most Holy Rosary. Countless saints, beginning with St. Dominic all the way down to holy people of our own day, such as Blessed Pope John Paul II, have insisted upon the particular efficacy of the Rosary.
•   This week begins the month of May, a month we dedicate to our Lady. From ancient times in both Greek and Roman cultures, the month of May was dedicated to new life and fertility, eventually leading to the modern practice of honoring motherhood in May.
•   This connection between May and motherhood eventually led Catholics to devote the month of May to Mary, because as the Mother of God, Mary is the mother of us all.
•   This honoring of Mary during the month of May really got its greatest push from Pope St. Leo XIII at the end of the 19th century when he wrote a series of encyclicals on the Most Holy Rosary.
•   So as we enter into this month of May, it makes perfect sense to honor our Lady most especially by praying the Most Holy Rosary.
•   While the origins of the Rosary predate St. Dominic, he is the probably the oldest saint we point to for really promoting it. We have a beautiful stained glass window of St. Dominic receiving the Rosary from our Lady.
•   But the popularity of the Rosary really grew in the 15th and 16th centuries, in large part due to the efforts of Blessed Alan de Roche. Bl. Alan was a Dominican priest working in France in the 15th century. He was known as a very good theologian and great preacher.
•   One day our Lord rebuked Bl. Alan, saying: “You are crucifying Me again now because you have all the learning and understanding that you need to preach My Mother’s Rosary, and you are not doing so. If you only did this you could teach many souls that right path and lead them away from sin ‐ but you are not doing it and so, you yourself are guilty of the sins that they commit.”

•   As you might imagine after such an encounter with our Lord, Bl. Alan made a solemn promise to preach the Rosary unceasingly!
•   St. Dominic also appeared to Bl. Alan and encouraged him to preach the Rosary, and our Lady spoke to him as well, revealing to Bl. Alan 15 specific promises that she makes to those souls who dedicate themselves to praying the Rosary.
•   Mary’s promises to Christians who pray the Rosary are as follows:

1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the rosary, shall receive signal graces.
2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite therosary.
3. The rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, anddefeat heresies.
4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy ofGod; it will withdraw the heart of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and willlift them to the desire of eternal things.
5. The soul that recommends itself to me by the recitation of the rosary shall not perish.
6. Whoever shall recite the rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacredmysteries, shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.
7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
8. Those who are faithful to recite the rosary shall have, during their life and at their death, the light of God and the plenitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the rosary.
10. The faithful children of the rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in heaven.
11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the rosary.
12. All those who propagate the holy rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the rosary shall have forintercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.
14. All who recite the rosary are my sons, and brothers of my only son Jesus Christ.
15. Devotion to my rosary is a great sign of predestination.

•   As we consider these marvelous promises that our Lady has made to all who devote themselves to praying the Most Holy Rosary, I’d like to invite all of you to make a commitment of praying the Rosary every day during the month of May.
•   All of us have different needs to pray for, and the Rosary is a powerful way to make our needs known to our blessed Lord. So I encourage you to make this commitment to our Lady, entrusting all of your cares to her.
•   If you are married, I strongly encourage you to pray the Rosary with your spouse and your children. There are so many graces that you bring to your family life by faithfully praying the Rosary.
•   Additionally, I’d like to remind you that we pray the Rosary every Sunday before the 12:30 p.m. Mass, and we have a group of people who meet in the Chapel every Monday night at 5:30 p.m. to pray the Rosary. So I encourage you to join in!

•   I also encourage you to become a member of the Legion of Mary, which is an association of lay faithful dedicated to our Lady, who meet in the Allen Center every Monday night at 6 p.m.
•   As we prepare to enter into the beautiful month of May, dedicated to our Lady, let us whole‐heartedly give ourselves to her who alone gave herself whole‐heartedly to our Lord’s most holy will.
•   Through the faithful praying of the Most Holy Rosary, may all of us enjoy Mary’s maternal solicitude and be preserved unto the day of salvation.

April 28, 2013

© Reverend Timothy Reid

Fr. Reid is the pastor of St. Ann Catholic Church, Charlotte, NC

Homilies from June 17, 2012 onward have audio.
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Link to Homilies:
http://stanncharlotte.org/content/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=8&Itemid=61