És hora de posar-se seriós!

Pregueu cada dia el Rosari en honor a la Mare de Déu del Rosari
per aconseguir la pau al món ...
perquè ella sola pot salvar-la.
—Aparicions de la Mare de Déu de Fàtima, 13 de juliol de 1917

IT fa temps que es pren seriosament aquestes paraules ... paraules que requereixen cert sacrifici i perseverança. Però si ho feu, crec que experimentareu un alliberament de gràcies a la vostra vida espiritual i més enllà ...

JESUS — THE CENTER OF THE ROSARY

The focus, the very center of the prayer of the Rosary, is the face of Christ: Jesús. This is why the Rosary is so powerful. When we contemplate the face of God, we are changed inside.

We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Cor 3:18)

But there is something more… something about this Lady who holds our hand as we pray (I think of the Rosary beads as being our Lady’s hand). Since she is the mother of the “whole Christ”, both Body and Head, she is uniquely able to distribute to us graces for our sanctification by virtue of the Holy Spirit within her; she who is “full of grace,” pouring out grace upon her children:

Amb el Rosari, el poble cristià s’asseu a l’escola de Maria and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love. Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer. —JOAN PAUL II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, n. 1

And yet, there is even more. This “woman clothed with the sun” is also the same woman engaged in a battle with the ancient serpent, the devil or Satan (Gen 3:15, Rev 12). She has a fight to pick with a snake who’s been messing with her children.

En moments en què el cristianisme en si mateix semblava amenaçat, la seva alliberació s’atribuïa al poder d’aquesta pregària, i la Mare de Déu del Rosari era aclamada com aquella la intercessió de la qual portava la salvació. —Ibid, n. 39

THE POWER OF ONE HAIL MARY

Listen, dear friends… I am not interested in starting a Rosary club. Rather, it is my hope that we will recognize one of the greatest weapons ever given to the Church in the Rosary, and take it up like a sword. I am certain that right now many sincere Christians are undergoing strong and sustained attacks from the enemy. There is a darkness and oppression that has grown exponentially. It can lead to anxiety, depression, feelings of guilt, anger, and division in our families. Many of the letters I receive are from souls who are feeling a sense of desperation in their situations. Furthermore, els signes dels temps speak of the need to intercede for our world as judgment once again hangs over it like a espasa en flames (Vegeu L’hora de l’espasa).

I am also receiving more and more letters from men, good men, who nonetheless are struggling with the terrible demon of lust and the wicked snare of pornography (see The Hunted). There is nothing more powerful, however, than the combination of Oració i el dejuni, especially that prayer of the Rosary. For through it, you are entrusting your purity to the intercession of the Immaculate one.

Ningú no pot viure contínuament en el pecat i continuar dient el Rosari: o abandonaran el pecat o abandonaran el Rosari. —Bisbe Hugh Doyle, ewtn.com

Don’t give up, dear brother! Don’t despair, dear sister! If the battle is hard, it is because it is indeed a batalla. But as St. John reminds us, “the victory that conquers the world is our faith.” ^[1]1 John 5: 4 That is, a heart that, despite feeling sunken in defeat, still cries out: “Jesus I trust in You!” Have you forgotten, that “it shall be that everyone shall be saved who calls on the name of the Lord”? ^[2]Fets 2: 21 The Lord hears the cry of the poor—especially the poor sinner.

Oh ànima submergida en la foscor, no desesperis. Tot no està encara perdut. Vine a confiar en el teu Déu, que és amor i misericòrdia ... Que cap ànima no tingui por d’acostar-se a mi, tot i que els seus pecats siguin tan escarlats ... No puc castigar ni el més gran pecador si fa una crida a la meva compassió, sinó al al contrari, el justifico en la meva insondable i inescrutable misericòrdia. —Jesus a Santa Faustina, Pietat divina en la meva ànima, Diari, n. 1486, 699, 1146

But do not be deceived: we have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling; we must pray and fight back with the dignity accorded us in our Baptism as sons and daughters of God. But not with weapons of the flesh!

For, although we are in the flesh, we do not battle according to the flesh, for the weapons of our battle are not of flesh but are enormously powerful, capable of destroying fortresses. (2 Cor 10:3-4)

There is nothing more powerful than the nom de Jesús i la Ave Maria reaches its high point in the words “blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”‘ ^[3]Catecisme de l'Església Catòlica, n. 435 Fr. Gabriel Amorth, the Chief Exorcist of Rome, relates how during an exorcism performed by one of his colleagues, the devil said:

Cada Ave Maria és com un cop al meu cap. Si els cristians sabessin el poderós que era el Rosari, seria el meu final. -Ressò de Maria, reina de la pau, March-April, 2003

Indeed, the center of every “Hail Mary”, the “hinge” as it were, is the name of Jesús—the Name above all names—which causes the devil to tremble, for ‘His name is the only one that contains the presence it signifies.’ ^[4]Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2666. Padre Pio once said,

Love the Madonna and pray the Rosary, for Her Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world today.

That’s because when we pray the Rosary, we are praying the Gospels, the Word of God, the living Word of God which pulls down strongholds, breaks chains, topples mountains, pierces the darkest nights, and liberates those entombed in sin. The Rosary is like a chain, binding Satan to the foot of the Cross. In fact, a few years ago, the Lord gave me this prayer, which I continue to use to this day when I must address oppressive evil spirits:

I bind you in the name of Jesus, with the chain of Mary, to the foot of the Cross and forbid you to return!

The Rosaries that we pray are the chains used to bind Satan in our personal lives, our family life, our society, and the world at large. But we must pray the Rosary to make those graces available.

El Rosari, tot i que té un caràcter clarament marià, és en el fons una pregària cristocèntrica ... El centre de gravetat a la Ave Maria, la frontissa per si sola que uneix les seves dues parts, és el nom de Jesús. De vegades, en una recitació precipitada, es pot passar per alt aquest centre de gravetat i, amb ell, es contempla la connexió amb el misteri de Crist. Tot i això, és precisament l’èmfasi que es dóna al nom de Jesús i al seu misteri el que és el signe d’una recitació significativa i fructífera del Rosari. - JOAN PAUL II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, n. 1, 33

EL TEMPS ÉS CURT

It is time to stop dismissing those beads as being that prayer which belongs to those “little ladies before Mass,” and to recognize it as the sword of the saints, the mantra of the martyrs, the song of the angels. If you feel a spark of hope in you now, then blow it into flame by picking up your Rosary, and never putting it down. These are not the times for complacency, but for decisive action on our part, surrendering ourselves to all the means of grace available to us, starting with the Sacrament of Confession, culminating in the Eucharist, and strengthening those graces with the little sacramental called the Rosary. Do not cave in to fear! Christ and His mother wish to hand you a victory!

Pray the Rosary every day. Pray it as a family. The temptation no to pray it should be a testimony in itself as to why you should.

No dubtem a afirmar de nou públicament que confiem una gran confiança en el Sant Rosari per a la curació dels mals que afligeixen els nostres temps. No amb força, ni amb braços, ni amb poder humà, sinó amb l’ajut diví obtingut a través d’aquesta pregària ... -POPA PIU XII, Ingruentium malorum, Encíclica, n. 15; vatican.va

Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in Hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil… sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and save your soul, if—and mark well what I say—if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your sins. —Sant. Lluís de Montfort, El secret del rosari

Publicat per primera vegada el 8 de maig de 2007

Notes al peu

Notes al peu
↑1	1 John 5: 4
↑2	Fets 2: 21
↑3	Catecisme de l'Església Catòlica, n. 435
↑4	Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2666