Pope Benedict XVI
(2005-present)
The Rosary is the prayer of the Christian who advances in the pilgrimage of faith, in the following of Jesus, preceded by Mary.1
We desire to welcome the Virgin’s maternal request, committing ourselves to saying the rosary with faith for peace in our families, in countries, and in the whole world.2
The rosary is a means given by the Virgin for contemplating Jesus and, meditating on his life, for loving and following him always more faithfully.3
In praying the Rosary, we follow His Holiness Benedict XVI, who recites it with frequency each morning and uses it to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ.4
Dear young people, I invite you to value this traditional Marian prayer which helps us to understand better the central moments of salvation realized by Christ.
Dear sick people, I exhort you to turn with confidence to the Virgin, through this exercise of piety, entrusting all your needs to her.5
Benedict XVI invites newlyweds �to make the praying of the rosary in the family a moment of spiritual growth under the maternal gaze of the Virgin Mary.6
1 general audience on St Peter�s Square, on 05/01/06
2 Zenit.org, 10/07/07
3 id.
4 Cardinal Bertone to seminarians in Peru, Zenit news agency, 08/30/07.
5 general audience on St Peter�s Square, on 05/01/06
6 id.
The Rosary is the prayer of the Christian who advances in the pilgrimage of faith, in the following of Jesus, preceded by Mary.1
We desire to welcome the Virgin’s maternal request, committing ourselves to saying the rosary with faith for peace in our families, in countries, and in the whole world.2
The rosary is a means given by the Virgin for contemplating Jesus and, meditating on his life, for loving and following him always more faithfully.3
In praying the Rosary, we follow His Holiness Benedict XVI, who recites it with frequency each morning and uses it to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ.4
Dear young people, I invite you to value this traditional Marian prayer which helps us to understand better the central moments of salvation realized by Christ.
Dear sick people, I exhort you to turn with confidence to the Virgin, through this exercise of piety, entrusting all your needs to her.5
Benedict XVI invites newlyweds �to make the praying of the rosary in the family a moment of spiritual growth under the maternal gaze of the Virgin Mary.6
1 general audience on St Peter�s Square, on 05/01/06
2 Zenit.org, 10/07/07
3 id.
4 Cardinal Bertone to seminarians in Peru, Zenit news agency, 08/30/07.
5 general audience on St Peter�s Square, on 05/01/06
6 id.
Pope John Paul II
(1978-2005)
The Rosary is my favorite prayer. 1
Pray, pray much. Say the Rosary everyday2
I would therefore ask those who devote themselves to the pastoral care of families to recommend heartily the recitation of the Rosary.3
Recite the Rosary every day. I earnestly urge Pastors to pray the Rosary and to teach people in their Christian communities how to pray it.4
How beautiful is the family that recites the Rosary every evening.5
Magisterial Documents :
Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae (10/16/02)
1 John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Introduction, 2
2 Msgr J. Cirrincione and T. Nelson, The Rosary and the Crisis in the Faith, Tan Books and Publishers, p.31
3 Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 41
4 stmichaelonline.org/Rosary/Important.htm
5 The Rosary and the Crisis in the Faith, id.
and ewtn.com/library/prayer/confra.txt
Pray, pray much. Say the Rosary everyday2
I would therefore ask those who devote themselves to the pastoral care of families to recommend heartily the recitation of the Rosary.3
Recite the Rosary every day. I earnestly urge Pastors to pray the Rosary and to teach people in their Christian communities how to pray it.4
How beautiful is the family that recites the Rosary every evening.5
Magisterial Documents :
Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae (10/16/02)
1 John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Introduction, 2
2 Msgr J. Cirrincione and T. Nelson, The Rosary and the Crisis in the Faith, Tan Books and Publishers, p.31
3 Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 41
4 stmichaelonline.org/Rosary/Important.htm
5 The Rosary and the Crisis in the Faith, id.
and ewtn.com/library/prayer/confra.txt
Pope John Paul I
(August 26-September 28, 1978)
MY ROSARY ( Oct.7, 1973 )
Homily by Albino Cardinal Luciani
The Rosary is an impoverished prayer? What then would be a 'rich prayer'? The Rosary is a procession of Paters, the prayer taught by Jesus; of Aves, the salutation of God to the Virgin by means of the Angel; of Glorias, the praise of the Most Holy Trinity.1
The crisis of the Rosary doesn’t come first. What comes first is the crisis in prayer in general today. People are all taken up in material interests; they think little about the soul...For the interior life, and for the tender colloquy with God,it is too tiring to find a few minutes of time. What a pity!
The Rosary, a simple and easy prayer, helps me to be a child again, and I am not ashamed of it at all.
The Rosary even if it should be shortened and adapted and recited in the evening by the parents together with the children, is a form of family liturgy.
1 All the quotations on this page are from the homily My Rosary
Homily by Albino Cardinal Luciani
The Rosary is an impoverished prayer? What then would be a 'rich prayer'? The Rosary is a procession of Paters, the prayer taught by Jesus; of Aves, the salutation of God to the Virgin by means of the Angel; of Glorias, the praise of the Most Holy Trinity.1
The crisis of the Rosary doesn’t come first. What comes first is the crisis in prayer in general today. People are all taken up in material interests; they think little about the soul...For the interior life, and for the tender colloquy with God,it is too tiring to find a few minutes of time. What a pity!
The Rosary, a simple and easy prayer, helps me to be a child again, and I am not ashamed of it at all.
The Rosary even if it should be shortened and adapted and recited in the evening by the parents together with the children, is a form of family liturgy.
1 All the quotations on this page are from the homily My Rosary
Pope Paul VI
(1963-1978)
If evils increase, the devotion of the People of God should also increase. ...Pray ardently to our most merciful mother Mary by saying the Rosary during the month of October, as We have already indicated. This prayer is well-suited to the devotion of the People of God, most pleasing to the Mother of God and most effective in gaining heaven's blessings.1
We now desire, as a continuation of the thought of our predecessors, to recommend strongly the recitation of the family Rosary.2
There is no doubt that, after the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, the high point which family prayer can reach, the Rosary should be considered as one of the best and most efficacious prayers in common that the Christian family is invited to recite.3
Christi Matri, Encyclical on Prayers for Peace During October (09/15/66)
Marialis Cultus, Apostolic Exhortation (02/02/74)
1 Christi Matri, 9
2 Marialis Cultus, 52
3 ibid, 54
We now desire, as a continuation of the thought of our predecessors, to recommend strongly the recitation of the family Rosary.2
There is no doubt that, after the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, the high point which family prayer can reach, the Rosary should be considered as one of the best and most efficacious prayers in common that the Christian family is invited to recite.3
Christi Matri, Encyclical on Prayers for Peace During October (09/15/66)
Marialis Cultus, Apostolic Exhortation (02/02/74)
1 Christi Matri, 9
2 Marialis Cultus, 52
3 ibid, 54
United States Bishops who have visited Medjugorje
Cardinal Timothy Manning, Los Angeles, CA
· Archbishop Sablan Apuron, Guam
· Archbishop Patrick Flores, San Antonio, TX (USA)
· Archbishop Philip M. Hannan, (retired) New Orleans, LA
· Archbishop Edwin O’Brien, United States Armed Forces
· Bishop Nicholas D’Antonio, New Orleans, LA
· Bishop Carl A. Fisher, Los Angeles, CA
· Bishop Michael Pfeifer, San Angelo, TX
· Bishop Francis A. Quinn, Sacramento, CA
· Bishop Sylvester Treinen, (retired) Boise, ID
· Bishop Stanley Ott, Baton Rouge, LA
· Bishop Patrick Zeisman, Los Angeles, CA
· Bishop Thomas O’Connel, Los Angeles, CA
· Bishop George Speltz, St. Cloud, Minnesota
· Bishop Ricardo Ramirez, La Cruces, NM
· Bishop Armando Ochoa, Los Angeles, CA
· Bishop Thomas Connolly, Baker, CA
· Bishop Richard Parime, Orange, CA
· Bishop Tom O’Connell, Los Angeles, CA
· Bishop Michael Wiwchar, Byzantine Eparchy of Chicago
· Bishop Donald Montrose, Stockton, CA
· Bishop Franco Hillary, NY
· Bishop Pierre Dumaine, San Jose, CA
· Auxiliary Bishop Kenneth Steiner, Portland, Oregon
· Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, Chicago,IL
· Archbishop George Pearce (retired) R.I.
· Archbishop Sablan Apuron, Guam
· Archbishop Patrick Flores, San Antonio, TX (USA)
· Archbishop Philip M. Hannan, (retired) New Orleans, LA
· Archbishop Edwin O’Brien, United States Armed Forces
· Bishop Nicholas D’Antonio, New Orleans, LA
· Bishop Carl A. Fisher, Los Angeles, CA
· Bishop Michael Pfeifer, San Angelo, TX
· Bishop Francis A. Quinn, Sacramento, CA
· Bishop Sylvester Treinen, (retired) Boise, ID
· Bishop Stanley Ott, Baton Rouge, LA
· Bishop Patrick Zeisman, Los Angeles, CA
· Bishop Thomas O’Connel, Los Angeles, CA
· Bishop George Speltz, St. Cloud, Minnesota
· Bishop Ricardo Ramirez, La Cruces, NM
· Bishop Armando Ochoa, Los Angeles, CA
· Bishop Thomas Connolly, Baker, CA
· Bishop Richard Parime, Orange, CA
· Bishop Tom O’Connell, Los Angeles, CA
· Bishop Michael Wiwchar, Byzantine Eparchy of Chicago
· Bishop Donald Montrose, Stockton, CA
· Bishop Franco Hillary, NY
· Bishop Pierre Dumaine, San Jose, CA
· Auxiliary Bishop Kenneth Steiner, Portland, Oregon
· Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, Chicago,IL
· Archbishop George Pearce (retired) R.I.