Pope urges Catholics to appreciate and pray the Rosary in Year of Faith

(October 08, 2012) Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday urged Catholics worldwide to appreciate the Rosary prayer during the Year of Faith that is starting on Thursday. In fact, with the Rosary, we allow ourselves to be led by Mary, the model of faith, in the meditation of the mysteries of Christ,” the Pope said before praying the traditional weekly midday ‘Angelus’ at the end of the solemn Mass in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, with which he inaugurated the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization. Oct. 7, Sunday, being the liturgical feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, the Pope recalled the celebration at the Marian sanctuary of the Holy Rosary, in Pompei, Italy, and said that by meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary day after day, “we are helped to assimilate the Gospel, so that it shapes all our life.” Recalling his predecessor, Blessed John Paul II, who issued an apostolic letter on the Rosary of the Virgin Mary 10 years ago, Pope Benedict invited all “to pray the Rosary, privately, in the family and in the community, placing ourselves in the school of Mary, who leads all to Christ, the living centre of our faith.”
In remarks in English, Pope Benedict also urged for prayers for the Synod on the New Evangelization. He reminded that later this week on Oct. 7, on the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, the Year of Faith will begin. “May these events confirm us in the beauty and joy of our faith in Jesus Christ which comes to us through the Church!” the Pope said, entrusting these intentions to our Lady of the Rosary. The month of October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary.