WEDNESDAY REFLECTION
Our Lady of the Rosary 7th October 2020
In the Diocese of Paisley, Bishop Keenan has very successfully promoted devotion to Our Lady of Paisley in honour of the inscription in Paisley Abbey, “Hac ne vade via nisi dixeris Ave Maria. Sit semper sine via, qui non tibi dicet Ave.” This translates as “Go not this way unless you have said Ave Maria. Let him always a wanderer be who will not say Ave to thee.” In St Cadoc’s parish, the Children’s Rosary Group have a devotion to Our Lady of the Pond, because her statue stands on the edge of the pond in the presbytery garden. A recent arrival in the garden of St Aidan’s in Johnstone, where I now live, is a statue of Our Lady of Grace which we have entitled Our Lady of the Fuchsias not because of an interest in Leonhard Fuchs, the German physician and botanist for whom the shrub is named but simply because the shrine is surrounded by fuchsia bushes. Then, of course, we have the graceful statue of Our Lady in St Ninian’s school courtyard in a beautiful garden setting. Regardless of which of her many titles we love, somehow praying the Rosary in such settings lends itself to meditation on the mysteries of Christ following the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary who, as the Scottish Ordo has it, was in a special manner, associated with the incarnation, passion and glorious resurrection of the Son of God. During this month, for sure, we will honour Our Lady with our Rosaries. But is that enough? What if we merely recite the Rosary without bearing any spiritual fruit? Mary did not say “no” to God’s invitation. Her “yes” led her on to bear fruit. To become “full of grace.” To be “Blessed among women.” She was able to do this because, as the Scriptures tell us, “She pondered these things in her heart.” She spent time in the Lord’s vineyard. She knew what it was to be a good steward. She teaches us to love, to sacrifice, and to ponder His love. Because she said “Yes”, her Son would save the world.
Let us Pray:
Lord, open our heats to your grace. May we, who learned to believe, through the angel’s message, in the incarnation of Christ your Son, be brought by his passion and cross, at the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to the glory of his resurrection. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Monsignor Monaghan
