Mysteries of the Rosary

"Mysteries of the Rosary" by Msgr. Edward I. Hession is reproduced here for Council 13307 with the permission of Abbey Press, Inc.

Forward

Let it be understood from the outset that the writer of this booklet does not claim to be an “Author”: as in matters of literary achievement he does not speak with any authority.  Nor does he claim, by any stretch of the imagination, to be a “Poet.”  He has merely jotted down in a very simple sort of way the thoughts that flowed from the consideration of the events intertwined in the lives of Jesus and Mary; as presented in the Mysteries of the Rosary.

Since to gain the Indulgence attached to the saying of the Rosary, it is necessary not only to say the words of the prayers contained in its makeup, but also to meditate briefly upon the mysteries under consideration, the writer hopes that these lines might be of assistance in evolving such thoughts.

With that in mind, the writer lovingly dedicates these words to Mary, the Queen of the Holy Rosary.

E.I.H.

Our Lady of Fatima

At the time of the last World War, Pope Benedict XV appealed to the world for a Crusade of Prayer to Our Lady Mediatrix of Graces to bring peace to suffering humanity.  Eight days later, on the Feast of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, May 13, 1917, the Queen of Heaven appeared to three children, Jacinta, Francisco, and Lucia, shepherds of Fatima, Portugal.  They had said the Angelus and were reciting the Rosary as was their custom each day, when they were startled by a flash of lightning.  As they hastened to gather their sheep to a shelter, another flash of lightning followed.  Looking up, they beheld the Mother of God.

Our Lady assured the children they had nothing to fear.  She asked them to come to the same spot the 13th of each month until October, when a great miracle would happen.

The apparitions continued as she foretold.  Among other things, Mary proclaimed herself Our Lady of the Rosary.  Her message to the world was to do penance, to consecrate the world to her Immaculate Heart, and to have recourse to her especially through the devout recitation of the Rosary.

On Oct. 13, the great miracle took place when “the sun trembled as though shaken by a giant hand and with quick, abrupt movements began to spin around like a wheel of fire.”  This phenomenon was visible to the assembled crowd of 70,000 people.  While this happened, the children saw four successive tableaux - the Holy Family, Our Lord as a young man blessing the people, Our Lady of Sorrows, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Jacinta’s words of the apparition are summed up as follows: “What Our Lady of the Rosary wants us to do most of all is to say the Rosary every day, adding after each decade, ‘O my Jesus, forgive us our sins!  Deliver us from the flames of hell!  Have pity on the souls in purgatory, especially the most abandoned.’”

The Blessed Mother told the little ones that, if the world did not give up its sinful ways and return to God, a worse war would follow.

Pope Pius XII has consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and has publicly expressed confidence in the Fatima apparitions, and has appointed August 22nd as the day on which the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is to be celebrated.