Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish

Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish hosts a Rosary Prayer Meeting every first Saturday of the month. Our next meeting is Saturday July 1st at 7:00 pm. All are welcome, even if you’ve never prayed the Rosary before! Prayer is followed by discussion about the Mysteries of the life of Christ, and the power of prayer in our lives. Prayer intentions can be sent to HolyRosaryEvents@hotmail.com, we will pray for you at our next meeting!

The Rosary is also prayed at the St Henri Church (3000 chemin Ste. Marie) after the 8:15 am Mass every Monday, Wednesday,  and Friday. 

While we pray the Rosary, we meditate on scripture passages outlining important events in the life of Christ, called Mysteries. There are four sets of five Mysteries:

• The Joyful Mysteries outline the Annunciation, birth, and youth of our Lord. 
• The Luminous Mysteries outline his Ministry. 
• The Sorrowful Mysteries outline his Passion and Death. 
• The Glorious Mysteries outline His Resurrection and the miracles that followed. 

The first Joyful Mystery is the Annunciation, as found in the Gospel of Luke 1:26-38, where the Angel Gabriel appeared to our Blessed Mother, and announced that she would bear a son, the Son of God, by the Holy Spirit.

Tradition tells us that Mary was Immaculately Conceived (conceived without sin), and her parents, Sts. Anne and Joachim, raised her to have great faith, and dedicated her life to God at a very young age. That said, our Blessed Mother was still very much human. It’s one thing to have faith and trust in the Lord through the normal doldrums of life. It’s quite another when you have an angel standing in front of you. Throughout scripture, the angels greet humans with “be not afraid” or “do not fear”. It must have been terrifying to have a mighty angelic presence, a being fit to stand before God himself, just appear in your kitchen while you just minding your own business, kneading the day’s bread or scrubbing the floor.

Remember Mary’s cousin Elizabeth? Her husband, Zechariah, had doubts when the angel appeared to him. The plan God’s messenger set before him seemed so improbable, impossible, absurd, that a priest, in a temple, in the presence of an Angel of the Lord just could not believe. 

Adam and Eve doubted God’s plan for them. They trusted a voice that was not our Father’s, and said “No” to God. 

But not our Blessed Mother. She didn’t have all the facts. She didn’t know the whole plan, the whole story. And talk about the impossible! But her Faith overcame whatever fear she might have had, and she said “Yes”. Yes to God, Yes to His plan, and Yes to our Salvation. 

So while you pray this first Joyful Mystery of Our Lady’s Rosary, reflect on that. Think about how you can follow Our Lady’s example. Think about where in your life you can choose Faith over Fear. Think about where in your life you could say “Okay Lord, I’m ready. I don’t need to know all the details. I trust your plan for my life. “

Then just say “Yes”.

See Also: Getting Started with the Rosary