Intro: On May 13th, 1917, three young peasant children, Lucia dos Santos and her two cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto were tending sheep near a small village, Fatima, in central Portugal. Suddenly their attention was drawn to a vision of a lady. Among other requests, the lady wished to be known as the Lady of the Rosary. She also promised to reappear on the 13th of each month until October. One exception was made to this promise when the children were elsewhere near Aljustrel, the village of their birth, in August, and the vision took place on the 19th of August. The final vision in October was accompanied by a spectaculr solar phenomenon witnessed by a huge crowd estimated at 70000 people.
After lengthy investigation by Church authorities, and a great deal of opposition, the Bishop of Leiria concluded on the 13th October, 1930 that the visions were authentic. In the years following, Fatima has beome one of the more widely known sanctuaries dedicated to Our Lady,to which millions of pilgrims go each year to honour the Mother of God. Of the three children, Francisco and Jacinta died soon after the visions. Lucia dos Santos joined a Carmelite convent of cloistered nuns where she still lives aged 99.
In her messages to the children, Our Lady revealed herself as the Lady of the Rosary asking them to say the rosary every day for the intention that peace may come to the world.
This morning on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima we join with her children throughout the world in honouring her as Queen of the Most Holy Rosary.
Point 1: For centuries the Rosary has been the privileged prayer of Catholics. When Mary, on her visit to her cousin Elizabeth prayed her "Magnificat" and said that "henceforth all generations shall call me blessed' she could hardly have anticipated to what extent that prophecy would be fulfilled.
Without going into the disputed question of the origin of the Rosary, we believe that, in its present form, it was given to St. Dominic by Our Lady in the 13th century. Christians from earliest times had repeated the angelic salutation "Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus". They had done this as a reminder of Mary's role in the plan of salvation. The use of beads to count identical prayers by religious people goes back to time immemorial. In the Christian world, the use of 'paternosters' is centuries old and were originally used to count "paternosters" - Our Fathers! In the 12th century, the "Hail Mary", as a completed form of prayer came into use and it was then that the practice of reciting 50 or 150 "Hail Marys" became a common practice. No doubt the same method was used to count the "Hail Marys" as already existed for counting the "Our Fathers" - paternosters. Indeed, in many European countries the beads which we call the rosary, are still known as "paternosters"!
It was through St. Dominic in the 13th century that the Rosary, as we know it, became widely adopted as a powerful form of honouring Our Lady.
Point 2: In the Rosary, we have a wonderful blessing of Mother and Son. It is the Gospel transformed into prayer. In it we consider the three great mysteries of salvation - the Incarnation (Joyful Mysteries); the Redemption (Sorrowful Mysteries); the Final Triumph (the Glorious Mysteries). We see, too, how this plan of salvation is mirrored in our daily lives; for in life there is joy; there is sorrow; and there is triumph represented in our achievements. And so, as we pray with fervour the rosary, may we meditate on the words of Pope Benedict XV when he wrote "This prayer is perfect because of the praise it offers, because of the lessons it imparts, because of the graces it obtains, and because of the triumph it achieves". Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us!