Mary’s Promise of Protection Through Her Rosary

October 7 is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

The entire month of October is dedicated to the Mother of God under this title. Let us keep Our Lady’s Rosary in heart and hand this month and always. The Rosary has been a sign of faith and hope which Catholic Moms and Dads and children have regarded with love and devotion in prayer.

The Rosary is the story of a family—the Holy Family. The story begins with an angelic birth announcement and culminates with the mother being crowned Queen of Heaven. The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary specifically reflect the life of the Holy Family.

Finding Joseph

While the Rosary primarily focuses on the Blessed Mother Mary, the Holy Father of Jesus, St. Joseph, also finds a place in the mysteries. Joseph was not only instrumental in the Finding of Jesus in the Temple, but he was also the Protector of the Holy Family from the criminal governing authority during the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt.

Saint Joseph was not merely present and a leader in times of distress; he was loving and caring in times of peace as well. In Christian art, Joseph is often depicted with Jesus working at his side.

For home schooling parents, the pictures of Jesus with His Father Joseph in the workshop give encouragement to parents about the responsibility to be the key teachers of their children. The pictures of the Holy Family, both Mary and Jesus in Joseph’s workshop, emphasize to our children the perfect model of family life, the family working and learning together.

Catholic school children in the past joined their voices together and said the Rosary in school. For our part, we home schooling families should encourage each other to say the Rosary daily for our family and others in need. We home schooling families should incorporate the Rosary into our daily schedule, even praying one or two decades throughout the day.

Mary’s Witness

We should keep in mind, along with our children, how important the Blessed Virgin Mary considers the Rosary. The Blessed Mother has appeared numerous times with the rosary, encouraging people to say a daily Rosary. At Lourdes, when the Blessed Mother visited St. Bernadette, the Blessed Mother wore a rosary on her sleeve. When Mary visited the three children at Fatima, she carried the rosary and showed the children how to pray the Rosary properly.

The EWTN channel might be one way to help develop the habit of praying the Rosary. EWTN offers the recitation of the Rosary before daily Mass and presents a group of children saying the Rosary every afternoon.

On Sunday mornings, a priest leads the Rosary live at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, where we can contemplate the view of Our Lady standing in the grotto behind the priest. For the Sunday afternoon Rosary, there are also beautiful paintings and music to accompany the mysteries.

Any examination of the benefits of the Rosary is bound to be woefully incomplete. Just a fraction of the success stories surrounding the Rosary could fill huge volumes; in fact, many such volumes exist. Primarily referring to the Rosary, Father Patrick Peyton’s slogan “The family that prays together, stays together” is not only a pithy adage, but also a historically defensible truth.

Some years ago, a bishop of Russia spoke at one of the annual Rosary Conferences sponsored by Father Robert Fox, the “Fatima priest.” The Russian bishop reported that the families of communist Russia, living in areas where churches had been destroyed, clung to the Blessed Mother’s promise to help those in desperate need and prayed the Rosary daily. The priests and bishops in Russia believe that the Russian people survived and kept the Faith because of these daily prayers at home.

Look to Our Mother

These historical accounts should inspire us with confidence in Mary. We home schooling moms can look to our patron home schooling mother, Mary, the Blessed Mother, the Mother of Mothers.

Mary reminds us that she is always available to help us teach our children and to help our children learn. The Blessed Mother reminds us continually that our children must grow up learning and practicing the Catholic Faith at home before they enter the secular society.

The rosary in our hand or in our pocket keeps us close to Mary and her Son. The Rosary prayers remind us of events from the life of Mary and Jesus. While these events remind us of the difficulties and sufferings of life, they also remind us of the eternal happiness yet to come for our family.

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us!