Reflection on Rosary and Mother Mary

Hi all...yesterday was the session on the rosary and Mother Mary. Maggy mentioned that a priest who was once a gangster last time, started with saying a Hail Mary everyday and continued for quite some time. Then, he increased it to 3 Hail Marys everyday, then daily mass everyday. So, I feel that I can learn from him by taking baby steps. Currently, I say the full rosary every week but I do hope to say it more often.. I guess I can start faithfully by saying one decade everyday..till I'm happy and comfortable with it, then slowly increasing it to 2 decades everyday...then hopefully slowly and gradually I'll be as holy as him. :)

I really enjoyed the praise and worship session, led by Maggy yesterday. She’s so full of passion and love in praising and adoring Jesus. I enjoyed the silent moments and the singing. Like Abigail who was touched by the lyrics till she almost teared, I also was touched by the lyrics with joy and happiness.

Valent was the speaker and he's indeed very passionate on the topic, full of fervour..encouraging us to say the rosary faithfully everyday, which I believe he has managed to touch the souls of many people present that day to pray the rosary.

He talks about that each time we pray a Hail Mary, we're giving a rose to Mother Mary and Jesus. And when we complete a full rosary of 5 decades, we're giving a crown of roses to Mother Mary and Jesus. Then, he brought a lovely stalk of rose as an example. He also mentions that the rose on earth will wither and die but the rose that we give to Mother Mary is for eternity and will last forever.

Valent says that our prayer of the Hail Mary is biblically supported. In Luke 1:28 "And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" It shows the first sentence of our prayer, "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you." In Luke 1:42 " and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" It shows the second sentence of our prayer "Blessed are you amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus." And the last sentence of our prayer "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death." When Jesus dies on the cross, Mary was at the foot of the cross, praying and being there for him. So, we will also want Mother Mary to pray for us and be there to take us to the gates of heaven when we die. Valent also mentions that at the wedding at Cana, when Jesus performed his first miracle to turn water into wine, Mother Mary is the one who told Jesus that they have no wine and Jesus said "Woman, what concern is that to you and me?" Then, Mother Mary instructed the servants to do as what Jesus told them to do. And Jesus performed his first miracle. Similarly, when we ask our friends to pray for us, we also want Mother Mary to pray for us sinners as Jesus always loves his Mother and will do whenever she tells him to do.  

He shared with us the story of St Francis. St Francis had the habit of saying the rosary before dinner everyday. So once, when the dinner bells rung; he requested permission from his superior to retreat into his room to say the rosary before he began his dinner. His superior agreed and he retreated into his room. After for quite some time, when the superior saw that he was taking a long time, he sent a Friar to ask him to come back for dinner. When the Friar went into St Francis room, he saw Mother Mary bathed in a heavenly light with two angels at her side. Each time St Francis recites a Hail Mary, a rose will come out of his mouth and the angel will receive it and place onto Mother Mary's head. And Mother Mary will smilingly accept it. Then, the superior was wondering why the Friar that he sent did not come back, so he sent another two Friars to summon all of them back. The other two Friars also witness the exact same scene. Only when the entire rosary is said, that Mother Mary and her angels disappeared. I feel very enlightened when I hear this story. I feel so happy knowing that each time I recite my Hail Mary; I'm giving a beautiful rose to Mother Mary.

One of the Saints also mentioned that the monotony of the rosary is a reflection of the monotony of our sins. Valent mentions that each time we fall into repetitive sin, God must be lamenting "This child never learns." I feel it's so close to my heart that sometimes I just fall into the cycle of sin, taking for granted all the graces given to me by God and not sharing to others my love, care and concern. At times, I'm also not sensitive towards my sister, arguing with her at times.

Valent mentions that a lady once approached Fulton Sheen why she should pray the rosary everyday so that she can be given the keys to heaven.  Fulton Sheen then thought for a moment and asked her who that man is, standing beside her. And the lady mentioned that he's her fiancé. Then, Fulton Sheen asked her does his fiance love her? And she said yes, because he says 'I love you' to her everyday, yesterday and any other day. Then Fulton Sheen told her" Don't believe him, he's lying and insincere." I thought when a great example for those who doubt that praying the rosary will bring us many graces. 

Valent also mentions that Saint Gertrude once had a vision of God counting gold coins. She asked him what he was doing. And he said that he was counting the Hail Marys that she said and this is the money that she has purchased heaven. I feel that I should start accumulating my eternal wealth in heaven by reciting my Hail Mary faithfully everyday.

Valent also taught us to have pauses while praying the Our Father and Hail Mary, so that we can better appreciate what we're praying. Many times, I feel that I get into the monotony of saying the rosary and start to say my Hail Mary in a single breath...which gets so fast that I can't even figure out what I'm saying. Valent says that it's like when we talk to someone, we've to know and understand what we're talking, if not how can that person listen to us. I feel that really makes a lot of sense. If I can't even figure out what I'm saying, how can Mother Mary and Jesus comprehend my prayer to them?

Valent also says that we should not treat praying the rosary as a burden, but to delight in it and reflect upon the mysteries of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The rosary is like a summary of the whole bible. Many Saints have endorsed it and faithfully say it everyday. People once said that Padre Pio said about 53 rosaries in a day (can't remember whether I got the figure correct.) When we pray the rosary everyday, it's either our sins go away after praying the rosary everyday or we stop praying the rosary.

Valent also shared with his own experiences in NTU as a cell group leader. They prayed the rosary faithfully every week before the exams. (for people's information, Valent scored many distinctions and he has gotten his first class honours. So I'll study hard for my studies and pray hard as well...so I'll get plenty of distinctions like Valent ...haha :)

And yesterday when I was in my room praying the cenacle spritual rosary, I enjoyed the prayer and appreciated the joyful mysteries. I did not rush through the rosary and said it well, at last...haha :) And if we give our time to Mary and Jesus, they'll certainly give us their full attention and time back to us.