Pray the Rosary for peace, Mary: Day 302

Pray the Rosary for peace

In 1969, when multiple wars were raging around the globe, Blessed Pope Paul VI issued the apostolic exhortation Recurrens Mensis  October to encourage Catholics to pray the Rosary. His stated prayer intention was peace—an intention that must be perennial in our fallen world.

We invite the entire Christian people once more to the practice of a form of prayer which is rightly dear to Catholic piety, and which has lost none of its importance amid the difficulties of the present day. We are speaking of the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The intention which we would propose this year to all our sons and daughters, since it seems to us more serious and urgent than ever, is that of peace among men and among peoples. . . .

Prayer, by which we ask for the gift of peace, is . . . an irreplaceable contribution to the establishment of peace. It is through Christ, in whom all grace is given us, that we dispose ourselves to welcome the gift of peace. And in that undertaking, how can we do otherwise than to depend lovingly upon the incomparable intercession of Mary, his mother, of whom the Gospel tell us that she “found favor with God” (Lk 1:30)?

It is the humble virgin of Nazareth who became mother of the Prince of Peace, of him who was born under the sign of peace, and who proclaimed to the whole world: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Mt 5:9). The Gospel teaches us that Mary is sensitive to the needs of men. At Cana, she did not hesitate to intervene, to the joy of the villagers invited to a wedding feast (see Jn 2:1–11). How, then, would she not intervene in favor of peace, that precious possession, if we only pray to her with a sincere heart?

—Blessed Pope Paul VI, Recurrens Mensis October

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . .  .

Have I ever prayed the Rosary specifically for peace in the world? Given so many conflicts around the world, could I invite others to join me in that prayer?

CLOSING PRAYER

From a prayer of Pope St. John Paul II: Mother of Mercy and of hope, obtain for the men and women of the third millennium the precious gift of peace: peace in hearts and

families, in communities and among peoples; peace above all for those nations where people fight and die every day. . . . O Mary, Queen of peace, give us Christ, the world’s true peace!

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