La Beata Vergine del Santo Rosario di Pompei

Thanks mainly to the efforts of Pope Leo XIII, October has been traditionally celebrated as the "Month of the Rosary" in the Catholic Church. We should be praying it regularly. However, at this time of year, the Church encourages us to make additional use of this devotion over & above our normal practice. I've talked several times about how powerful a prayer the Rosary is, so I won't bother to repeat anything more about that here. Instead, I will start out this post by recommending a few Papal Encyclicals for you to read. Hopefully, they will encourage you to a greater use of this spiritual weapon as well as strengthen & deepen your faith.

The 1st is 1 by Pope St. Pius V, Consueverunt Romani (17 September 1569). His description of the conditions of his day are similar to where we are today. Next up is Pope Leo XIII's Fidentum Piumque Animum (20 September 1896). This is just 1 of many he wrote on the Rosary. & don't forget Quamquam Pluries that I mentioned in my recent post on San Giueseppe. In it he gives an excellent theological explanation of the Rosary. Pope Paul VI wrote Christi Matri (15 September 1966) to urge all to pray the Rosary so that we might have God's peace. he also talked about praying for an end of the slaughter of innocent people. While not refering to abortion, it readily applies to the slaughter of the unborn. I found a website that has a list of many more Papal Encyclicals on the Rosary with links so you can read them.

October is also 1 of 2 times each year at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompei (shown above) when there is a solemn recitation of The Petition to the Queen of the Holy Rosary of Pompeii. It is prayed at the Shrine at Noon. The petition can be prayed any time of year, but there is a solemn form for this day. This year the 1st Sunday of October is the 5th. The 5th is also the feast day of Blessed Bartolo Longo, founder of the Shrine.

Then on Sunday 19 October 2008, Papa Benedetto will make a pastoral visit to the shrine. He will say Mass & pray the Petition as well as lead a Rosary. (I may be wrong, but given his recent track record, I suspect a Golden Rose will accompany him.)

Finally, on 4 October 2008, Justin Cardinal Rigali will be the main celebrant at the Mass for the Dedication of the Chapel of Our Lady of Pompei at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC. The chapel recognizes the deep devotion that the Italian-American Community has for the Blessed Mother. It has a life-size image of Our Lady of Pompei in mosaic. Also in mosaic will be the Luminous Mysteries that Pope John Paul the Great added in 2002.