Our Lady of the Rosary

A Reflection for the Memorial of:

 Our Lady of the Rosary,

formally Our Lady of Victory,

celebrated October 7^th

Blessed be the Lord, my rock

who trains my arms for battle,

who prepares my hands for war

from Psalm 118

            There they were, huddled masses of men, down in the deep musty hulls of all those ships of war. Ships that carried them across a sea dark and dangerous and yet somehow familiar, for it was this sea that their forefathers had once arrogantly named mare nostrum, “our sea.” They certainly had the privilege to name it so, for there were none then left to oppose such a name. There were no rivals then, but there were certainly rivals now. These rivals, these sworn enemies wanted nothing more than to drive their Christian foes before them, invade further into Europe, and even take Rome for themselves. They still held grievances, left from the crusades, fomenting hatred in their hearts. So, the Christian peoples bound themselves together, putting aside their differences, not to eliminate the opposition from the face of the earth, but to protect their own existence by the formation of a Holy League.

            These men of this Holy League gripped tightly to their oars, and also to their rosaries. They hopefully prayed, or prayed for hope; hope that they would make it through to the other side, and return home to safety and family. At least they were making this journey together encouraged by their collective pleas to the Virgin Mary for her intercession and protection. They also had her with them there in an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, continuously encouraging them to keep faith and have courage.        

            Were these men that different from the Israelites, a people similarly on a journey? This was a people who traveled through a sea just to come to a dessert, a dessert as dark and dangerous as any contested water ever could be. These people also had a guide chosen by God to lead them on to victory, a guide to intercede for them when the journey became difficult and the path looked lost. They traveled together, keeping close for the semblance of safety and comfort, looking to their captain for direction and assurance. These people also had to fight once they got to their destination; it was not enough to make the journey they had to see it through. They had to fight for their homeland, for their own land of milk and honey. The journey was a preparation, a time when the Lord trained their arms for battle, their hands for war; and when the time of preparation ended they were ready to face the opposition that stood before them. Yet their opponent was well protected behind a seemingly impenetrable wall, a daunting challenge to all their hopes and prayers. These immovable rocks would not hold however, for the Lord brought them down by the sound of a trumpet blast. With that sound, the sound of trumpets and tottering walls, the battle had begun.

            Were these men that different from us? We are a people similarly beset with a journey that may at times seem dark and dangerous and always with the assurance of a struggle not only at the end of the road, but all along the way. Are we not akin to these people huddling together in our ship like sanctuaries or out on the road going down the way together? We may no longer cling to our swords or oars, our guns and cannons but we have a weapon far greater - the weapon of prayer. Those men in those ships of war attributed their great victory to the intercession of Mary and their recitation of the rosary; we too can win a great victory against those menacing adversaries that stand along our way. We too must prevail, for all that we know to be true and good depend on us all! There may be shifting sand bottomless water deterring us, but we must go on. For as long as we live we must go on, for the Lord is our rock and he never fails in providing us a strong footing.