Families Encouraged to Pray Rosary




From Zenit.org

Archbishop Comastri's Advice for May

ROME, MAY 3, 2006

The Pope's vicar general for Vatican City called on the faithful to rediscover devotion to Mary during May, especially by reciting the rosary as a family.

The "most important moment of the month of May is to rediscover Marian prayer in the home, especially the rosary," Archbishop Angelo Comastri said.

The archbishop told Vatican Radio that May was dedicated "spontaneously" to the Blessed Virgin "because it is the month of beauty, of the explosion of life, and no creature is more beautiful than Mary. No creature has sung to life as Mary sang to it."

"There was a time, it can be said, that the rosary was an imperative element of the Christian family's day," he noted.

However, as "prayer cannot be improvised," the prelate added, "to pray the rosary well, there must be an atmosphere of prayer in the home."

"If an atmosphere of prayer is breathed in the home, it is easy to find the appropriate conditions to pray the rosary," he said.

Archbishop Comastri suggested "gathering together, having the joy of being together as a family: father, mother, children, and if they are there, grandparents, because it is beautiful to pray the rosary when all the family prays united."

By "praying the holy rosary together it is possible to feel that we are the People of God, to feel at one: The mystery of Jesus is perceived in the midst of those who have gathered in his name," he said.

The archbishop also pointed out that "devotion to the Virgin is not an invention of the Church, … but is born from the very history of salvation, … from God's options."

The Vatican City official paused on the Evangelist Luke's introduction to the Annunciation, saying that his words "have a decisive meaning: 'The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin called Mary.'"

"It is God who sent the Angel, … it is God who called at the door of Mary's heart and the door of Mary's heart opened wide to God," he explained.

"At that moment, Mary became the greatest collaborator of salvation. Mary is beside Jesus," the archbishop added. "If the Son is separated from the Mother, or the Mother from the Son, something is done against God's choice."